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Nicholas Wilton

Nicholas Wilton

Nicholas Wilton (b. 1959) is a modern classical composer. He was born in Britain of an English father and a German mother. His first introduction to music was the Mozart and Schubert Lieder which his mother sang to her children. His original compositions were written for the piano, but more recently he has specialised in sacred choral music. Wilton, a Catholic, says he is inspired by the Catholic masters of the sixteenth century. His first CD was entitled simply Sacred Choral Music and contains a number of classical liturgical pieces. It is sung by the Magnificat choir and directed by Philip Cave.

External links


- [http://www.catholicmusic.co.uk/ Nicholas Wilton's website]

1959

1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It is also a song by The Sisters of Mercy on the album Floodland.

Events

January


- January 1 - Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin.
- January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when forces of Fidel Castro advance.
- January 2 - CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Backstage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Road of Life, and This is Nora Drake.
- January 2 - Castro's troops approach Havana.
- January 3 - Island of Addu in the Maldives declares independence.
- January 3 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
- January 4 - In Cuba rebel troops lead by Che Guevara and Glenfuego enter Havana.
- January 4 - In Léopoldville 42 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the Abako party.
- January 6 - Fidel Castro arrives in Havana.
- January 7 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
- January 8 - Charles De Gaulle inaugurated as the first president of French Fifth Republic.
- January 13 - Cuban communists execute 71 supporters of Fulgencio Batista.
- January 22 - Knox Mine Disaster - water breaches River Slope mine in Port Griffith, Pennsylvania - 12 miners dead.

February


- February 1 - A referendum in Switzerland turns down female suffrage.
- February 3 - The chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper goes down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing all four occupants on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died," popularized in Don McLean's song, "American Pie."
- February 6 - At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
- February 15 - Mattel's Barbie doll goes on sale in the USA.
- February 16 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.
- February 16 - Blizzard causes a massive power outage in Newfoundland.
- February 17 - USA launches Vanguard II weather satellite.
- February 18 - Jesus Sosa Blanco, murderer of 108 people, executed in Cuba.
- February 18 - Women in Nepal vote for the first time.
- February 19 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence.
- February 22 - Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
- February 26 - Author Walter Mene throws acid on Rubens painting in Munich.

March-May


- March 1 - USS Tuscaloosa, USS New Orleans, USS Tennessee and USS West Virginia struck from the Naval Vessel Register.
- March 1 – Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus from exile.
- March 8 - Last television appearance of The Marx Brothers, in The Incredible Jewel Robbery.
- March 9 - The Barbie doll debuts.
- March 17 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet and travels to India.
- March 18 - American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs bill allowing for Hawaiian statehood.
- March 19 - Two other islands join Addu in the United Suvadida Republic (abolished September 1963).
- March 31 - Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida is dedicated and opens its gates.
- March 31 - Dalai Lama leaves Tibet.
- April 9 - NASA announces its selection of seven military pilots to become the first US astronauts (see Mercury Seven).
- April 25 - The St. Lawrence Seaway linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean officially opens to shipping.

May-July


- May - First Ten Tors event held in Dartmoor.
- late May / early June - import tariffs lifted in the United Kingdom.
- May 24 - British Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day.
- June 3 - Singapore becomes a self governing crown colony of Britain with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister.
- June 5 - A new government of the State of Singapore is sworn in by Sir William Goode. Two former Ministers were re-elected to the Legislative Assembly.
- June 8 - The USS Barbero and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
- June 9 - The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
- June 14 - A three-front revolutionary invasion by air and sea takes place in the Dominican Republic consisting of exiles aided by Fidel Castro whose purpose was to overthrow dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Within a few days all but four are captured and executed. Trujillo is killed less than two years later by men partly inspired by the deaths of the 1959 martyrs.
- June 23 - Sean Lemass becomes the third Taoiseach of Ireland.
- June 23 - Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany (where he resumed a scientific career).
- June 26 - Queen Elizabeth II and US Dwight Eisenhower open Saint Lawrence Seaway.
- July 2 - Royal wedding in Belgium: Prince Albert marries the Italian princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria.
- July 4 - With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- July 7 - 14:28 UT Venus occulted the star Regulus. The rare event which will next occur on October 1, 2044 was used for determining the diameter of Venus and the structure of Venus' atmosphere.
- July 15 - Steel industry strike in USA.
- July 24 - At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, US vice-president Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev have a "kitchen debate."

August-December


- August 4 - Martial law declared in Laos.
- August 7 - Explorer program: The United States launches Explorer 6 from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- August 8 - Flood in Formosa leaves 2,000 dead.
- August 14 - Explorer VI sends the first picture of Earth from space
- August 15 - Cyprus gains independence.
- August 16 - Explorer VI sends back the first picture of Earth from space.
- August 21 - Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.
- August 24 - Cyprus joins United Nations.
- September 13 - Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon as the first man-made object.
- September 14 - Luna II reaches Moon as the first man-made object.
- September 15 - Russian probe Luna 2 sends back first photos of the far side of Earth's Moon.
- September 25 - Ceylon's prime minister SWRD Bandaranaike assassinated.
- October 12 - At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde.
- October 12 - Large scale diamond robbery in London.
- October 13 - USA launches Explorer VII.
- October 21 - Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi is arrested in Nyeri, Kenya.
- October 21 - In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
- October 31 - Riots in the Belgian Congo.
- October 31 - Lee Harvey Oswald announces in Moscow he won't ever return to US.
- November 1 - Ice Hockey: After being struck in the face with a hockey puck, Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Jacques Plante offered to return to play on the condition that he can wear his protective face mask. It was the first time such equipment was used in a regular NHL game.
- November 2 - Quiz show scandals: "Twenty-One" game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
- November 15 - Four members of the Herbert Clutter Family murdered at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas.
- November 19 - The Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel automobile, which had been introduced to the American public on "E Day" only two years earlier -- September 4, 1957.
- November 28 - Anti-USA demonstrations in Panama.
- December 1 - Cold War: Antarctic Treaty signed - 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a landmark treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent (this was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War).
- December 2 - Malpasset dam in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of Frejus - 412 dead.
- December 14 - Makarios selected first president of Cyprus.

Unknown date


- The neutrino is first experimentally detected, by Cowan and Reines.
- TAT-2 cable goes into operation.
- Workers World Party is founded by Sam Marcy.
- The first skull of Australopithecus is discovered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.
- Serengeti becomes a nature preserve.
- "Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry opens on Broadway in New York.

Births

Unknown date


- Claudia Benton, American murder victim (d. 1998)
- Graham Docherty, Scottish rugby player and businessman

January-February


- January 1 - Azali Assoumani, Comorese president
- January 6 - Kathy Sledge, American singer
- January 9 - Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- January 16 - Sade, Nigerian-born singer
- January 17 - Susanna Hoffs, American singer (The Bangles)
- January 24 - Nastassja Kinski, German actress
- January 27 - Keith Olbermann, American news correspondent and sportscaster
- February 4 - Lawrence Taylor, American football player
- February 14 - Renee Fleming, American soprano
- February 16 - John McEnroe, American tennis player
- February 22 - Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
- February 23 - Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
- February 26 - Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player

March-April


- March 6 - Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
- March 8 - Aidan Quinn, American actor
- March 10 -Mike Wallace, NASCAR race car driver
- March 9 Rodney A. Grant, American actor
- March 15 - Harold Baines, baseball player
- March 16 - Flavor Flav, American rapper
- March 16 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
- March 17 - Danny Ainge, American basketball player, coach, and baseball player
- March 18 - Luc Besson, French film producer, writer, and director
- March 21 - Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese composer
- March 22 - Matthew Modine, American actor
- March 29 - Perry Farrell, American musician
- April 3 - David Hyde Pierce, American actor
- April 10 - Brian Setzer, American guitarist (Stray Cats)
- April 16 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
- April 21 - Robert Smith, British musician (The Cure)
- April 22 - Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
- April 22 - Ryan Stiles, American actor
- April 27 - Sheena Easton, Scottish Singer
- April 30 - Stephen Harper, Canadian politician

May-June


- May 3 - Uma Bharati, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
- May 3 - Ben Elton, British comedian and writer
- May 5 - Steve Stevens, American guitarist
- May 14 - Patrick Bruel, French singer
- May 15 - Andrew Eldritch, British musician (The Sisters of Mercy)
- May 20 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, American singer (d. 1997)
- May 20 - Bronson Pinchot, American actor
- May 22 - Steven Morrissey, British singer
- May 29 - Adrian Paul, British actor
- June 12 - John Linnell, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
- June 26 - Mark McKinney, Canadian actor and comedian
- June 27 - Clint Boon, British musician (Inspiral Carpets)
- June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor

July-September


- July 3 - Julie Burchill, British journalist
- July 6 - Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
- July 7 - Ben Linder, American engineer (d. 1987)
- July 10 - Janet Julian, American actress
- July 11 - Richie Sambora, American musician
- July 11 - Suzanne Vega, American singer
- July 13 - Richard Leman, British field hockey player
- July 16 - Gary Anderson, American football player
- July 26 - Kevin Spacey, American actor
- July 29 - Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
- July 29 - Ruud Janssen, Dutch artist
- August 1 - Joe Elliott, lead singer for band Def Leppard.
- August 2 - Apollonia Kotero, American actress and singer
- August 3 - Koichi Tanaka, Japanese scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, American actress
- August 14 - Magic Johnson, American basketball player
- August 18 - Dorothy Bush Koch, sister of George W Bush and daughter of George H W Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush
- August 21 - Jim McMahon, American football player
- August 29 - Timothy Perry Shriver, son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and nephew of John F Kennedy and Robert F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy
- August 29 - Stephen Wolfram, British scientist
- August 30 - Mark 'Jacko' Jackson, Australian footballer and actor
- September 4 - Kevin Harrington, Australian actor
- September 8 - Mary Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy.
- September 14 - Morten Harket, Norwegian singer (a-ha)
- September 21 - Dave Coulier, American actor
- September 22 - James Mark Roth, American author, teacher, missionary, blogger
- September 29 - Benjamin Sehene, Rwandan writer

October-December


- October 3 - Fred Couples, American golfer
- October 3 - Greg Proops, American comedian
- October 3 - Jack Wagner, American actor
- October 9 - Michael Pare, American actor
- October 15 - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
- October 21 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
- October 23 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, American singer and parodist
- October 25 - Nancy Cartwright, American voice actress
- October 27 - Rick Carlisle, American basketball coach
- November 10 - Linda Cohn, American sports reporter
- November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
- November 23 - Dominique Dunne, American actress (d. 1982)
- November 25 - Charles Kennedy, Scottish politician
- November 28 - Judd Nelson, American actor
- December 13 - Nadia Russ, Ukrainian-born artist
- December 14 - Dana Childs, American radio personality and basketball coach
- December 21 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American athelete (d. 1998)
- December 27 - Gerina Dunwich, American author
- December 31 - Val Kilmer, American actor

Deaths


- January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (b. 1881)
- January 22 - Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (b. 1929)
- February 3 - Killed in a private plane crash:
  - The Big Bopper, American singer (b. 1930)
  - Buddy Holly, American singer (b. 1936)
  - Richie Valens, American singer (b. 1941)
- February 3 - Vincent Astor, American philanthropist (b. 1891)
- February 11 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1922)
- February 14 - Baby Dodds, American jazz musician (b. 1898)
- February 15 - Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- February 28 - Maxwell Anderson, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
- March 3 - Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
- March 4 - Maxey Long, American athlete (b. 1878)
- March 26 - Raymond Chandler, American novelist (b. 1888)
- March 29 - Barthélemy Boganda, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
- April 9 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)
- May 5 - Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
- May 14 - Sidney Bechet, American musician (b. 1897)
- May 24 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- June 9 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- June 23 - Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer, and musician
- July 11 - Charlie Parker, English cricketer (b. 1882)
- July 15 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss composer (b. 1880)
- July 15 - Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
- August 5 - Edgar Guest, English poet (b. 1881)
- August 6 - Preston Sturges, American film director and writer (b. 1898)
- August 15 - Blind Willie McTell, American singer (b. 1901)
- August 16 - Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)
- August 19 - Jacob Epstein, American-born sculptor (b. 1880)
- August 28 - Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (b. 1890)
- October 7 - Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
- October 14 - Errol Flynn, American actor (b. 1909)
- October 16 - George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b.1880)
- October 18 - Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (b. 1898)
- November 15 - Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
- November 17 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (b. 1887)
- November 17 - Nichijun Horigome, Japanese priest (b. 1898)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Emilio Gino Segrè, Owen Chamberlain
- Chemistry - Jaroslav Heyrovský
- Medicine - Severo Ochoa, Arthur Kornberg
- Literature - Salvatore Quasimodo
- Peace - Philip John Noel-Baker
- ko:1959년 ja:1959年 simple:1959 th:พ.ศ. 2502

German People

The Germans (German: die Deutschen), or the German people, are a nation in the meaning an ethnos (in German: Volk), defined more by a sense of sharing a common German culture and having a German mother tongue, than by citizenship or by being subjects to any particular country. In the world today, approximately 100 million have German as their mother tongue. If a distinction is made between Germans and Ethnic Germans, the latter are distinguished by living outside of the Federal Republic of Germany and not holding German citizenship. The concept of who is a German has varied. Until the 19th century, it denoted the speakers of German, and was a much more distinct concept than that of Germany, the land of the Germans. The Dutch and the Swiss had already split off and shaped separate national identities. Swiss Germans, however, retained their cultural identity as German, albeit as a specific German subculture. In the 19th century, after the Napoleonic Wars and the fall of the Holy Roman Empire (of the German nation), Austria and Prussia would emerge as two opposite poles in Germany, trying to re-establish the divided German nation. In 1870, Prussia attracted even Bavaria in the Franco-Prussian War and the creation of the German Empire as a German nation-state, effectively excluding the multi-ethnic Austrian Habsburg monarchy. From this time on, the connotation of Germans came to shift gradually from "speakers of the German language" to "Imperial Germans." Before World War II, most Austrians considered themselves German and denied the existence of a distinct Austrian ethnic identity. It was only after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that this began to change. After the world war, the Austrians increasingly saw themselves as a nation distinct from the other German-speaking areas of Europe, and today, polls indicate that no more than ten percent of the German-speaking Austrians see themselves as part of a larger German nation linked by blood or language. Ethnic Germans form an important minority group in several countries in central and eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, Romania) as well as in Namibia and in southern Brazil. Until the 1990s two million Ethnic Germans lived throughout the former Soviet Union, especially in Russia and Kazakhstan. In the United States 1990 census, 57 million people are fully or partly of German ancestry, forming the largest single ethnic group in the country. Most Americans of German descent live in the Mid-Atlantic states (especially Pennsylvania) and the northern Midwest (especially in Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Missouri.)

History

The Germans are a Germanic people. Ethnographers hypothesize that all Germanic speakers originally came from Scandinavia, which includes Jutland and the southwest shores of the Baltic Sea, before the Migrations Period. Prior to that time, their Indo-European ancestors may have migrated slowly from the Black Sea region and arrived in southern Scandinavia. Assimilation with other peoples is postulated, both with the prior inhabitants of Scandinavia and with peoples encountered on their way from Asia. Celtic peoples were then either assimilated, exterminated, or driven out during the expansion southwards from the Baltic.

Background

After the Migrations Period, Slavs expanded westwards at the same time as Germans expanded eastwards. The result was German colonization as far East as Romania, and Slavic colonization as far west as present-day Lübeck, at the Baltic Sea, Hamburg (connected to the North Sea), and along the rivers Elbe and Saale further South. After Christianization, the superior organization of the Catholic Church lent the upper hand for a German expansion at the expense of the Slavs, giving the medieval Drang nach Osten as a result. At the same time, naval innovations led to a German domination of trade in the Baltic Sea and Central–Eastern Europe through the Hanseatic League. Along the trade routes, Hanseatic trade stations became centers of Germanness where German urban law (Stadtrecht) was promoted by the presence of large, relatively wealthy German populations and their influence on the worldly powers. Thus people whom we today often consider "Germans", with a common culture and worldview very different from that of the surrounding rural peoples, colonized as far north of present-day Germany as Bergen (in Norway), Stockholm (in Sweden), and Vyborg (now in Russia). At the same time, it's important to note that the Hanseatic League was not exclusively German in any ethnic sense. Many towns who joined the league were outside of the Holy Roman Empire, and some of them ought not at all be characterized as German. Also the "German" Holy Roman Empire was not in any way exclusively German, and its course became much different than that of France or Great Britain. The Thirty Years War confirmed its dissolution; the Napoleonic Wars gave it its coup de grâce.

Ethnic nationalism

The reaction evoked in the decades after the Napoleonic Wars was a strong ethnic nationalism that emphasized, and sometimes overemphasized, the cultural bond between Germans. Later alloyed with the high standing and world-wide influence of German science at the end of the 19th century, and to some degree enhanced by Bismarck's military successes and the following 40 years of almost perpetual economic boom (the Gründerzeit), it gave the Germans an impression of cultural supremacy, particularly compared to the Slavs.

The Divided Germany

The idea that Germany is a divided nation is not new and not peculiar. Compared to the neighbors France, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark it was obvious and true. Since the Peace of Westphalia, Germany has been "one nation split in many countries". The Austrian–Prussian split, confirmed when Austria remained outside of the 1871 created Imperial Germany, was only the most prominent example. Most recently, the division between East Germany and West Germany kept the idea at life. The beginnings of the divided Germany may be traced back much further; to a Roman occupied Germania in the west and to Free Germania in the east. Starkly different ideologies have many times been developed due to conquerors and occupiers of sections of Germany. Poets talked of Zwei Herzen in einer Seele (Two hearts in one soul). The thought of a weak split nation gave birth to the idea of the advantage by unification. With Prince Bismarck as the great example, the Nazis went all the way and wanted to unite "all Germans" in one realm, which met a certain resistance among the Flemish and the Austrians, and much more so among the Swiss and the Dutch, who mostly were perfectly content with their perception of separate nations established in 1648.

Religion

Protestant Reformation started in the German culture, and Germans are both Protestants and Catholics. The late 19th century saw a strong movement among the Jewry in Germany and Austria to assimilate and define themselves as à priori Germans, i.e. as Germans of Jewish faith. In Conservative circles, this was not always quite appreciated, and for the Nazis it was an anathema. After the Nazi rule led to the annihilation of almost all domestic Jews, the controversy today is over the Gastarbeiter and later arrived refugees from ex-Yugoslavia, who often are Muslims.

Minorities

In recent years, the German-speaking countries of Europe have been confronted with demographic changes due to decades of immigration. These changes have led to renewed debates (especially in the Federal Republic of Germany) about who should be considered German. Non-ethnic Germans now make up more than 8 percent of the German population, mostly the descendants of guest workers who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s. Turks, Italians, Greeks, and people from the Balkans in southeast Europe form the largest single groups of non-ethnic Germans in the country. In addition, a significant number of German citizens (close to 5%), although traditionally considered ethnic Germans, are in fact foreign-born and thus often retain the cultural identities and languages or their native countries, a fact that clearly sets them apart from those born and raised in Germany, in the eyes of the latter. Ethnic German repatriates from the former Soviet Union constitute by far the largest such group and the second largest ethno-national minority group in Germany. Unlike these ethnic German repatriates, most non-German ethnic minorities in the country, including many who were born and raised in the Federal Republic, remain non-citizens. While citizenship laws have been recently relaxed to allow such individuals to become nationalized citizens, many chose not to give up allegiance to the countries of their ethnic roots and continue to live in Germany under an ambiguous status of an alien resident or a guest worker, especially that this status, though lacking certain political rights, often does not impede one's ability to work, get free public higher education and travel abroad. As a result, close to 10 million people permanently living in the Federal Republic today distinctly differ from the majority of the population in a variety of ways such as race, ethnicity, religion, language and culture, yet often fail to be recognized as minorities in official statistical sources due to the fact that such sources traditionally survey only German citizens, and under the so called jus sanguinis system, that has been in effect in Germany since the 19th century, and has only recently been partially replaced by the alternative jus soli system, citizens are, by definition, ethnic Germans. This situation contributes to the invisibility of Germany's minorities making Germany technically one of the most ethnically homogeneous nation in the world, whereas in all practicality the Federal Republic is today the most ethnically diverse country in Europe. Since the mid 1990s, however, changes in citizenship laws and the increased visibility of ethnic minorities seems to indicate that the concept of who is a German is slowly moving away from one that centered on ethnicity and heritage (jus sanguinis) to a concept based more on nationality, citizenship, and cultural identification (jus soli). The shift can be viewed as having been caused, in part, by both the pressure from the international community and the immigrants themselves to move to a more "modern" system citizenship based on place of birth and/or permanent residence, on the one hand, and internal pressure to limit what is viewed as excessively "generous" across-the-board granting of citizenship to everybody who can prove German heritage. Overall, mainstream public opinion seems to be shifting towards a more socially and culturally defined concept of "Germanness" rather than purely racial, ethnic or hereditary.

Conclusion

Historical persons like Kafka might be called Germans, or might not. Some would hold that they belong to the German culture, which is what decides if someone is considered a German or not, at least in certain contexts. Similarly, Händel, Mozart and Beethoven - who spent most of their lives in what is Austria today - may be considered to have been central within the German culture. The Dutch and the Flemish have another standard language, so conceptually they constitute no real problem. With regard to present-day conditions, many, probably most, Germans consider Austrians and the Swiss to have nationalities of their own, although their ethnicity may be defined as German.

See also


- List of Germans
- Germans of Romania
- Germans of Paraguay
- Germans of Poland
- Organised persecution of ethnic Germans
- Names of the German people and language in other languages

Reference

http://www.radiobras.gov.br/integras/00/integra_3105_1.htm Category:Ethnic groups of Europe
- Category:Germanic peoples ko:독일인 ja:ドイツ人

MozarT

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27 1756 – December 5, 1791) is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music and is widely regarded as one of history's greatest composers. His enormous output includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Many of his works are part of the standard concert repertory and are widely recognized as masterpieces of the classical style.

Life

Family and early childhood years

Mozart was born in Salzburg to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart. He was baptized the day after his birth at St. Rupert's Cathedral. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus (Gottlieb) Mozart. Of these names, the first two were saint's names not employed in everyday life and the fourth was variously translated in Mozart's lifetime form as Amadeus (Latin), Gottlieb (German), and Amadé (French); Mozart himself preferred the third (see Mozart's name). Mozart's musical ability became apparent when he was about three years old. His father Leopold was one of Europe's leading musical pedagogues, whose influential textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule ("Essay on the fundamentals of violin playing") was published in 1756, the year of Mozart's birth. Mozart received intensive musical training from his father, including instruction in both clavier and violin.

The years of travel

violin Leopold realized that he could earn a substantial income by showcasing his son as a Wunderkind in the courts of Europe. Mozart soon gained fame as a musical prodigy capable of such feats as playing blindfolded or competently improvising at length on difficult passages. His older sister Maria Anna was a talented pianist and accompanied her brother on the earlier tours. Mozart wrote a number of piano pieces, in particular duets and duos, to play with her. On one occasion when Mozart became very ill, Leopold expressed more concern over the loss of income than over his son's well-being. Constant travel and cold weather may have contributed to his subsequent illness later in life. During his formative years, Mozart completed several journeys throughout Europe, beginning with an exhibition in 1762 at the Court of the Elector of Bavaria in Munich, then in the same year at the Imperial Court in Vienna. A long concert tour spanning three and a half years followed, taking him with his father to the courts of Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, again to Paris, and back home via Zürich, Donaueschingen, and Munich. They went to Vienna again in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768. 1768 After one year in Salzburg, three trips to Italy followed: from December 1769 to March 1771, from August to December 1771, and from October 1772 to March 1773. During the first of these trips, Mozart met Andrea Luchesi in Venice and G.B. Martini in Bologna and was accepted as a member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica. A highlight of the Italian journey, now an almost legendary tale, occurred when he heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere once in performance in the Sistine Chapel then wrote it out in its entirety from memory, only returning to correct minor errors; he thus produced the first illegal copy of this closely-guarded property of the Vatican http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Documents_describing_Mozart%27s_transcription_of_the_Allegri_Miserere source documents. In September 1777, accompanied by his mother, Mozart began a tour of Europe that included Munich, Mannheim, and Paris, where his mother died. During his trips, Mozart met a great number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other great composers. A particularly important influence was Johann Christian Bach, who befriended Mozart in London in 1764–65. Bach's work is often taken to be an inspiration for the distinctive surface texture of Mozart's music, though not its architecture or drama. Even non-musicians caught Mozart's attention. He was so taken by the sound created by Benjamin Franklin's glass harmonica that he composed several pieces of music for it.

Mozart in Vienna

In 1781 Mozart visited Vienna in the company of his employer, the harsh Prince-Archbishop Colloredo, and soon fell out with him. According to Mozart's own testimony, he was dismissed - literally - "with a kick in the seat of the pants." Mozart chose to settle and develop his career in Vienna after its aristocracy began to take an interest in him. On August 4, 1782, he married Constanze Weber (1763-1842) (also spelled "Costanze"), albeit against his father's wishes. Although they had six children, only two survived infancy. Neither of these two, Karl Thomas (1784–1858) and Franz Xaver Wolfgang (later a minor composer himself; 1791–1844), married or had children. 1782 was an auspicious year for Mozart's career; his opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") was a great success and he began a series of concerts at which he premiered his own piano concertos as conductor and soloist. In 1782–83, Mozart became closely acquainted with the work of J.S. Bach and Handel as a result of the influence of Baron Gottfried van Swieten, who owned many manuscripts of works by the Baroque masters. Mozart's study of these works led first to a number of works imitating Baroque style and later had a powerful influence on his own personal musical language, for example the fugal passages in Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") and the 41st Symphony. In 1783, Wolfgang and Constanze visited Leopold in Salzburg, but the visit was not a success, as his father did not take to Constanze. However, the visit saw the composition of one of Mozart's great liturgical pieces, the Mass in C Minor, which was premiered in Salzburg, and is presently one of his best known works. In his early Vienna years, Mozart met Joseph Haydn and the two composers became friends. When Haydn visited Vienna, they sometimes played in an impromptu string quartet. Mozart's six quartets dedicated to Haydn date from 1782–85, and are often judged to be his response to Haydn's Opus 33 set from 1781. Haydn was soon in awe of Mozart, and when he first heard the last three of Mozart's series he told Leopold, "Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. He has taste, and what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition." During the years 1782-1785, Mozart put on a series of concerts that featured performances by himself of his piano concertos, widely considered among his greatest works. These concerts were financially successful. After 1785 Mozart performed far less and wrote only a few concertos. Maynard Solomon conjectures that he may have suffered from hand injuries; another possibility is that the fickle public ceased to attend the concerts in the same numbers. As an adult, Mozart, influenced by the ideas of the eighteenth century European Enlightenment, became a Freemason (1784). His lodge was a specifically Catholic rather than deistic one and he worked fervently and successfully to convert his father before the latter's death in 1787. His last opera, Die Zauberflöte, includes Masonic themes and allegory. He was in the same Masonic Lodge as Haydn. Mozart's life was fraught with financial difficulty and illness. Often, he received no payment for his work, and what sums he did receive were quickly consumed by his extravagant lifestyle. Mozart spent 1786 in Vienna in an apartment which may be visited today at Domgasse 5 behind St Stephen's Cathedral; it was here that Mozart composed Le nozze di Figaro. He followed this in 1787 with one of his greatest works, Don Giovanni.

Mozart and Prague

Mozart had a special relationship with Prague and the people of Prague. The audience here celebrated their Figaro with the much deserved reverence he was missing in his hometown Vienna. His quote "My Czechs understand me" became very famous in the Czech lands. Many tourists follow his tracks in Prague and visit the Mozart Museum of the Villa Bertramka where they can enjoy a chamber concert. In Prague, Don Giovanni premiered on October 29, 1787 at the Theatre of the Estates. In the later years of his life, Prague provided Mozart many financial resources from commissions. German poet Eduard Mörike's well-known novella Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag ("Mozart's on the way to Prague") is a fantasy about the composer's trip to that city in order to present Don Giovanni (the story, however, relates episodes that happen along the way, not in Prague itself).

Final illness and death

Mozart's final illness and death are difficult scholarly topics, obscured by Romantic legends and replete with conflicting theories. Scholars disagree about the course of decline in Mozart's health—particularly at what point Mozart became aware of his impending death and whether this awareness influenced his final works. The Romantic view holds that Mozart declined gradually and that his outlook and compositions paralleled this decline. In opposition to this, some contemporary scholarship points out correspondence from Mozart's final year indicating that he was in good cheer, as well as evidence that Mozart's death was sudden and a shock to his family and friends. Mozart's grave remains unmarked. His monument is his music. The actual cause of Mozart's death is also a matter of conjecture. His death record listed "hitziges Frieselfieber" ("severe miliary fever"), a description that does not suffice to identify the cause as it would be diagnosed in modern medicine. Dozens of theories have been proposed, including trichinosis, mercury poisoning, and rheumatic fever. The contemporary practice of bleeding medical patients is also cited as a contributing cause. Mozart died around 1 a.m. on December 5, 1791 while he was working on his final composition, the Requiem. A younger composer, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, was engaged by Constanze to complete the Requiem. He was not the only composer asked to complete the Requiem but is associated with it over others due to his significant contribution. According to popular legend, Mozart was penniless and forgotten when he died, and was buried in a pauper's grave. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in Vienna as before, he continued to have a well-paid job at court and receive substantial commissions from more distant parts of Europe, Prague in particular. Many of his begging letters survive but they are evidence not so much of poverty as of his habit of spending more than he earned. He was not buried in a "mass grave" but in a regular communal grave according to the 1783 laws. Though the original grave on St. Marx cemetery was lost, memorial gravestones have been placed there and on Zentralfriedhof. In 1809, Constanze married Danish diplomat Georg Nikolaus von Nissen (1761–1826). Being a fanatical admirer of Mozart, he edited vulgar passages out of many of the composer's letters and wrote a Mozart biography.

Works, musical style, and innovations

Mozart, along with Haydn and Beethoven, was a central representative of the classical style. His works spanned the period during which that style transformed from a predominantly simple musical language, as exemplified by the stile galant of his contemporaries such as Sammartini and Johann Stamitz, to a mature style which began to incorporate some of the contrapuntal complexities of the late Baroque, complexities against which the galant style was a reaction. Mozart's own stylistic development closely paralleled the maturing of the classical style as a whole. In addition, he was a prolific composer and wrote in almost every major genre, including symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintets, and the keyboard sonata. While none of these genres were new, the piano concerto was almost single-handedly developed and popularized by Mozart. Mozart also wrote a great deal of religious music including masses. He also composed many dances, divertimenti, serenades, and other forms of light entertainment. The central traits of the classical style can all be identified in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, transparency, and uncomplicated harmonic language are his hallmark, although in his later works he explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time. Mozart is commonly named along with Schubert as having a gift for pure, simple, and memorable melody, and to many listeners this is his most definitive characteristic. From his earliest life Mozart had a gift for imitating the music he heard; since he travelled widely, he acquired a rare collection of experiences from which to create his unique compositional language. When he went to London as a child, he met JC Bach and heard his music; when he went to Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna, he heard the work of composers active there, as well as the spectacular Mannheim orchestra; when he went to Italy, he encountered the Italian overture and the opera buffa, both of which were to be hugely influential on his development. Both in London and Italy, the galant style was all the rage: simple, light music, with a mania for cadencing, an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other chords, symmetrical phrases, and clearly articulated structures. This style, out of which the classical style evolved, was a reaction against the complexity of late Baroque music. Some of Mozart's early symphonies are essentially Italian overtures, with three movements running into each other; many are "homotonal" (each movement in the same key, with the slow movement in the tonic minor). Others mimic the works of JC Bach, and others show the simple, rounded binary forms commonly being written by composers in Vienna. As Mozart matured, he began to incorporate some features of the abandoned Baroque styles into his music. For example, the Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201, uses a frankly contrapuntal main theme; in addition, in it he began to experiment with irregular phrase lengths, something a galant composer such as Sammartini would never have done. Some of his quartets from 1773 have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had just published his opus 20 set; the influence of the Sturm und Drang period in German literature, with its brief foreshadowing of the Romantic era to come, is evident in some of the music of both composers of the time. In Mozarts's hands sonata form transformed from the binary models of the baroque into the fully mature form of his later works, with a multiple-theme exposition, extended, chromatic and contrapuntal development, recapitulation of all themes in the tonic key, and coda. Throughout his life Mozart switched his focus from writing instrumental music to writing operas, and back again. He wrote operas in each style current in Europe: opera buffa, such as The Marriage of Figaro or Così fan tutte; opera seria, such as Idomeneo or Don Giovanni; and Singspiel, of which Die Zauberflöte is probably the most famous example by any composer. In his later operas, he developed the use of subtle and slight changes of instrumentation, orchestration, and tone colour to express or highlight psychological or emotional states and dramatic shifts. Here his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted upon one another. The increasing sophistication of his use of the orchestra in his symphonies and concerti served as a resource in his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas reacted back upon his purely instrumental composition.

Influence

Many important composers since Mozart's time have worshipped or at least been in awe of Mozart. Rossini averred, "He is the only musician who had as much knowledge as genius, and as much genius as knowledge." Beethoven told his pupil Ries that he (Beethoven) would never be able to think of a melody as great as a certain one in the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24. Beethoven also paid homage to Mozart by writing sets of variations on several of his themes: for example, the two sets of variations for cello and piano on themes from Mozart's Magic Flute, and cadenzas to several of Mozart's piano concertos, most notably the Piano Concerto No. 20, K466 (see below for this system and an explanation). After the only meeting between the two composers, Mozart noted that Beethoven would "give the world something to talk about." As well, Tchaikovsky wrote his Mozartiana in praise of him; and Mahler died with the name "Mozart" on his lips. The variations theme of the opening movement of the A major piano sonata (K331) was used by Max Reger for his Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart, written in 1914 and among his best-known works in turn.

The Köchel catalogue

In the decades after Mozart's death there were several attempts to catalogue his compositions, but it was not until 1862 that Ludwig von Köchel succeeded in this enterprise. Many of his famous works are referred to by their Köchel catalogue number; for example, the Piano Concerto in A major is often referred to simply as "K488" or "KV488". The catalogue has undergone six revisions.

Myths and controversies

Mozart is unusual among composers for being the subject of an abundance of legend, much due to the problem that none of his early biographers knew him personally. They often resorted to fiction in order to produce a work. Many myths began soon after Mozart died, but few have any basis in fact. An example is the story that Mozart composed his Requiem with the belief it was for himself. Sorting out fabrications from real events is a vexing and continuous task for Mozart scholars mainly because of the prevalence of legend in scholarship. Dramatists and screenwriters, free from responsibilities of scholarship, have found excellent material among these legends. An especially popular case is the supposed rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri, and, in some versions, the tale that it was poison received from the latter that caused Mozart's death; this is the subject of Aleksandr Pushkin's play Mozart and Salieri, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Mozart et Salieri, and Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus. The last of these has been made into a feature-length film of the same name, which won eight Oscars. Shaffer's play attracted criticism for portraying Mozart as vulgar and loutish, a characterization felt by many to be unfairly exaggerated. According to an essay by A. Peter Brown, "the Mozart mania of the 1980s was initiated by Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus. It and the subsequent film directed by Milos Forman did more for Mozart's case than anything else in the two hundred years since the composer's death." Unfortunately, the same could be said of the popular myths surrounding Mozart, many of which are firmly rooted in the film. However, Shaffer and Forman have never claimed that Amadeus was based in fact, as pointed out by Shaffer himself- "From the start we agreed on one thing: we were not making an objective Life of Wolfgang Mozart. This cannot be stressed too strongly. Obviously Amadeus on stage was never intended to be a documentary biography of the composer, and the film is even less of one." Shaffer and Forman have often emphasised the fictitious elements of the movie, although they are equally quick to defend elements of the film which they believe are accurate but are disputed by Mozart historians. Shaffer has detailed in many interviews, including one featured as an extra on the DVD release of the film, how the dramatic narrative was inspired by the biblical story of Cain and Abel - one loved by God, and one scorned. Transcribed as creative rivalry between Mozart and Salieri, the notion of divine blessing and murderous jealousy provides the basic premise for Amadeus, although there is no historical evidence of any rivalry between the two composers. Conversely, it is well documented that Salieri frequently loaned Mozart musical scores from the court library, and Mozart selected Salieri to teach his son, Franz Xaver. One of the more detailed essays on the "dramatic licenses" present in Amadeus is written by Gregory Allen Robbins, titled "Mozart & Salieri, Cain & Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4". Another area of debate involves Mozart's prodigy as a composer from childhood until his death. While he was composing from the age of five, some musicologists have criticised many of his earlier works as being simplistic or forgettable; other critics revere Mozart for his works from even his teenage years. On the other hand, the claim by the film Amadeus that Mozart would finish most works in his head and write them down uncorrected in only one draft, as if by divine inspiration, is generally believed to be an exaggeration. Quite the contrary, Mozart was a studiously hard worker, and by his own admission his extensive knowledge and intellect about music developed out of many years' close study of the European musical tradition. It was indicated in a letter to his father that he could write a piece finished in his head on paper while composing another at the same time.

Media

See also


- :Category:Compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Mozartkugel, a confectionary named in his honor.
- Mozart effect, a disputed theory that certain kinds of music enhance performance on certain mental tasks; the researchers who coined the term used a piece by Mozart in their first study.
- Rock Me Amadeus, a 1986 song by Falco, based on Shaffer's film

Further reading


- Braunbehrens, Volkmar: Mozart in Vienna: 1781-1791, Timothy Bell Trans, HarperPerennial, 1986 ISBN 0-06-0997405-2
- Deutsch, Otto Erich: Mozart: A Documentary Biography, Eric Blom et al. Trans, Stanford University Press, 1965
- Aloys Greither: Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1962
- Robert W. Gutman: Mozart: A Cultural Biography, Random, 2001 ISBN 015100482X
- H. C. Robbins Landon: 1791: Mozart's Last Year, Thames & Hudson, 1988 ISBN 0500281076
- Massimo Mila: Lettura delle Nozze di Figaro, Einaudi, 1979 ISBN 8806189379
- Stanley Sadie, ed.: Mozart and his Operas, St. Martin's, 2000 ISBN 031224410X
- Maynard Solomon: Mozart: a life, Harper, 1996 ISBN 0060926929
- Hershel Jick: A Listener's Guide to Mozart's Music, Vantage, 1997 ISBN 0553123089
- Marcia Davenport: Mozart, The Chautauqua Press, 1932
- Wilhelm Otto Deutsch, Mozart und die Religion (2005), [http://www.w-o-deutsch.de/mozart]
- Nicholas Till: Mozart and the Enlightenment,Faber,Norton, 1992 ISBN 0571161693
- Gregory Allen Robbins, "Mozart & Salieri, Cain & Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4", [http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/robbins.htm]
- The Mozart Project, [http://www.mozartproject.org/]

External links


-
- [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ gallica.bnf.fr], picture of [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721746 Mozart], his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721742 mother], his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721745 father], his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721743 wife], and his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721744 familly] (bnf = French National Library).
- [http://www.wamozartfan.com WAMozartFan.com] The Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Educational Fanpage - resource for students, teachers and music lovers.
- [http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/mozart.html The Music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]
- [http://www.visit-salzburg.net/ Historic information on Salzburg and Mozart's birth and living place]
- [http://web.telia.com/~u57013916/Edlinger%20Mozart.htm "The last (and best) portrait of Mozart"], a biometrical statistical confirmation that the recently identified painting by Edlinger from ca 1790 indeed shows Mozart
- [http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/MIT_Music/Mozart/ Free recordings of Vesperae de Dominica by the MIT choir]
- [http://www.angelfire.com/tn3/papazacharias/mozart.html Mozart's Piano sonatas (midi)]
- [http://www.centrebouddhisteparis.org/En_Anglais/Sangharakshita_en_anglais/Mozart_and_pauses/mozart_and_pauses.html Mozart and pauses]
- [http://www.mozartproject.org The Mozart Project] – the life, times and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=MozartWA&preview=1 Mozart's Scores by Mutopia Project]
- [http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mozart.html Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, from Classical Music Pages]
- [http://members.aon.at/michaelorenz/jenamy The "Jenamy Concerto"] The proper name of Mozart's piano concerto K. 271 revealed
- [http://www.pianopublicdomain.com/library/Mozart/ Free Mozart piano sheet music in PDF format.]
- [http://www.mozartforum.com Mozart Forum] Exploring the world of Classical-Era Music (1770-1827), encompassing the music, personalities and accomplishments of Mozart and his contemporaries.
- [http://www.mozart-archiv.de/ Mozart Archive]
- [http://reverent.org/mozart_or_salieri.html Can you tell Mozart from Salieri?]A quiz.
- [http://www.w-o-deutsch.de/mozart], Wilhelm Otto Deutsch, Mozart und die Religion (2005)
- [http://www.pianosociety.com/index.php?id=28 Mozart at Piano Society] - Biography and various free recordings in MP3 format. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus ko:볼프강 아마데우스 모차르트 ms:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ja:ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト simple:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart th:โวล์ฟกัง อะมาเดอุส โมซาร์ท

Schubert

:Schubert redirects here. For other uses, see Schubert (disambiguation). Schubert (disambiguation) Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797 – November 19, 1828), was an Austrian composer, considered the last master of the Viennese Classical school and one of the earliest proponents of musical Romanticism. Although he died at the relatively young age of 31, he wrote some six hundred romantic songs (lieder) as well as many symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, some operas and many other works. With a natural flair for melodies and lyricism, Schubert is counted among the most gifted composers of the 19th century. Public appreciation of his work during his lifetime for a long time was thought to be limited, but when he died at the age of 31 over 100 of his compositions had already appeared in print. He was never able to secure adequate permanent employment and for most of his life was supported by friends or employed by his father.

Early life and education

Schubert was born in the Himmelpfortgrund, a small suburb of Vienna. His father, Franz, son of a Moravian peasant, was a parish schoolmaster; his mother, Elizabeth Vietz, had before her marriage been a cook in a Viennese family. Of their fifteen children (one illegitimate child was already born in 1783) ten died in infancy; the others were Ignaz (b. 1785), Ferdinand (b. 1794), Karl (b. 1796), Franz, and a daughter Theresia (b. 1801). The father, a man of worth and integrity, possessed some reputation as a teacher, and his school, on the Himmelpfortgrund, was well attended. He was also a fair amateur musician, and transmitted his own measure of skill to his two elder sons, Ignaz and Ferdinand. At the age of five Schubert began to receive regular instruction from his father. At six he entered the Himmelpfortgrund school where he spent some of the happiest years of his life. His musical education began about the same time. His father taught him the rudiments of the violin, his brother Ignaz the rudiments of the pianoforte. At seven, having outstripped these simple teachers, he was placed under the charge of Michael Holzer, the Kapellmeister of the Lichtenthal Church. Holzer's lessons seem to have consisted mainly in expressions of admiration, and the boy gained more from a friendly joiner's apprentice, who used to take him to a neighboring pianoforte warehouse and give him the opportunity of practicing on a better instrument than the poor home could afford. The unsatisfactory character of his early training was the more serious as, at that time, a composer had little chance of success unless he could appeal to the public as a performer, and for this the meagre education was never sufficient. In October 1808 he was received as a scholar at the Convict, which, under Antonio Salieri's direction, had become the chief music school of Vienna, and which had the special office of training the choristers for the Court Chapel. Here he remained until nearly seventeen, profiting little by the direct instruction but much by the practices of the school orchestra and by association with congenial comrades. Many of the most devoted friends of his life were among his schoolfellows: Spaun and Stadler and Holzapfel, and a score of others who helped him out of their slender pocket-money, bought him music-paper which he could not buy for himself, and gave him loyal support and encouragement. It was at the Convict, too, that he first made acquaintance with the overtures and symphonies of Mozart and between them and lighter pieces, and occasional visits to the opera, he began to lay for himself some foundation of musical knowledge. Meanwhile his genius was already showing itself in composition. A fantasia for piano duet (D.1, using the catalogue numbers by Otto Erich Deutsch), thirty-two close-written pages, is dated April 8-May 1, 1810: then followed, in 1811, three long vocal pieces (D.5 - D.7) written upon a plan which Zumsteeg had popularized, together with a "quintet-overture" (D.8), a string quartet (D.2), a second pianoforte fantasia and a number of songs. Through these early works Salieri became aware of the talented young man and decided to train him in musical composition and music theory. Schubert´s early essay in chamber music is noticeable, since we learn that at the time a regular quartet-party was established at his home "on Sundays and holidays," in which his two brothers played the violin, his father the cello and Franz himself the viola. It was the first germ of that amateur orchestra for which, in later years, many of his compositions were written. During the remainder of his stay at the Convict he wrote a good deal more chamber music, several songs, some miscellaneous pieces for the pianoforte and, among his more ambitious efforts, a Kyrie (D.31) and Salve Regina (D.27), an octet for wind instruments (D.72/72a) -- said to commemorate the death of his mother, which took place in 1812 -- a cantata (D.110), words and music, for his father's name-day in 1813, and the closing work of his school-life, his first symphony (D.82).

Teacher at his father's school

At the end of 1813 he left the Convict, and, to avoid military service, entered his father's school as teacher of the lowest class. His father had remarried in the meantime, to Anna Kleyenboeck, the daughter of a silk dealer from the suburb Gumpendorf. For over two years the young man endured the drudgery of the work, which, we are told, he performed with very indifferent success. There were, however, other interests to compensate. He received private lessons in composition from Salieri, who did more for Schubert’s training than any of his other teachers. As Salieri was one of the first composers to add the specific sonority of the Biedermeier period to Viennese church music, it is not surprising that Schubert´s early sacred works are directly linked to his teacher´s church music of these days. Also, Salieri´s great amount of songs in several languages echo in Schubert´s early song output. His first completed opera-- Des Teufels Lustschloss (D.84) -- and his first Mass -- in F major (D.105) -- were both written in 1814, and to the same year belong three string quartets, many smaller instrumental pieces, the first movement of the Symphony no.2 in B-flat major (D.125) and seventeen songs, which include such masterpieces as Der Taucher (D.77/111) and Gretchen am Spinnrade (D.118, published as Op.2). But even this activity was far outpaced by that of the year 1815. In this year, despite his schoolwork, his lessons with Salieri and the many distractions of Viennese life, he produced an amount of music the record of which is almost incredible. Schubert's second symphony in B-flat (D.125) was finished, and a third, in D major (D.200), added soon afterwards. The composer also completed two Masses, in G (D.167) and B-flat (D.324), the former written within six days, a new Dona Nobis for the Mass in F, a Stabat Mater and a Salve Regina (D.223). Opera was represented by no less than five works, of which three were completed-- Der vierjährige Posten (D.190), Fernando (D.220) and Claudine von Villabella (D.239)-- and two, Adrast (D.137) and Die Freunde von Salamanka (D.326), apparently left unfinished. Besides these the list includes a string quartet in G minor, four sonatas and several smaller compositions for piano, and, by way of climax, 146 songs, some of which are of considerable length, and of which eight are dated Oct. 15, and seven Oct. 19. In December 1814 Schubert made acquaintance with the poet Johann Mayrhofer: an acquaintance which, according to his usual habit, soon ripened into a warm and intimate friendship. They were singularly unlike in temperament: Schubert frank, open and sunny, with brief fits of depression, and sudden outbursts of boisterous high spirits; Mayrhofer grim and saturnine, a silent man who regarded life chiefly as a test of endurance. The friendship, as will be seen later, was of service to Schubert in more than one way.

Supported by friends

As 1815 was the most-prolific period of Schubert's life, so 1816 saw the first real change in his fortunes. Somewhere about the turn of the year Spaun surprised him in the composition of Erlkönig (D.328, published as Op.1) -- Goethe's poem propped among a heap of exercise books, and the boy at white-heat of inspiration "hurling" the notes on the music-paper. A few weeks later Franz von Schober, a student of good family and some means, who had heard some of Schubert's songs at Spaun's house, came to pay a visit to the composer and proposed to carry him off from school-life and give him freedom to practice his art in peace. The proposal was particularly opportune, for Schubert had just made an unsuccessful application for the post of Kapellmeister at Laibach (now Ljubljana), and was feeling more acutely than ever the slavery of the classroom. His father's consent was readily given, and before the end of the spring he was installed as a guest in Schober's lodgings. For a time he attempted to increase the household resources by giving music lessons, but they were soon abandoned, and he devoted himself to composition. "I write all day," he said later to an inquiring visitor, "and when I have finished one piece I begin another." The works of 1816 include three ceremonial cantatas, one written for Salieri's Jubilee on June 16 (D.407/441); the "Prometheus" cantata (D.451) eight days later, for students of professor Heinrich Joseph Watteroth who paid the composer an honorarium ("the first time," said the journal, "that I have composed for money"), and one, on a foolish philanthropic libretto, for Herr Joseph Spendou "Founder and Principal of the Schoolmasters' Widows' Fund" (D.472). Of more importance are two new symphonies, No. 4 in C minor (D.417), called the "Tragic symphony", with a striking andante, No. 5 in B-flat (D.485), as bright and fresh as a symphony of Mozart: some numbers of church music, fuller and more mature than any of their predecessors, and over a hundred songs, among which are some of his finest settings of Goethe and Schiller. There is also an opera, "Die Bürgschaft" (D.435), spoiled by an illiterate libretto, but of interest as showing how continually his mind was turned towards the theatre. All this time his circle of friends was steadily widening. Mayrhofer introduced him to Johann Michael Vogl, a famous baritone, who did him good service by performing his songs in the salons of Vienna; Anselm Hüttenbrenner and his brother Joseph ranged themselves among his most devoted admirers; Joseph von Gahy, an excellent pianist, played his sonatas and fantasias; the Sonnleithners, a burgher family whose eldest son had been at the Convict, gave him free access to their home, and organized in his honor musical parties which soon assumed the name of Schubertiaden. The material needs of life were supplied without much difficulty. No doubt Schubert was entirely penniless, for he had given up teaching, he could earn nothing by public performance, and, as yet, no publisher would take his music at a gift; but his friends came to his aid with true Bohemian generosity-- one found him lodging, another found him appliances, they took their meals together and the man who had any money paid the score. Schubert was always the leader of the party, and was known by half a dozen affectionate nicknames, of which the most characteristic is kann er 'was? ("Is he able?"), his usual question when a new acquaintance was proposed. 1818, though, like its predecessor, comparatively unfertile in composition, was in two respects a memorable year. It saw the second public performance of a work of Schubert's (the first one had been the performance of the Mass in F-major in September 1814 in Lichtental)-- an overture in the Italian style written as an avowed burlesque of Rossini, and played in all seriousness at a Jail concert on March 1. It also saw the beginning of his only official appointment, the post of music-master to the family of Count Johann von Esterhazy at Želiezovce, Slovakia, then in the Kingdom of Hungary, where he spent the summer amid pleasant and congenial surroundings. The compositions of the year include a symphony in C major (D.589), a certain amount of four-hand pianoforte music for his pupils at Želiezovce and a few songs, among which are Einsamkeit (D.620), Marienbild (D.623) and the Litaney. On his return to Vienna in the autumn he found that von Schober had no room for him, and took up his residence with Mayrhofer. There his life continued on its accustomed lines. Every morning he began composing as soon as he was out of bed, wrote till two o'clock, then dined and took a country walk, then returned to composition or,