Schubert’s Chamber Music
Schubert’s principal chamber music works are the Octett in F for strings, horn, clarinet, and bassoon; a Quintett (Forellen) for piano and strings; another Quintett in C major for strings, which is an extremely fine work; twenty String Quartetts, two Piano Trios, two String Trios, a Rondo Brilliant in B minor, a Fantasia in C, and some Sonatinas, and a Sonata for piano and violin. Of the String Quartetts, that in D minor, the slow movement of which is a set of variations on Schubert’s own song, “Death and the Maiden,” and that in G major, op. 161, are among the best of his works in this form. That in E♭, op. 125, is one of the best known; certainly it is full of charming melody, besides being very grateful for the players. The C major Quintett and the Piano Trio in B♭ already mentioned may be specially referred to as full of that charm and spontaneity which are characteristic of this composer.
Schubert’s career was one of comparative poverty and hardship. His compositions brought him little money. Still he seems to have laboured on without regard to popularity, content to do that which seemed best and truest, and no doubt finding his highest satisfaction and reward in the work itself, for as Emerson says, “Every true talent exhilarates.”
Thus was completed the short span of his earthly life, for he passed away at the early age of 31. Mozart died at 35, Purcell at 37, and Mendelssohn at 38! The inscription on Schubert’s tomb in the cemetery at Vienna, where he was, by his own desire, interred near the grave of Beethoven, reads thus:—“Music has here entombed a rich treasure, but still fairer hopes.”
Mendelssohn
The career of Mendelssohn (1809-47) presents a strong contrast to that of Schubert. Born in affluent circumstances, he possessed from his birth all those advantages (and hindrances) which appertain to wealth. But his parents were discreet people, who were not, so to say, carried off their feet by the unquestionable precocity and genius of the boy. They took care that his education, both general and musical, was of the best, and when he was 16 years old his father took him to Paris, where Cherubini, Principal of the Conservatoire, reigned supreme as the great musical authority. The result of the interview was most satisfactory, and any scruples as to the boy’s musicianship, and as to what his future should be, were thereby finally disposed of, and Mendelssohn entered on a career which proved to be one of the most brilliant that has ever fallen to the lot of a musician.
Mendelssohn’s Position in England
In England, after Handel, and perhaps Haydn, the name of Mendelssohn stands next—that is, taking provincial opinion, which is chiefly concerned with choral works, into account, and not merely London and the larger civic centres. Indeed, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that he stands before Haydn. That master is known, among those of whom we speak, chiefly by his oratorio The Creation. But in this work the choral writing is less satisfactory to the average choral singer than either Handel—as represented, say, by The Messiah, Samson, or Judas Maccabæus—or Mendelssohn, by Elijah and The Hymn of Praise; and for this reason Mendelssohn no doubt, in the opinion of such people, stands higher than the composer of The Creation.
We are not arguing as to the justice of such an opinion, which of course leaves out of consideration the instrumentation and the solos of Haydn’s immortal work; but such a condition of things has, none the less, been of much service in England, for Elijah presents many dramatic points which are not to be met with in either Handel or Haydn, and by the study of this work the taste of a very numerous class has been greatly advantaged, and that pernicious worship of Handel, which up to some twenty or thirty years ago dominated British choral music, has to a considerable extent been broken up. Thus the way has been cleared for the introduction of works by the serious musicians of our own time, which are apt to be misunderstood and neglected, because they are often written in a freely dramatic form that is strange, if not obnoxious, to the average chorister.