Would the great composers, in particular Franz Schubert, have created the music that

they did had it not been for factors such as their personalities and social influences?
This considered, should such factors be taken into account when listening to and
interpreting their music?
Although the range of music available to us in the twenty first century is extremely diverse,
one of the key principles, that one may argue is shared by most styles, is that that music
should be considered to be a means of communication. An example of musics
communicative nature can be found in the programmatic music that is commonly associated
with the composers of the Romantic period, through which a entire plot is often conveyed
using either music alone or a combination of music and words. However, it is more often the
case that the composer expresses thoughts or emotions in a subtle way, using combinations of
various musical elements to create a mood rather than attempting to convey a coherent plot.
While some critics may point out that much of the popular music we hear today does not
make effective use of musical techniques, and therefore is possibly lower in quality than the
music of Beethovens time (take the YouTube phenomena Rebecca Blacks single Friday,
which obtained over 167 million views online, despite being criticised for over use of autotune on the vocal parts and absurdly meaningless lyrics, including lines about eating breakfast
cereal and the journey to school), as Nicholas Cook explains in his Music: A Very Short
Introduction, the emphasis on... self expression in music has existed since the time when
Beethoven was writing and continues to grow today, with modern technology allowing
musicians to share music, making it a very accessible form of expression, even if the music in
question does not adhere to what some might call traditional values.
Nonetheless, whilst reading or listening to music itself can generally allow us to understand
the mood or emotion that the composer intended, it may be said that in order to comprehend
the music in its entirety, we must also have a firm understanding of the contextual factors that
may have influenced either the way it was composed, the reasons for its composition, or the
way in which it was originally performed, or perhaps all three. Biographical information
about a composer allows us to see what limitations the composer faced and understand some
of the thought processes surrounding the emotions conveyed through music, which is
essential when analysing, performing or interpreting a piece. Contextual and historical
information about the period during which a composer lived is also important, as it is this that
enables us to create a performance, which sounds as much like the composer intended as
possible. Furthermore, it is this that allows us to understand the political and social influences
on the composers work. It is only when we view all of this information together that we are
able to see the complete picture, which is vital if music is to continue to communicate the
message that the composer originally had in mind, as opposed to a distorted version.
If one was to apply this to Franz Schubert, for example, one might say that he lived an
arguably difficult life, and this probably had a significant impact on the music that he
composed. The twelfth of fourteen children, of whom just five survived infancy, Schubert
was surrounded by death from a young age. In 1812, when Schubert was just fifteen years of
age, his mother, too, passed away. It seems too much of a coincidence, knowing this, that
later in his career, Schubert managed to express an intensity of dark emotion that many other

composers struggled to achieve in their music. Even Schuberts first known composition,

Fig. 1

Fantasie in G major[track 1] for piano duet, includes the characteristic throbbing chords,
(fig. 1) which are used to maintain such intensity and to create a sense of almost pounding
emotion in the listener, in his later works (see Fischer-Dieskaus analysis of An Die Musik
on page three).
The concept that Schuberts early life had an impact on him as an adult, and thus on his
composition, is further supported by his own short story, My Dream. Written in the July of
1822, the story was published by Robert Schumann in his journal, the Nue Zeitschrift fr
Musik, who suggested that it was open to deeper interpretation, but did not suggest what
that interpretation may be. The story tells of rejection at the hand of a father figure, which Sir
George Grove postulated may have had something to do with a religious dispute. Certainly
the story does have parallels with both the New Testament parable of the prodigal son (LK
15:11-32) and the Adam and Eves expulsion from the Garden of Eden (Gen 2). Twentieth
century critic Maynard Solomon, however, in his controversial article in American Imago,
questioned whether the story could, in fact, have been more an exploration of Schuberts
resistance against heterosexual feelings and his fathers reaction towards this.
I was a brother of many brothers and sisters. Our father and our mother were good. I was
devoted to them all with a deep love. Once, my father took us to a feast (lustgelage). There
my brothers became very merry. I, however, was sad. Then my father approached me and
commanded me to enjoy the delicious food. But I could not, wherefore my father, becoming
angry, banished me from his sight. I turned my steps away and, my heart full of infinite love
for those who disdained it, wandered into a distant land. For long years I felt torn between
the greatest grief and the greatest love. Then the news of my mothers death reached me. I
hastened to see her, and my father, softened by sorrow, did not hinder my entrance. Then I
saw her corpse. Tears flowed from my eyes. I saw her lying there like the happy old past, in
which, according to the deceaseds wish, we were to live as she herself once had. And we
followed her corpse in sorrow and the coffin sank down.- From that time on I again returned
home. Then my father took me once again into his favourite garden. He asked me if I liked it.
But the garden was wholly repellent to me and I dared not say so. Then, flushing, he asked
me a second time: did the garden please me? Trembling, I denied it. Then my father struck
me and I fled. And for the second time I turned my steps away and, with a heart full of infinite
love for those who disdained it, I again wandered into a distant land. For long, long years I
sang songs. When I would sing of love, it turned to pain. And again, when I would sing of
pain, it turned to love. Thus love and pain divided me. And once, I had news of a pious virgin
who had just died. And around her tomb formed a circle in which many youths and old men

perpetually walked as though in bliss. They spoke softly, so as not to wake the virgin.
Heavenly thoughts seemed forever to be showered upon the youths from the virgins tomb,
like fine sparks producing a soft rustling. I, too, longed to walk there. But only a miracle,
people said, leads into this circle. Nevertheless, I went to the tomb, with slow steps and
lowered gaze, filled with devotion and firm belief, and, before I was aware of it, I found
myself in the circle, from which there arose a wondrously lovely sound: and I felt as though
eternal bliss were compressed into a single moment. My father, too, I saw, reconciled and
loving. He clasped me in his arms and wept, but not so much as I. Franz Schubert, My
Dream
In addition to this, Solomon examined the relationships between Schubert and the members
of his Schubert circle: a close-knit group of friends who often gathered to listen to
Schuberts newly composed music at events called Schubertiads. Solomon believed that
that the young men of the Schubert circle loved each other seems amply clear, and put
forward the argument that members of this group of friends were actually engaging in
homosexual relationships with one another. This certainly seems to be a reasonable
possibility if we are to consider contemporary views of Schuberts character, such as that of
his friend, the poet Johann Mayrhofer, who believed that Schuberts personality consisted of
a mixture of tenderness and coarseness, sensuality and candour, sociability, quoted by Otto
Erich Deutsch in his memoirs.
The relationship between Schubert and one particular member of the Schubert circle, Franz
von Schober, has been subject to particularly deep examination. In his biography of Schubert,
Fischer-Dieskau wrote of Schuberts obvious preference for Schober, [which] was the cause
of some jealousy on the part of his other friends. While Fischer-Dieskau makes no reference
to their relationship being a primarily homosexual one, he does describe an extremely tight
bond between them. After the printing of Maynard Solomons article, however, the scholarly
consensus does seem to be that their relationship was centred around something more than
just friendship, and even those who do not wish to state that Schubert himself was interested
in other men seem comfortable describing Franz Schobers homosexual tendencies and the
other aspects of his persona that would have been seen as socially unacceptable in early
nineteenth century Austria. In his 1989 article in the New York Times, for example,
American journalist Henahan states that Schuberts dearest friend, with whom he lived for
several long periods until shortly before his death in 1828, was the homosexual and
sometimes female impersonator Franz Schober. While nothing so explicit is evident in
Schuberts music, his 1817 song An die Musik [track 2] (for full score see end of booklet)
used a poem by Schober as the text, was described by Fischer-Dieskau as having
immortalised the collaboration of the two. His analysis of the Lied included the idea that
the piece consists of merely a pulsating emotion... [with] no additional musical argument.
This suggests that here Schubert had developed, and perhaps perfected, the techniques that he
first experimented with in his piano Fantasie in G major. Certainly, this is an extremely
beautiful song, which may be described at least as an expression of the hope that both
Schubert and Schober found in music.

Susan McClary (in her article, Constructions of Subjectivity in Franz Schuberts music)
argued that Schuberts possible homosexuality may have had a profound impact on his music.
She remarked that Schubert was producing constructions of male subjectivity that differed
markedly from most of those that surrounded him. She identified features in Schuberts
work, such as his movement away from traditional compositional practice and the
effeminate nature of his music, which point towards this. Furthermore, she argued that
Schubert tends to disdain goal-oriented desire per se for the sake of a sustained image of
pleasure and an open, flexible sense of self- both of which are quite alien to the constructions
of masculinity then being adopted as natural. She highlighted the contrasts between
Beethovens powerful Fifth symphony [track 4] and the second, andante movement of
Schuberts Unfinished symphony [track 3]. While Beethoven uses strong, sforzando
accents (fig. 4), Schubert employs an extremely quiet legato melody in the strings (fig. 3),
and McClary felt that it was unusual for such a contrast to occur, as Schuberts symphony
was composed just fourteen years after Beethovens, and so could still be classified as
adhering to the same musical style (early Romanticism, that is). Even Sir George Grove
seems to highlight feminine qualities in Schuberts work, stating that compared to
Beethoven, Schubert is as a woman to a man.

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

But Mayrhofers description of the conflicting aspects of Schuberts personality seems to

have greater significance than simply referring to his sensual nature and unusual sexual
tendencies. If we were to look back at Schuberts story, My Dream, another detail that
stands out is the notion that the persona is divided by love and pain. If this is referring to
Schubert himself, then it is suggestive that there are two very separate sides to the composer,
just as Mayrhofer described. This concept is common in German thinking, and what
Elizabeth Norman-McKay describes as the idea of two souls in one breast seems to be
derived from Goethes Faust (fig. 5). Norman-McKay holds that Schubert suffered from
Cyclothymia, which can generally be defined as a mood disorder in which the client
displays the characteristic depressions and euphoria of Bipolar Disorder, to a much lower
extent... symptoms must last for a period of at least two years.... This condition would most
definitely have had a significant impact of Schuberts work.

Fig. 5

Interestingly, Schubert explores the concept of two personalities in his song, Der
Doppelgnger [track 5] (for full score see end of booklet). According to German folklore, a
doppelgnger is a vision of ones body that one sees when they are about to die. The
sustained minor and at times dissonant chords (fig. 6) throughout the piece create a sinister
tone, suggestive of a state of mental unrest. An English translation of the lyrics can be seen
below.

Fig. 6

Whether or not Schubert suffered from Cyclothymia, it can definitely be argued that he
suffered from prolonged periods of depression, as in letters to friends he describes how he is
the unhappiest he has ever been.
On the other hand, one may argue that it is not mental illness that is responsible for these
feelings of despair: indeed Schubert is believed to have suffered with a series of extremely
serious, ongoing physical illnesses. According to Eric Sams in Schuberts Illness Reexamined, it is generally accepted that Schubert contracted syphilis in late 1822 or early
1823, and died of typhoid fever in November 1828, at the age of thirty one years and nine
months. The distress caused by the diseases Schubert suffered from is apparent in the few
letters to friends that he wrote throughout the last few years of his life. In the March of 1824,
for instance, when Schubert is likely to have been suffering from the secondary stage of
syphilis, he wrote to his friend, the painter Leopold Kupelweiser:
I feel I am the unhappiest, most wretched man in the world. Imagine a man whose health
will never be right again and who by despairing about it always makes the matter worse
instead of better
At this point, it is likely that Schubert would have been suffering from lesions of the mouth
and throat with consequent hoarseness or huskiness, as Eric Sams highlighted. Indeed, two
days after Schubert wrote the above letter, Doblhoff wrote to Schober that Schubert himself
cannot sing. This may have been a contributing factor towards the despair mentioned.
Perhaps the most affected piece of music is the song cycle Die schne Mllerin, which was
partly composed in hospital. The piece gradually moves from optimism to despair, telling the
story of a travelling miller who wanders through the countryside, encountering a millers
daughter and falling in love with her, even though her social status is above and beyond his.
Although he tries to impress her, giving her a green ribbon, there is competition from a hunter
wearing green. The traveller despairs, and develops an obsession with the colour green,
before finally ending his life by drowning in a brook. The song cycle ends with a beautiful
lullaby [track 6], where the protagonist seems to make his peace with death (see the score
with English translation at the end), much as Schubert seemed to be doing, as he told
Kupelwieser that every night when I go to sleep I hope never to wake again.
In light of this, one must question whether Schubert would have composed the music that he
did if it had not have been for the extensive suffering that he endured throughout his life. As
an early lecturer in philosophy and mathematics, Pythagoras would have argued that Schubert
would have composed the music that he did regardless of these contextual factors. Pythagoras
believed that everything, including music, relied on numbers. Aristotle summarises him and
his followers as being "the first to take up mathematics ... [and] thought its principles were
the principles of all things. Since, of these principles, numbers ... are the first, ... in numbers
they seemed to see many resemblances to things that exist ... more than [just] air, fire and
earth and water, [but things such as] justice, soul, reason, [and] opportunity ...". Pythagoras
held that music only sounds harmonious when it follows certain mathematical rules and
this is where the notion of harmony of the spheres came from. He believed that because
music is so mathematical, even the greatest composers have little influence or control over it.

They have simply discovered, perhaps subconsciously, the mathematic rules that they must
follow in order to create such music.
As a contemporary of Schuberts, Johann Michael Vogl, an Austrian baritone singer who
performed much of Schuberts work, wrote that there are two kinds of composition, one of
which, as in Schuberts case, comes into existence during a state of clairvoyance or
somnambulism, without any conscious action on the part of the composer, but inevitably, by
an act of providence and inspiration. This seems to partially agree with Pythagoras views,
but may differ in that it states there are two distinct types of composition. However, it is
possible to reconcile the two statements if we were to take the view that both Vogl and
Pythagoras may have simply been separating the great composers from others.
This considered, we must question what it is that makes a great composer great. Vogl and
Pythagoras both seem to agree that great composers do not compose from experience; they
are simply gifted with the ability to compose exceptional music, by simply being born with a
natural, innate ability to use the mathematical rules which govern music more effectively than
others.
Many modern scholars, however, would entirely disagree with this view. While it is generally
accepted that the great composers are often naturally gifted, many are trained in music from
an extremely young age. Obviously the education that a young composer receives has a huge
impact on what they achieve later in life: if a young musician is instructed by somebody who
is competent in the field, (Schubert, for instance, was taught by Salieri in his childhood), or is
brought up in a musical household (as J.S. Bach undoubtedly was), then they are much more
likely to excel in music than those who are self taught, or do not come from a musical family.
Therefore, environmental factors such as a composers upbringing must have an effect on
both the composers music and their eventual status.
New musicologists in particular, such as Lawrence Kramer, reject musics claim to be
autonomous of the world around it, and in particular to provide direct, unmediated access to
absolute values of truth and beauty, as Nicholas Cook states in the last chapter of Music: A
Very Short Introduction. Central to New musicology is the idea that all values are
socially constructed. This means that all music must be affected by the world around it:
Cook describes those who follow this style of musicology as viewing music as irreducibly
worldly.
Gary Tomlinson, though not a follower of New musicology, believes that music should not
be critiqued, as criticism involves the separation of music and context, which cannot be done
without doing violence to it.
Critically speaking, it seems that though scholars of the past may have thought otherwise,
modern day musicologists seem to agree that music and context go hand in hand, and so
would probably agree that neither Franz Schubert, nor any other composer, great or
otherwise, would have composed the music that they did had it not have been for the sociopolitical structures that they were a part of, their upbringings, their relationships (both

friendships, romantic and sexual relationships), social statuses, levels of physical and mental
wellbeing and so on. Their music is arguably reliant on these factors.
It is reasonable, then, to say that in order to give or receive an accurate representation of what
the music would have sounded like when it was first composed, the audiences initial
reactions and the composers intentions, we must take this context into account when
performing, listening to, analysing, or interpreting any piece of music.

References
Cook, Nicholas (2000) Music: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press
Schumann, Robert (1839) Neue Zeitschrift fr Musik, Volume 10, page 37
Grove, George (1883) A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 3, page 336, London
Solomon, Maynard (1981) American Imago, Summer, Vol.38, No. 2, pages 137- 154
Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich (1971) Schubert- A Biographical Study of his Songs, pages 83-84
Henahan, D (1989) New York Times, 27th August 1989
McClary, Susan (1994) Constructions of Subjectivity in Franz Schubert's music, in Queering
the Pitch. Ed. Brett, Wood, and Thomas, pages 205-33. Routledge, New York.
Deutsch, Otto Erich (1958) Schubert: Memoirs by his friends, London.
Norman-McKay, Elizabeth (1998) Franz Schubert: A Biography
Sams, Eric (1980) Schuberts Illness Re-examined, The Musical Times, January, pages 15-22
Aristotle (4th century BC) Metaphysica
Bibliography
Weiss, Piero and Taruskin, Richard (1984) Music in the Western World: A History in
Documents
Gambone, Philip (2006) Schubert After Dark
Horowitz, Joseph (1997) Schubert at 200, American Scholar 66.3
Lauritsen, John (2006) The Lieder and Homoerotic Love