thinking about Schubert

Listening to Schubert's Trio in E Flat, one of my favorite pieces of music, (hear it here on a clip from Barry Lyndon) over dinner tonight led to reading up on his life online. He died at the age of 31, and wide appreciation of his music during his lifetime was limited at best. He was never able to secure adequate permanent employment, and for most of his career he relied on the support of friends and family. In this short career, he managed to write nearly 1000 works.

Besides his early death, another heart breaking fact was that In 1994 musicologist Rita Steblin discovered Schubert's marriage petition in the attic of the Lichtental church. This document shows that Schubert had intended to marry Therese Grob, but was hindered by the harsh marriage consent law of 1815, which required the ability to show the means to support a family. In November 1816, after failing to gain a position at Laibach, Schubert sent Grob a collection of songs, which were retained by her family into the 20th century.