Franz Schubert's tragically short life was spent in one of Europe's most richly musical cities: a Vienna that worshipped Beethoven, adored Rossini, and thrilled to Paganini. Schubert, with the help of supportive friends who were themselves immersed in the arts, won fame for himself through songs and dances while aspiring to succeed with larger operas and symphonies. Christopher Gibbs considers how and what Schubert composed, taking a fresh look at this misunderstood figure, particularly the unfolding of his professional career, his relationship to Beethoven, the growth of his reputation and public image and the darker side of drinking, depression and sexual ambiguity. This searching and sympathetic biography questions the customary sentimental cliches and the recent revisionist views concerning this elusive genius.

This volume explores the culture in which the composer Franz Schubert (1797SH1828) lived and worked, and provides a basic outline of his life examined in relation to the most persistent myths and legends. Schubert's music is then explored according to genre, a chapter on his songs, another on his symphonies, and so forth. The final section looks at the reception of Schubert's music, primarily during the nineteenth century, and considers the performance tradition of his music.

During his short lifetime, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) contributed to a wide variety of musical genres, from intimate songs and dances to ambitious chamber pieces, symphonies, and operas. The essays and translated documents in "Franz Schubert and His World" examine his compositions and ties to the Viennese cultural context, revealing surprising and overlooked aspects of his music.

Contributors explore Schubert's youthful participation in the Nonsense Society, his circle of friends, and changing views about the composer during his life and in the century after his death. New insights are offered about the connections between Schubert's music and the popular theater of the day, his strategies for circumventing censorship, the musical and narrative relationships linking his song settings of poems by Gotthard Ludwig Kosegarten, and musical tributes he composed to commemorate the death of Beethoven just twenty months before his own. The book also includes translations of excerpts from a literary journal produced by Schubert's classmates and of Franz Liszt's essay on the opera "Alfonso und Estrella." In addition to the editors, the contributors are Leon Botstein, Lisa Feurzeig, John Gingerich, Kristina Muxfeldt, and Rita Steblin.

Franz Schubert's tragically short life was lived in one of Europe's most richly musical cities: a Vienna that worshipped Beethoven and where Rossini and Paganini drew crowds. Christopher Gibbs considers how and what Schubert composed, taking a fresh look at this misunderstood composer, particularly the unfolding of his professional career, his relationship to Beethoven, the growth of his reputation and public image and his darker side of drinking, depression and sexual ambiguity. This searching and sympathetic biography questions the customary sentimental clichés and the recent revisionist views concerning this elusive genius.

No nineteenth-century composer had more diverse ties to his contemporary world than Franz Liszt (1811-1886). At various points in his life he made his home in Vienna, Paris, Weimar, Rome, and Budapest. In his roles as keyboard virtuoso, conductor, master teacher, and abbe, he reinvented the concert experience, advanced a progressive agenda for symphonic and dramatic music, rethought the possibilities of church music and the oratorio, and transmitted the foundations of modern pianism.

The essays brought together in "Franz Liszt and His World" advance our understanding of the composer with fresh perspectives and an emphasis on historical contexts. Rainer Kleinertz examines Wagner's enthusiasm for Liszt's symphonic poem "Orpheus"; Christopher Gibbs discusses Liszt's pathbreaking Viennese concerts of 1838; Dana Gooley assesses Liszt against the backdrop of antivirtuosity polemics; Ryan Minor investigates two cantatas written in honor of Beethoven; Anna Celenza offers new insights about Liszt's experience of Italy; Susan Youens shows how Liszt's songs engage with the modernity of Heinrich Heine's poems; James Deaville looks at how publishers sustained Liszt's popularity; and Leon Botstein explores Liszt's role in the transformation of nineteenth-century preoccupations regarding religion, the nation, and art.

"Franz Liszt and His World" also includes key biographical and critical documents from Liszt's lifetime, which open new windows on how Liszt was viewed by his contemporaries and how he wished to be viewed by posterity. Introductions to and commentaries on these documents are provided by Peter Bloom, Jose Bowen, James Deaville, Allan Keiler, Rainer Kleinertz, Ralph Locke, Rena Charnin Mueller, and Benjamin Walton."

The Oxford Anthology of Western Music, Volume One: The Earliest Notations to the Early Eighteenth Century, accompanies chapters 1-11 of The Oxford History of Western Music, College Edition*, by Richard Taruskin and Christopher H. Gibbs (9780195097627).
From ancient Greek music and Christian plainchant to the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, this comprehensive volume includes a rich assortment of landmark musical scores. These include works found in many surveys as well as important pieces that are rarely anthologized, including Antoine de Fevin's Missa super Ave Maria; Adrian Willaert's Benedicta es; the Overture and Act 3 of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Atys; Dietrich Buxtehude's Durch Adams Fall; and an aria from Jean-Philippe Rameau's Castor et Pollux.
Designed with students in mind, this unique collection includes introductory essays at the beginning of each piece and an index of names and terms.
A corresponding set of recordings* (2 CDs) contains all musical examples from the anthology in high-quality MP3 format (9780199768288).
ALSO AVAILABLE*
Oxford Anthology of Western Music
Volume Two: The Mid-Eighteenth Century to the Late Nineteenth Century
Edited by Klara Moricz and David E. Schneider
V2 Print Anthology: 9780199768264
V2 Recorded Anthology (3 CDs): 9780199768295
Oxford Anthology of Western Music
Volume Three: The Twentieth Century
Edited by Klara Moricz and David E. Schneider
V3 Print Anthology: 9780199768271
V3 Recorded Anthology (2 CDs): 9780199768301
Oxford Recorded Anthology of Western Music
Concise Edition
Recorded Anthology (3 CDs): 9780199768318
The Oxford History of Western Music
College Edition
Richard Taruskin and Christopher H. Gibbs
Textbook: 9780195097627
* Sold separately"