A Schubertiade is an event held to celebrate the music of Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

.

History

During Schubert's lifetime, these events were generally informal, unadvertised gatherings, held at private homes. While in those years many Schubertiades included the composer's participation, this was not necessary, and they were sometimes held in places other than Vienna, where Schubert spent most of his life.

Schubertiades in early 19th-century Vienna were typically sponsored by wealthier friends or aficionados of Schubert's music. In addition to Schubert's music, they often also featured poetry readings, dancing, and other sociable pastimes. Attendees numbered from a handful to over one hundred. Schubert's friend Leopold Kupelwieser claimed to hold them on his own, writing, "I treat myself to a Schubertiade now and again".

Modern Schubertiades are more likely to be formal affairs, presented as concerts or festivals devoted to Schubert's music.

Depictions

There are two famous depictions of Schubertiades. The first is an 1868 drawing made by Schubert contemporary Moritz von Schwind

Moritz von Schwind

thumb|Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860Moritz von Schwind was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna.Moritz von Schwind received rudimentary training and spent a happy and carefree youth in Vienna. Among his companions was the composer Schubert, some of whose songs he illustrated...

, which shows a relatively intimate scene. The drawing shows Schubert at the piano, with his circle of friends surrounding him. The woman in the painting on the wall is Schubert's alleged, unrequited love, the Countess Karoline Esterházy.

In contrast, the 1897 depiction by Julius Schmid

Julius Schmid

Julius Schmidt was the creator of the Sheik condom and the Ramses condom. .-Biography:He was born Jewish in Schorndorf, Germany on March 17, 1865. He emigrated to New York City at the age of 17, in 1882. He founded Schmid Laboratories in Little Falls, New Jersey in 1883....

is a somewhat more formal affair, and the people in the painting are not recognizably Schubert's friends.

Weblinks

• Schubertiade Vorarlberg
• Schubertiade im Ettlinger Schloss - Forum für Liedkunst
• Schubertiade Schloss Eyb
• http://www.schubertiade-zuerich.ch / Schubertiade Zuerich
• Schubertiade Vilabertran