Works for the Theatre
Most people, when pressed to recall a stage work by Schubert, will fail, or may manage to mention just Rosamunde. It comes as a suprise to many to think of him as an opera composer, but he spent considerable time and effort over many years in an unsuccesful attempt to establish himself in this genre. It was after all the most likely means for him to establish his name and earn an income in the absense of a patron, and his unsuitability for a Kappelmeister post. Indeed, on his death bed, he was still discussing opera librettos with his friends. With a little more luck with theatre management, some better librettos, and the chance to hone his skills with the revision of works during rehearsals, he would perhaps have produced works which would have remained in the repertoire. As it is, we are left with several abandoned works, 5 complete singspiele, 3 others which have been wholly or partly lost, a melodrama, the incidental music to Rosamunde and 2 complete operas. The completed works are very variable, but there is some magnificent music in them.
| D | Title | Genre | Text | Composed |
| 11 | Der Spiegelritter | Singspiel (inc.) | A. von Kotzebue | Dec 1811-12 |
| 84 | Des Teufels Lustschloss | Opera | A. von Kotzebue | Oct 1813-15 |
| 137 | Adrast | Opera (inc) | J. Mayrhofer | ?1817-19 |
| 190 | Der Vierjahrige Posten | Singspiel | T. Körner | 1815 8-19 May |
| 220 | Fernando | Singspiel | A. Stadler | 1815 27 Jun-9 Jul |
| 239 | Claudine von Villa Bella | Singspiel (inc.) | Goethe | begun 1815 26 Jul |
| 326 | Die Freunde von Salamanka | Singspiel | J. Mayrhofer | 1815 18 Nov-31 Dec |
| 435 | Die Burgschaft | Opera (inc) | Anonymous | begun 1816 2 May |
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Recording of Muss ich fühlen (no. 2) from Die Burgschaft by OLIVER WIDMER baritone, HUNGARIAN NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA / JAN SCHULTSZ from Schubert Opera Arias, Hyperion # CDA67229, Track 10. 3:49. | |||
| 644 | Die Zauberharfe | Melodrama | G. von Hofmann | 1820 |
| 647 | Die Zwillingsbrüder | Singspiel | G. von Hofmann | begun 1819 ? Jan |
| 701 | Sakuntala | Opera (inc) | J. P. Neumann | 1820 Oct |
| 723 | Duet and aria for Hérold's Das Zauberglöcken | Opera | E. G. M. Théaulon | Spring 1821 |
| 732 | Alfonso und Estrella | Opera | F. von Schober | 20 Sept 1821 - 27 Feb 1822 |
| 787 | Die Verschworenen (Der häusliche Krieg) | Singspiel | F. Castelli | 1823 Mar-Apr |
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Recording of the Romanze Ich schleiche bang und still (no. 3) from Die Verschworenen by ARLEEN AUGER soprano and GRAHAM JOHNSON piano, with THEA KING clarinet, in a piano arrangement by Fritz Spiegl from the The Hyperion Schubert Edition CDJ33009, Track 6. 3:07. | |||
| 791 | Rudiger (Sketches for two acts only) | Opera (inc) | I von Mosel? | begun May 1823 |
| 796 | Fierrabras | Opera | J. Kupelweiser | 1823 25 May-2 Oct |
| 797 | Rosamunde, Furstin von Zypern | Incidental Music | H. von Chézy | autumn 1823 |
| 918 | Der Graf von Gleichen (sketches) | Opera | E. von Bauernfeld | begun 1827 Jun 19 |
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Recording of Burg meiner Väter ... O Vater der Güte ich stammle, completed by Richard Dünser (no. 15) from Der Graf von Gleichen by OLIVER WIDMER baritone, HUNGARIAN NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA / JAN SCHULTSZ from Schubert Opera Arias, Hyperion # CDA67229, Track 8. 3:43. | |||
| 981 | Der Minnesanger (lost) | Singspiel | unknown | . |
| 982 | . | Opera, sketches | unknown | after 1820 |
Details of (some) Works
- Rosamunde
- Rosamunde, Fuerstin von Zypern was a play written by Helmina von Chezy, who also wrote the much maligned libretto for Weber's Euryanthe. It was put on at the Theatre an der Wien on 20th December 1823. It had another performance the next day and then disappeared, permanently, from the repertory. The text is no longer extant, though a copy of a later revision by von Chezy has been found very recently.
- The play was a disaster for a number of reasons, not just the quality of the text. Possibly even more damning was the lack of rehersal time. The play was for the benefit of one of the actresses. Nevertheless, despite damning reviews of the play, Schubert's incidental music was praised from the first.
- There is no documentary evidence to confirm when Schubert got the commission to write the incidental music, but there is every indication that he wrote it in a great hurry. He didn't have time to write a new Overture, and borrowed one from Alfonso und Estrella, though for complicated reasons, the piece we know today as the Rosamunde overture was actually the overture for Die Zauberharfe! Some analysts have even suggested that he used for one of the Entr'acts what he had originally written as the finale of the unfinished symphony, as the scoring is identical.
- Some pieces were so succesful that they were published in transcriptions during Schubert's lifetime. The rest disappeared from knowledge. The parts from the original performances were eventually found covered in dust at the back of a cupboard by Sir George Grove and Arthur Sullivan, who had gone to Vienna specifically to try to find them.