Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/338

326 but it was published in 1830 in PF. score by Diabelli, as op. 128. The other compositions of the year 1816 are as numerous as usual. A fine trio for S.S.A. and PF. to the words of Klopstock's 'grosses Halleluja' (Lf. 41, no. 2); a Salve Regina in F, to German words, for 4 voices and organ (Feb. 21, 1816); the Angels' chorus from Faust, 'Christ ist erstanden,' dated June 1816—are also among the printed works. A Stabat Mater in F minor, to Klopstock's German words, dated Feb. 28, 1816, is still in MS. It is written for soprano, tenor, and bass solo, and chorus, and for an orchestra of the usual strings, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 1 contra-bassoon, 2 horns, 3 trombones, 2 trumpets and drums. These however are not uniformly employed: the trumpets and drums only appear for a few chords in Nos. 9 and 12; No. 5, an 8-part chorus, is accompanied by the wind alone, and No. 6, a tenor air, by the strings, with oboe solo. This interesting looking work was performed in 1841 by the Musik-Verein of Vienna, and in 1863 at the Altlerchenfelder church there, but has not yet been published. Two other MS. works are a Magnificat in C, for solos, chorus, and orchestra, dated Oct. 1816, and a duet for soprano and tenor with orchestra, to Latin words, 'Auguste jam Cœlestium,' dated Sept. 1816, both much tinctured by Mozart. There is also a 'Tantum ergo' in C for 4 voices and orchestra, Aug. 1816, and a fragment of a Requiem in E♭, July 1816; the first pages are wanting, and it ends with the 2nd bar of the 2nd Kyrie.

Of operas we find only one in 1816, probably because only one libretto came in his way. It is called 'Die Bürgschaft,' and is in 3 acts. The author of the words is not known; and the quotations in Kreissle show that they are in great part absolute rubbish. Schubert continued his task to the 3rd act, 15 numbers, and there stopped. The autograph, in Herr Dumba's possession, is dated May 1816, and no portion of it is printed.

The Symphonies of 1816 are two—the 4th, in C minor, entitled 'Tragic Symphony,' and dated April 1816; and the 5th, in B♭, for small orchestra, dated Sept. 1816–Oct. 3, 1816. The first of these—hardly 'tragic' so much as 'pathetic'—is a great advance on its predecessors; the Andante is individual and very beautiful, and the Finale wonderfully spirited. The other, though full of Mozart, is as gay and untrammelled as all Schubert's orchestral music of that day. It is sometimes entitled 'without Trumpets or Drums,' and is said to have been composed for the orchestra at the Gundelhof, which grew out of the Schubert Sunday afternoon quartets. 6 Neither work has yet been published in score, but they have often been played at the Crystal Palace, under Mr. Manns's direction, and are among the favourite works in the répertoire of that establishment. A string quartet in F; a string trio in B♭, apparently very good; a rondo in A for violin solo and quartet (June 1816); a violin concerto in C; 3 sonatinas for PF. and violin (op. 137); a PF. sonata in F, two movements of another in E; various marches for PF.; 12 Deutsche (waltzes); 6 Ecossaises, with the inscriptions 'Composed while a prisoner in my room at Erdberg' and 'Thank God'—probably the relic of some practical joke—are still existing.

Very little of the above, however interesting, can be said to be of real, first-rate, permanent value. But when we approach the songs of 1816 the case is altered. There are not quite so many with this date as there were with that of 1815, but there are 99 in all—41 printed and 58 in MS. Of Goethe there are splendid specimens, the three songs of the Harper, in 'Wilhelm Meister' (op. 12, Sept. 6), Mignon's 'Sehnsucht' song (op. 62, no. 4); Der Fischer; Der König in Thule (op. 5, no. 5), Jägers Abendlied, and Schäfersklagelied (op. 3), Wanderer's Nachthed (op. 4), Schwager Kronos (op. 19). Of Schiller there are the beautiful Ritter Toggenburg, Thekla's song (op. 58), etc., and to name only one other, the far-famed 'Wanderer,' by Schmidt of Lubeck.

These magnificent pieces are well known to every lover of Schubert, but they are not more valued than such exquisitely simple and touching little effusions as 'An eine Quelle' of Claudius (op. 109, no. 3), 'Der Abend' of Kosegarten (op. 118, no. 2), or 'Der Leidende' of Hölty (Lief. 50, no. 2), all equally bearing his stamp.

The lists of the songs of these two years throw a curious light on Schubert's musical activity and mode of proceeding. Dr. Johnson was said when he got hold of a book to 'tear the heart out of it,' and with Schubert it was very much the same. To read a poem, and at once to fasten upon it and transcribe it in music, seems to have been his natural course; and having done one he went at once to the next. A volume of Hölty, or Claudius, or Kosegarten came into his hands; he tore from it in a moment what struck him, and was not content with one song, but must have three, four, or five. Thus, in Oct. 1815, he evidently meets with Kosegarten's poems, and between the 15th and 19th sets seven of them. In March 1816 he sets five songs by Salis; in May, six by Hölty; in November, four by Claudius, three by Mayrhofer, and so on. To read these lists gives one a kind of visible image of the almost fierce eagerness with which he attacked his poetry, and of the inspiration with which the music rushed from his heart and through his pen—'everything that he touched,' says Schumann, 'turning into music.' Thus, at a later date, calling accidentally on Randhartinger, and his friend being summoned from the room, Schubert, to amuse himself in the