The Unfinished Piano Sonatas of Franz Schubert Javier ... - Ethesis

IV Of Changes and Operatic Hopes
stock and allow himself time to hone his skills in order to tackle something genuinely
his own and integrate the tonal and formal idiosyncrasies of his musical language with
the firmly-established concepts of sonata form. Most of Schubert’s works prior to 1819
had taken the Viennese classics and Beethoven as their models. The more mature
Schubert may have felt a need to step aside for a while and explore some new directions
before he was ready to take up those earlier challenges again. With very few exceptions,
Schubert would not return to chamber music and the solo piano until 1824; but it would
then be with extraordinary results.
The other reason that may help to explain the lack of instrumental music
during these years is Schubert’s dedication to a genre which inspired him through much
of his life: the genre of opera. Over the five years from 1819 to 1823, Schubert was
involved in no less than eight stage projects, ranging from melodrama and Singspiel to
full-scale, through-composed opera. This might come as a surprise to many
Schubertians who tend not to think of Schubert as a composer of operas. The reality is
that, throughout his career, Schubert spent a great deal of time and effort on works for
the stage. Between 1811 and 1828, he undertook no fewer than twenty full-scale
dramatic works amounting to thousands of bars of music. A thorough analysis of
Schubert’s stage works is beyond the brief of this study; but as they represent the core
of his professional interest during these years and were formative for his overall career,
it seems wise to include a commentary of the musical and socio-political forces that
were shaping Schubert’s creative life at this time.
Like every professionally ambitious composer of the period, Schubert was
surely aware that opera was the medium through which he could make a name for
himself in Vienna. It was still (since the theatre of Baroque times) a crucial component
in the musical life of the capital, and any composer, perhaps with the exception of
Beethoven, would view operatic success as a path to social recognition and financial
security. This was especially the case for composers like Schubert who lacked the
performance skills – and the personality – required for a solo-artist career. Stage works,
and opera in particular, could be the springboard to fame.
Throughout the 1820s, the Viennese operatic world was largely shaped by two
factors: the strict censorship applied by the Metternich regime; and the extraordinary
success of Italian operas, especially those of Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868). The state’s
fierce control of any ideas that were presented on Viennese stages proved crucial for the
development of theatre and opera at that time. Librettists were forced to choose
between shaping their works within the political restrictions or leaving the Imperial
capital to work in the humble obscurity of provincial theatres. The result in Vienna was,
generally speaking, a mild and innocuous cultural life and, in the case of the theatre,
poor quality libretti – a fact that significantly shaped Schubert’s operatic career. Even
more important in practical terms and something that proved decisive for the evolution
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