Apr - 1819-21, Holidays, Operas and Testimonials

THE year 1819 saw Schubert enjoying himself, for the first time, as a tourist. Some of his biographers declare that he had saved up money for this purpose, but we must be permitted to doubt their statement. In the first place; the composer rarely earned more than a-bare subsistence; in the second place, his convivial habit indeed; his entire.character, was opposed to the idea of hoarding cash for any purpose whatever. As to the particular fact in question, probably- his travelling companion, Heinrich Vogl, could: have spoken very positively. He, no doubt carried the common purse and contributed thereto in proportion to the excess of his means over those of the poor composer. Schubert's delight when setting out upon this trip to the mountainous district of Upper Austria must have been very great. He was literally an untravelled man, knowing, of all the wide world, only the district around Vienna and the road to Esterhazy's place in Hungary. A new life opened to him, therefore, the joys of which his artist-soul drank in greedily as scene after scene of natural beauty unfolded itself. The destination of the two friends was principally Steyr - a manufacturing town on the road from Linz to Gratz, sometimes known as the "Austrian Sheffield." Steyr, which contains now but little over 11,000 inhabitants, must have been much smaller sixty years ago, but its pretty situation and interesting surroundings remain unchanged. From the town a score of delightful excursions may be made, and anybody who does not object to the propinquity of ironworks may spend a "good time" in the old Styrian burgh. Schubert undoubtedly had such a time, for his friend Vogl was well known there, and introduced him to some excellent people, who were very proud to receive the young composer into their circle and do him honour. The names of some of these worthies have come down to us. At the head of them stands Herr Silvester Paumgartner, house-owner in Steyr, something in the iron way perhaps - certainly "deputy-factor to the head-guild" - and, no doubt, a very solid and respectable citizen. Paumgartner could play the violoncello a little, but his musical enthusiasm far outran his executive ability. He kept open house for artists, and was ready with board, bed, and purse whenever either or all were needed. The excellent deputy-factor, in truth, lavished upon music and musicians the sympathy that would have been shared by wife and children had he not remained a bachelor. He collected instruments, moreover, and took pride in augmenting his library, often walking to Strengberg to intercept the Paris Courier and give him commissions for new books. Besides Paumgartner, there was Herr Josef von Koller, merchant and ironmonger, who had a daughter, familiarly called "Pepi." Pepi could play the piano, and knew how to use the soprano voice with which nature had endowed her. "Frizi" Dornfield also figures among the young friends of the two tourists, who were promptly quartered upon the hospitable Styrians with a special regard, as it would seem, for the charms of female society. Vogl went to his friend Koller's where musical Pepi entertained him, but Schubert must have suffered from an embarras de richesses of young-ladydom. He lodged in the house No. 117 on the platz, where lived Dr. Albert Schellmann and his five daughters, and the treasurer of the district with three daughters. In all, eight charming creatures surrounded the Viennese musician, making of him such an idol as only women can when they have found their hero. Under these circumstances, Schubert bore himself well. He enjoyed the situation and wrote home to brother Ferdinand in a spirit far from difficult to distinguish as that of much complacency. Here is his letter, dated July 15, 1819:-

"Dear Brother, - I hope this letter will find you in Vienna and that you are well. I write to you particularly to send me the 'Stabat Mater,' which we want to perform. I am uncommonly well just now, and intend to remain so if only the weather will keep fine. Yesterday we had a tremendous storm here about noon. The lightning killed a woman and maimed two men. In the house where I am lodging there are eight young ladies, and nearly all pretty. You see one has plenty to do. Vogl and I dine every day with Herr von Koller; his daughter is uncommonly pretty, plays the piano capitally, and sings several of my songs.

"Please forward the enclosed letter. You see I am not so absolutely faithless as you perhaps think.

"Remember me to my parents, brothers and sisters, your wife, and all friends. Don't forget the 'Stabat Mater'. Your ever faithful brother, Franz."

Plenty of music was made in Steyr while Schubert and Vogl remained there. The friends often met at Paumgartner's or Koller's, and it is said that on one of these occasions the "Erl-King" was performed in parts, Vogl singing the father's music, Schubert the Erl-King's, and Pepi the boy's. Sir George Grove suggests that the composer rnay have given his favourite version of the same work on a comb. Very likely he did, and that much harmless fun prevailed at these simple gatherings. About the middle of August our tourists tore themselves away from the houris and hospitalities of Steyr in order to visit Linz and Salzburg. Whether they actually extended their journey to Mozart's blrth-place does not appear, but a letter-from Schubert to Mayrhofer proves that they got as far as Linz:-

"My dear Mayrhofer, - If the world thrives as well with you as it does with me, you are well and hearty. I am just at present in Linz. I have been with the Spaun's, and met Kenner, Kreil, and Forstmayer. There, too, I made acquaintance with Spaun's mother, and Ottenwald, whose "Cradle Song" I set and sang to him. I found plenty of amusement in Steyr. The surrounding country is heavenly, and Linz too is beautiful. We, that is Vogl and I, shall go very soon to Salzburg. How I long for - ! I recommend to your notice the bearer of this letter, a student of Kremsmünster, Kahl by name; he is journeying by way of Vienna to Idria, on a visit to his parents. Please let him have my bed during the time he stays with you. I am very anxious that you should treat him as kindly as possible, for he is a dear good fellow. Please greet Frau von S. heartily for me. Have you written anything? I hope so. We kept Vogl's birthday with a Cantata, the words by Stadler, the music by me^[2] people were thoroughly pleased. Now, then, farewell until the middle of September. Your friend, Franz Schubert."

The travellers were back in Steyr shortly afterwards, and, at the time named by Schubert in his letter, started on the return journey to Vienna.

We have seen that the weeks spent in holidaymaking were not entirely weeks of rest from composing. Schubert could not keep his pen off paper under any circumstances. Ideas were always coming to him, and their demand for expression was ever conceded. During the tour he wrote the celebrated Quintet which has its slow movement founded upon the melody of "Die Forelle," doing this, we are told, at the special instance of Paumgartner, who promptly added the manuscript parts to his store of musical treasures. We read also, of a vocal quintet, two vocal quartets, a "Salve Regina," and three hymns as among the creations of the same period. These, we may suppose, were thrown off for use at the Steyr music-making parties, and, by the composer, thought of no more. They still remain unpublished. Schubert's last effort in the Styrian town was purely of a literary character. On the day (September 14) of his departure, he wrote in Fräulein Stadler's album "Enjoy the present so wisely that the past may be pleasant to recollect, and the future not alarming to contemplate" - one of the pompous aphorisms which our fathers regarded as wisdom in its highest form of expression. Sir George Grove quotes another to match, by Mozart, extracted from the album of an English freemason: "Patience and tranquillity of mind contribute more to cure our distempers as (sic) the whole art of medicine." Such was the fashion of the time, and it does not seem to have mattered much that the philosophy and its expounder were often very far apart.

If Schubert returned with a heavy heart to his unrewarded life in Vienna, he soon found that the clouds of life were lightening to him. It must be remembered that up to this time, and apart from the early performances of his church music, his name had found its way only once into a Viennese programme. That was on February 28, 1819, when the tenor, Jager, sang the "Schäfer's Klagelied," and obtained for it great applause. Imagine the feelings of this neglected genius as he heard that his operatic farce "Die Zwillinge," composed, or, at any rate, begun, in 1818, was actually to be produced at the Kärnthner-Theater. The important event took place June 14, 1820, and was Schubert's first serious appeal to the public of his native city. We need not give the "argument" of a stupid story. Enough that the music consists of ten numbers, with an overture, all of which, having been published by Peters, may be examined by amateurs for themselves at very little expense. It is certainly not in the master's best vein, for the task did not interest him a bit; nevertheless, we quite agree with Sir George Grove that it is "light, fresh, and melodious, pointed, unusually compact and interesting throughout." The farce had no success, running for six nights only; but its production served to bring Schubert's name forward, and not unfavourably, although the Viennese critics charged his music with lacking tune. A rival house, the Theater an der Wien, now sought the young master's services, and entrusted to him the libretto of a melo-drama, entitled "Die Zauberharfe," music to which was written, it is said, in the short space of two weeks. The new piece received the following advertisement in the journals of August 19, 1820:-

"By the liberality of his Excellency Count Ferdinand von Palffy, proprietor of the Imperial Theatre, an der Wien, three artists, whose connections and engagements do not sanction their claims to any clear receipts, are now allowed such payments which the Count has, unasked, conceded. These artists are Herr Neefe, scene painter; Roller, master of the machinery; and Lucca Piazza, costumier of the said theatre, who, from their important services to the public, are well deserving of so high a mark of consideration. This benefit performance will take place next Monday, August 21, on the occasion of the third representation of the new magic operetta, in three acts, 'Die Zauberharfe'; music by Herr Schubert; decorations, scenery, and costumes by the receivers of the benefit."

The new play had a short life, and not a merry one. Its libretto - an unusually stupid thing - was killed by ridicule out of hand, while the music, chiefly choral and melodrame, underwent severe criticism. According to Kreissle, the Vienna press declared that it "hindered rather than helped the action of the piece, and betrayed absolute ignorance of the rules of melo-drama. The way of treating the music for the magic harps showed a poor fade and decayed taste, and was wanting in the necessary power and characteristics which ought always to accompany ethereal spirits." On its part the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung said:- "The composer gives glimpses here and there of talent. There is, on the whole, a want of technical arrangement, which can only be gained by experience; the numbers, generally speaking, are too long and wearisome; the harmony progressions too harsh, the instrumentation overladen; the choruses vapid and weak. The most successful numbers are the introductory Adagio of the overture, and the Romance for the tenor; the expression in these is lovely; the simplicity is noble, and the modulation delicate. An idyllic subject would be admirably adapted to the composer." None of the music thus criticised has yet been published, but all of it is available. "It deserves to be unearthed," remarks Kreissle, "for there is no doubt in it much that is beautiful, and Schubert himself reckoned it as one of his most successful works."

All this time our indefatigable young master had in his mind, and under his fingers, quite another class of work. In February, 1820, he resolved to compose an Easter Cantata, and chose as text a poem by the theologian, Niemeyer, entitled "Lazarus; or, the Feast of the Resurrection." Kreissle says:- "The birth of this Oratorio is a mystery, and will probably remain so for ever, for not even Schubert's most trusted friends, such, for instance, as Franz von Schober, who, in the year 1820, was thrown frequently into personal intimacy with the composer, can give any explanation of the cause, or other external circumstances, under which the work in question was written; but it is certain that to many of Schubert's associates the very existence of this work remained hidden." Its existence seems to have been quickly forgotten by those who did know. Indeed, there is even now a doubt whether Schubert completed the Oratorio, inasmuch as the third part has never be found. The first part was discovered by Kreissle (1859) in Spaun's collection of the master's MSS.; the second part came somehow, but, unhappily, incomplete, into the hands of Mr. Thayer (1861); for the rest, search has hitherto been vain. As usual, the composer was hampered by his text, with its abounding dialogue. As to this, Kreissle writes:- "The compiler of the text has by no means lightened the work of the composer. A genius such as Schubert's, was necessary to steer successfully past the dangerous rocks and quicksands of monotony, incidental to a subject wearisome from an almost unbroken sameness of treatment, and so overweighted with recitative passages. Schubert applied himself to his task, not in a descriptive, but dramatic vein, as the poem required; and with what delicacy of feeling and admirable skill he availed himself of the opportunity offered by the poet for the development of his dramatic power, the music allotted to the Daughter of Fairus and Simon, the Sadducee, bears the most brilliant testimony. An intellectual piecemeal criticism of a delicate refined work which rushed spontaneously from the composer's brain with an uninterrupted current, would be like analysing moonlight, and would be of little advantage, although such minute criticism might bring to the surface many a hidden and buried beauty." We may add that the fragments of "Lazarus" were performed at Vienna in 1863.

In addition to the foregoing, an Opera, "Sakuntala," engaged Schubert's attention during this prolific year; but he never finished it, the book being hopelessly bad. Other works referable to the same period are the 23rd Psalm - made so familiar in London by Henry Leslie's Choir - a (second) setting of Goethe's "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" - once performed in this country under Mr. Prout's direction - the Allegro for strings in C minor, the Fantasia in C for pianoforte solo, and seventeen songs.

The next year (1821) opened in sunshine for Schubert, then becoming known to the slowly perceptive people of Vienna. A change for the better was certainly not unnecessary, although, if the master's biographers may be credited, Schubert had only himself to thank for much that was sordid and distressful in his circumstances. Anxious to make out the best case for his hero, Kreissle puts the whole matter into very diplomatic language, but, between the lines, it is easy to see how far the master stood in his own light. He was emphatically a Bohemian, impatient of any kind of social restraint, and unhappy out of the free-and-easy company of men like himself. "At no time of life," says Kreissle, "was he wanting in sympathising friends, who recognised his genius, and were always ready to assist him in word and deed. That he did not invariably feel drawn towards these persons, but, following his own inclination, attached himself socially to those who, doubtless, delighted in his songs, but valued him rather as a boon companion than a creative genius, and who, themselves at war with existence, were not in the position to give him a strong arm of support - all this cannot be thrown into the teeth of either class as reprehensible conduct." Under Kreissle's cautious language lies the whole case; and it is a sufficiently common one. How many do we all know who are truthfully described as their own worst enemy? We should remember the facts just stated when Vienna is broadly accused of letting her gifted son live in poverty and die almost a pauper. That the city behaved unlike a generous mother may be true enough, but there are children whose lives say seriously what the Irishman uttered as a blunder: "I will be drowned and nobody shall help me."

We spoke just now of New Year's sunshine. It came to Schubert in the form of three testimonials from distinguished personages - testimonials which a prudent man would have used as keys to unlock the gates opening upon social prosperity. The first bore the name of Count von Dietrichstein, Beethoven's "Hofmusikgraf," and was sent to Vogl, with the following note:-

"I beg of you, my dear friend, to be good enough to hand this over to the excellent Schubert. I trust it may be of some advantage to him, for since I have fathomed the genius of this young powerful artist - one of such rare promise - it has been one of my most ardent wishes, as far as I could, to bring him sub umbra alarum tuarum. Good morning, my dear friend, rara avis in terra - I ought to say rarissima. "

The Count's testimonial ran thus:-

"My inclinations and my duty inducing me to examine men of distinguished musical talents, especially those found in my own country, and to encourage, to the best of my powers, their noble efforts, I have particular pleasure in certifying that Herr Franz Schubert, who received the first rudiments of education in the Convict while he served as a chorister boy in the Royal Chapel, has, in the course of a few years, by native genius, earnest study of composition, and constant preparatory labour, already given the most eloquent proofs of his deep knowledge, feeling, and good taste, and that it only remains for me to wish that an opportunity be offered to this estimable man to unfold the fairest blooms in the thriving fields of universal art, and more particularly that of dramatic music."

The second testimonial came from the acting Court secretary, Von Mosel:-

"I certify that Herr Franz Schubert, late pupil of Hofcapellmeister Anton Salieri, as well from his deep knowledge in the theory and practice of harmony as of the auxiliary sciences requisite for vocal composition and distinguished talents, is one of the most promising of our young composers, of whom the Court Theatre and Opera House may expect the most delightful artistic productions."

The third testimonial was signed by Wiegl, director of the Opera, Salieri, and von Eichtall:-

"We, the undersigned, testify that Herr Franz Schubert, on account of his famous and most promising musical talent, which he has proved chiefly in the art of composition, has been employed by the Committee of Management of the Court Theatre, and served with great distinction, to the satisfaction of every one."

Sir George Grove describes the receipt of these documents as marking "the first good epoch in Schubert's struggling life," and continues: "He had now been writing for more than seven years, with an industry and disregard of consequences which are really fearful to contemplate, and yet, as far as fame or profit were concerned, might almost as well have remained absolutely idle. Here at length was a break in the cloud." But it does not appear that the testimonials did Schubert any good."I don't know," says Kreissle, "if he ever made use of them." Fate had decreed that the composer should remain as he was to the end of the short, but wonderful, chapter of his life."

Notes