Writing Under the Influence?: Salieri and Schubert's Early Opinion of Beethoven
By Christopher Gibbs
2003, Current Musicology
Edited extract: In 1822, Schubert dedicated his Variations on a French Theme for Piano Four-Hands, Op. 10 (D624) to Beethoven. This dedication was his most public and extravagant proclamation of an abiding reverence for the older master that he held until his dying day. Indeed, if Ferdinand Schubert is to be believed, his younger brother's last wish was to be buried near Beethoven, which is exactly what happened. A lifelong devotion is implied in Schubert's letters' and plainly stated in the recollections of family and friends. 2 The impress and challenge of Beethoven's music on Schubert's is also apparent from the start of his compositional career, and only intensified, I believe, as he matured and engaged with it ever more directly. 3 Beyond purely compositional matters, Schubert modeled his professional career on Beethoven's in crucial respects and benefited from his relations with many of the same performers, publishers, patrons, and critics who were involved with the older composer. Contemporaries frequently made comparisons between their compositions; as we shall see, critics usually mentioned Beethoven when reviewing Schubert's piano and chamber works. 4 While these circumstances are unsurprising-Beethoven was, after all, the preeminent composer of the time and the two men lived in the same city throughout Schubert's life-there is one sour note: Schubert's alleged hostility, early in his career, to Beethoven's music. In the Beethoven-Handbuch, for example, Theodor von Frimmel writes that "Under Salieri's influence, Schubert became alienated from Beethoven". 5 Alfred Einstein asserts that "Schubert was deeply disturbed by Beethoven, as was every Romantic. As a young man (on June 16, 1816), he even made a very critical reference to Beethoven's 'eccentricity, which unites the tragic with the comic ... '". 6 In fact, this single documentary source constitutes the evidence that has been advanced to support the idea of initial resistance, and for Maynard Solomon it exemplifies how "during Salieri's tutelage of Schubert ... the young composer became for a short while so heated an opponent of Beethoven's music".
Here's the video of the work cited above:
Full article here: https://www.academia.edu/59109677/Wr...and_Schuberts_ Early_Opinion_of_Beethoven?email_work_card=view-paper
By Christopher Gibbs
2003, Current Musicology
Edited extract: In 1822, Schubert dedicated his Variations on a French Theme for Piano Four-Hands, Op. 10 (D624) to Beethoven. This dedication was his most public and extravagant proclamation of an abiding reverence for the older master that he held until his dying day. Indeed, if Ferdinand Schubert is to be believed, his younger brother's last wish was to be buried near Beethoven, which is exactly what happened. A lifelong devotion is implied in Schubert's letters' and plainly stated in the recollections of family and friends. 2 The impress and challenge of Beethoven's music on Schubert's is also apparent from the start of his compositional career, and only intensified, I believe, as he matured and engaged with it ever more directly. 3 Beyond purely compositional matters, Schubert modeled his professional career on Beethoven's in crucial respects and benefited from his relations with many of the same performers, publishers, patrons, and critics who were involved with the older composer. Contemporaries frequently made comparisons between their compositions; as we shall see, critics usually mentioned Beethoven when reviewing Schubert's piano and chamber works. 4 While these circumstances are unsurprising-Beethoven was, after all, the preeminent composer of the time and the two men lived in the same city throughout Schubert's life-there is one sour note: Schubert's alleged hostility, early in his career, to Beethoven's music. In the Beethoven-Handbuch, for example, Theodor von Frimmel writes that "Under Salieri's influence, Schubert became alienated from Beethoven". 5 Alfred Einstein asserts that "Schubert was deeply disturbed by Beethoven, as was every Romantic. As a young man (on June 16, 1816), he even made a very critical reference to Beethoven's 'eccentricity, which unites the tragic with the comic ... '". 6 In fact, this single documentary source constitutes the evidence that has been advanced to support the idea of initial resistance, and for Maynard Solomon it exemplifies how "during Salieri's tutelage of Schubert ... the young composer became for a short while so heated an opponent of Beethoven's music".
Here's the video of the work cited above:
Full article here: https://www.academia.edu/59109677/Wr...and_Schuberts_ Early_Opinion_of_Beethoven?email_work_card=view-paper
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