Schubert in 1826

Graham Johnson continues his uniquely insightful annual lecture series, delving into Schubert’s life 200 years on. As he writes:

ʻ1823 and 1824 were years dominated by Schubert’s illness. In 1825 there had been a once-in-a-lifetime holiday amidst the awe-inspiring scenery of Upper Austria. 1827 was to be the year of Winterreise; Beethoven had died in March, after which Schubert could at last acknowledge to himself that he was the greatest living musician in Vienna, even if he would never have dreamt of saying so. And in 1828, after composing glorious music for the first eight months of the year, Schubert was to fall silent at the age of just 31.

Betwixt and between, 1826 was a somewhat anti-climactic period after Schubert’s spectacular holiday in the mountains. Pipped at the post when he applied for the position of Vice Kapellmeister at the imperial court, a shortage of money kept him in Vienna for the summer (during which he discovered Shakespeare). His friendship with the gregarious Schober, re-established after a two-year gap, led to an upturn in social gatherings and Schubertiads. The actress Sophie Müller inspired the composer to return to the ever-elusive Mignon lyrics of Goethe. Ernst Schulze’s poetry remained an inspiration, and the discovery of a young and newly-published local poet, Johann Gabriel Seidl, bore considerable fruit. Schubert spent a lot of time on an opera that was never to be completed, and he composed the great G major piano sonata D.894, but the Lieder enthusiast can gratefully look on 1826 as having been something of a bumper year.ʼ