The son of a music-loving schoolmaster Franz Schubert was born in Vienna. When he was eight years old he began learning to play the violin from his father, and piano from his elder brother Ignaz. He was admitted as chorister at Imperial Chapel in Vienna in 1808, and eventually became leader and often conductor of the chapel orchestra.
Schubert wrote his first song at age fourteen. Throughout his short life (he died at age 31), he wrote over 600 songs, two song cycles ("Die schöne Müllerin", 1823; Winterreise (1827), 8 symphonies, several operettas and melodramas, string quartets, piano trios, the Trout Quintet (1819), a string quintet, octet for wind and strings (1824), and piano sonatas and duets.
Deutsch's numbering (prefixed by "D")
of Schubert's works should always be used in preference to opus
numbers, which are chronologically inaccurate.
So much beautiful music - there are just too many - and it really is too difficult to choose any one favourite piece of Schubert's music, but here's a very small selection:
