I spent most of today in the company of a Schubert scholar, enthusiast and performer. Graham Johnson has so deep an understanding of both the music, and the context in which Schubert lived and wrote it, that I find these talks the perfect non-musical accompaniment to music of exquisite beauty with which there is no parallel. That Schubert died at the height of his powers is one of the tragedies of European, indeed, World culture, yet what he left to us is music that can be listened to again and again and never lose its magic, just as it changes as one grows older. I am so grateful that Hyperion and Graham embarked on their Schubert recordings, many of which are on the shelf behind me. The literary critic George Steiner once said "Absolute tragedy is very rare', and as Graham points out, despair in Schubert is never absolute, all consuming -at that moment when the logic seems to suggest defeat, he summons a ray of light, of hope and reconciliation with his condition, and it leaves in the mind and heart a gratitude as well as consolation, peace rather war, acceptance rather than rejection. This is art at its most noble and human, and it speaks to us with the only critical absolute -absolute sincerity.
We should not find tragedy in the life and death of Schubert. His existence was a triumph of the highest level in European and World musical culture. Life expectancy in the 19th century was about 36 years, not much more than Schubert's life. We are unable to know the balance of positives in his life, of limitless variations in the human spirit. Instead, we should feel blessed by the gift of his work, which is so incredible coming from one individual. We should enjoy free of sadness every note he wrote, this could be the best tribute to him. Our mind should be able to find happiness with every music that has beauty, regardless of its specific intent. In this way, Schubert's Ständchen can be a joyful song full of hope. And all his 600+ songs regardless of major or minor tonality should bring us joy!
Not really. His immune system was so shattered by the mercury treatment he received years before that he would have died of a cold. Here is an extract from a description of what the man endured with the link for the full report -"In today’s world, people often disregard syphilis, because an early prescription of penicillin is sufficient to treat the condition. Unfortunately for Schubert, the popular treatment by physicians then was to place the patient in a sealed room, and cover the patient’s body with mercury. The patients were therefore forbidden to change their underwear or bed sheets. The treatment would cause the mouth cavity to heat up and taste of metal, which adversely affected the patient’s appetite. The consequences included mouth cavity pains, difficulty swallowing, excessive drooling, diarrhea, vomiting and excess urination. The doctors explained to the patients that these were simply the side effects of effective treatment. But in fact, these are symptoms of mercury poisoning." interlude.hk/franz-schuberts-illness-the-melancholy-of-an-autumnal-sunset/
By the time of his death Schubert's syphilis was actually in a state of remission . Fortunately he never went through all the progressing stages of this terrible disease until the lethal one; that rather slow progress can often take several decades with long pauses of remission in between, which can last for years. He simply died too young. He possibly died of an acute infection, probably a sort of typhoid fever. Three days before his death he was diagnosed by his doctors with "typhus abdominalis", the most probable cause of his death.
I thought it was widely known that his Syphilis was not the cause of his death. He would eventually have ended up like Donizietti, Schumann and Smetana had he survived longer.
I spent most of today in the company of a Schubert scholar, enthusiast and performer. Graham Johnson has so deep an understanding of both the music, and the context in which Schubert lived and wrote it, that I find these talks the perfect non-musical accompaniment to music of exquisite beauty with which there is no parallel. That Schubert died at the height of his powers is one of the tragedies of European, indeed, World culture, yet what he left to us is music that can be listened to again and again and never lose its magic, just as it changes as one grows older. I am so grateful that Hyperion and Graham embarked on their Schubert recordings, many of which are on the shelf behind me. The literary critic George Steiner once said "Absolute tragedy is very rare', and as Graham points out, despair in Schubert is never absolute, all consuming -at that moment when the logic seems to suggest defeat, he summons a ray of light, of hope and reconciliation with his condition, and it leaves in the mind and heart a gratitude as well as consolation, peace rather war, acceptance rather than rejection. This is art at its most noble and human, and it speaks to us with the only critical absolute -absolute sincerity.
We should not find tragedy in the life and death of Schubert. His existence was a triumph of the highest level in European and World musical culture. Life expectancy in the 19th century was about 36 years, not much more than Schubert's life. We are unable to know the balance of positives in his life, of limitless variations in the human spirit. Instead, we should feel blessed by the gift of his work, which is so incredible coming from one individual. We should enjoy free of sadness every note he wrote, this could be the best tribute to him. Our mind should be able to find happiness with every music that has beauty, regardless of its specific intent. In this way, Schubert's Ständchen can be a joyful song full of hope. And all his 600+ songs regardless of major or minor tonality should bring us joy!
Immensely interesting and informative. Only qualm is Graham speculating about his sexuality , that felt forced and irrelevant to Schuberts genius.
Yes, Graham's speculation about Schubert's sexuality should be totally irrelevant.
Someone's sexuality is a very large part of their soul and their psyche, even if if you find speaking about sex with such a Puritanical mindset.
Outstanding scholarship. Humbling and inspiring in equal measure. We are so indebted to GJ for these invaluable insights. Thank you.
From Australia, thanks. So interesting and I learnt so much.
Moved to tears. Thank you.
Grandioso trabajo sobre la vida y obra de Schubert, uno de mis compositores favoritos. Saludos desde Cali, Colombia
Großartig. Danke, Wigmore Hall.
Grazie!
mr. johnson, ihre presentation war wie ein liederzyklus und ich bin sicher unser franzl hätte ihnen sicher aufmerksam zugehört
So Schubert died of bad fish soup. Nikolai Demidenko and I both think this. He did NOT die of venereal disease.
Not really. His immune system was so shattered by the mercury treatment he received years before that he would have died of a cold. Here is an extract from a description of what the man endured with the link for the full report -"In today’s world, people often disregard syphilis, because an early prescription of penicillin is sufficient to treat the condition. Unfortunately for Schubert, the popular treatment by physicians then was to place the patient in a sealed room, and cover the patient’s body with mercury. The patients were therefore forbidden to change their underwear or bed sheets.
The treatment would cause the mouth cavity to heat up and taste of metal, which adversely affected the patient’s appetite. The consequences included mouth cavity pains, difficulty swallowing, excessive drooling, diarrhea, vomiting and excess urination. The doctors explained to the patients that these were simply the side effects of effective treatment. But in fact, these are symptoms of mercury poisoning."
interlude.hk/franz-schuberts-illness-the-melancholy-of-an-autumnal-sunset/
Indeed. But this bad fish soup apparently was contaminated with typhoid, and so he died of typhoid fever to the best of our knowledge.
@@DorianLS I'll need to check that but it seems plausible. By the way I'd recommend Gingerich's book 'Schubert's Beethoven project'.
By the time of his death Schubert's syphilis was actually in a state of remission .
Fortunately he never went through all the progressing stages of this terrible disease until the lethal one; that rather slow progress can often take several decades with long pauses of remission in between, which can last for years.
He simply died too young.
He possibly died of an acute infection, probably a sort of typhoid fever.
Three days before his death he was diagnosed by his doctors with "typhus abdominalis", the most probable cause of his death.
I thought it was widely known that his Syphilis was not the cause of his death.
He would eventually have ended up like Donizietti, Schumann and Smetana had he survived longer.