Last week I started a post dedicated to Franz Schubert's friends; as it grew and grew I decided to split it into two parts, and this is the second one. We talked at the first part about Joseph von Spaun, Johann Mayrhofer, Franz von Schober and Johann Michael Vogl; today I'm introducing a few more members of Schubert's circle.
Not all the friendships were long-lasting. The life in Vienna was hard in those years; at first because of the war, while Schubert was at Konvikt, then because of the repression of Klemens von Metternich's government. One victim of that situation was Johann Senn, a fellow student of Franz, who in 1813 lost his scholarship (that's to say, the possibility of study at the board school) because he was part of an intellectual circle and that wasn't [...]
I’d say that Franz Schubert was a good person. Not because of his music, it’s perfectly possible to be a wonderful artist and also a dreadful person, but because of his friends. That shy man of few words was much loved while alive and tenderly recalled after his death by a big number of friends; I think that someone who establishes such strong and lasting relationships is necessarily a good man. Call me naive.
Schubert made friends other than his family acquaintances, when he enrolled in the Stadtkonvikt, the boarding school where he studied, in October 1808. This group eventually spread and formed what is now known as his circle. The circle, of course, was not closed (and this makes me think that circle is not the best way to call it) [...]
I'm in love with a song. I've been listening to it from dawn to dusk during the last few days and when I wasn't listening, it was my earworm; I've been accompanied by that music most of my time. It wasn't love at first sight though. I had heard the song before, but this time, something sounded different. You know that falling in love is quite irrational some times. I couldn’t help but sharing with you this beautifully strange song, maybe someone of you might also fall in love. Or maybe not, perhaps you'll think it's not that good. Either way, I'm sure that talking about it will make easier the transition to a more calmed love (eternal love unless otherwise proved) and so I'll have room enough to fall in love again. Ladies and gentlemen, Abendlied (Evening song), by Robert Schumann.