One of the ear-marks of Romantic music is the title of the piano piece or song. Until the romantic period music was designated usually by the number of the work or by its form such as gavotte, minuet, rondo, sonata, etc., but the Romantics wrote what they felt, and with the exception of Chopin, gave descriptive names to their pieces. In 1817 John Field wrote a concerto named L’incendie par l’orage (The Fire from the Storm), a musical picture.
His influence was more important than his music. We see his hand in the playing and composing of the poet-pianist, Frederick Chopin.
Although Weber appeared in a different musical field he, too, had a strong influence. He was four years younger than Field but had greater opportunities and was one of the first of the Romantic School.
Charles Mayer (1799–1862) was a direct follower and pupil of Field. His études (studies) ranked with those of Henselt, who wrote the delightful If I Were a Bird, and he had an influence upon Chopin, too.
Schubert—Maker of Songs
And now we come to Franz Peter Schubert (1797–1828), born in Vienna of a schoolmaster father, and a mother, who, like Beethoven’s, was a cook.
The musical comedy, Blossom Time, was built upon some of Schubert’s most beautiful melodies and episodes from his life. We must never trust too far stories told this way, which often contain unreliable details, however this charming operetta gives an interesting glimpse of Schubert’s devotion to composition. It is true that he wrote wherever he was, covering his cuffs as well as the menus and programs in the taverns with the endless flow of themes which eventually became world-famous songs. Schubert was not a mere writer of songs; he created the form known as Lieder and through all his works, torrents of melody seemed to spring from him eternally.
He was the thirteenth of nineteen children, five of which were of a second marriage, and there was no wealth or luxury for Franz, so his father worked hard to pay for his music lessons.
His teacher said that no matter what he tried to teach him in violin, piano, singing, the organ or thorough-bass, Franz knew it already, for he learned everything almost at a glance.
He was first soprano in the church choir of Lichtenthal and the beauty of his voice attracted much attention. He also played the violin in the services, and stole little stray minutes to write songs or pieces for strings and piano.