Great Composers - Lesson #1: Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Objectives

• Students will be able to recall the major events from Franz Schubert’s childhood.
• Students will be able to explain the significance of Schubert’s music.
• Students will be able to discuss the relationship between Schubert’s emotions and his music, expanding the context to fit into their own lives.

Materials

For the instructor:

• Piano (can be substituted with audio recordings if necessary)
• Speaker for audio excerpts
• Prepare the following excerpts: ________

Students will need blank paper and the handouts provided.

Summary

This lecture on Franz Schubert aims to familiarize a younger audience with the brilliance behind a man who only lived 31 years, yet became one of the most prominent classical/romantic composers after his death.

Introduction

• Listen: Ave Maria (fragment)
• Ask: What do you notice in this music? Are there any emotions or feelings that come to mind? Is it sad? Happy? Peaceful?
• (optional) Why do you think Schubert wrote this piece?

Outline

Schubert’s Childhood

• Read: Schubert was born in a small house in Vienna to a poor family in 1797.
• Ask: How many siblings do you have?
• Read: Schubert was so musically talented that he grabbed his father’s attention amongst all of his siblings, and his father sent him off for a formal music education.
• Listen: Have students listen to one of Schubert’s earliest works, Gretchen am Spinnrade (have students sing along if needed) and highlight: Schubert was as old as me when he wrote that piece! (17 years)
• Activity (optional): Imagine that you are part of a family with 14 children in a small house. How would your life be different? Your hobbies? How would you have gotten the attention of your parents and siblings? Have students visualize this scenario and/or draw on a piece of paper.

Schubert’s Music

• Read: “Franz Schubert wrote music that sounds like feelings. His songs tell stories, his piano paints pictures, and his music reminds us that emotions matter.”
• Activity: Schubert’s emotion chart (can be substituted with bingo if time permits)
• Print out this emotion chart beforehand: Schubert Feeling Chart
• Ask students to choose an emotion from the list, and I will play an excerpt that embodies that emotion. Repeat as many times as time permits.
• Read (optional): Give a brief overview on Schubert and his relationship with Beethoven. Schubert idolized him so much that he asked to be buried next to him when he died.

Schubert’s Later Years

• Read: Franz Schubert caught a very serious illness in his twenties. He struggled with his health, and every day it was a challenge to get out of bed. However, his music became more meaningful to him, especially because it brought him comfort and a chance to forget about his illness.
• Listen: Live excerpts from Schubert’s last piano sonatas
• Ask: Have you ever started a drawing but didn’t finish? How did you feel?
• Read: Schubert often left pieces unfinished because he wanted to work on something else. It’s similar to how we get started on something, get distracted, and never finish it. People must now put the fragments together like a musical puzzle. His “Unfinished” Symphony may have been the beginning of the greatest symphony in classical music, but we will never know its ending.
• Listen: Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony
• Activity: “Unfinished” drawings — Students will receive blank paper and/or whiteboards to complete this activity. Have students form pairs. Decide who is partner A and who is partner B. Partner B will close their eyes. Partner A will begin drawing a picture to represent a word that I have written on the board, and they cannot tell partner B what the word is. Suddenly, I will interrupt partner A. At this point, partner A will hand partner B their unfinished drawing, and partner B will attempt to finish the drawing. Partner A cannot help partner B reconstruct the drawing. After the activity, partner A will discuss the similarities and differences in their interpretations of the drawing.

Conclusion

• Ask: What is something new you learned today?
• Read: People don’t just tell stories through words and pictures. For Franz Schubert, it was music, and for him, a picture was worth a thousand words, and a song was worth a thousand pictures. As an introverted person just like Franz Schubert, I have been scared of giving public appearances. Being here today, I want to thank everyone for your attention, as well as Franz Schubert himself for all this wonderful music.

Additional activities (optional)

• Musical “tree” guessing game — Make a tree chart worksheet with each intersection splitting off into two branches. Label each branch with a simple characteristic of the song that you are playing (ex. First branch: happy, sad; second branch: piano, violin). Each characteristic that the student determines correctly will lead them to the name of the piece, as well as some additional information about the piece’s background and style.
• Schubert’s music bingo — Use this chart: Schubert Feeling Chart. Play excerpts one by one, repeating them if necessary. Have students fill out their feeling bingo sheets based on what emotions they hear in the music. Note that the classifications are subjective. Attached is a sample bank of excerpts and their respective emotional classifications.
• Schubert sing-along — Choose an easy piece for piano and voice. Play only the melody to the students then have them sing along. Add in the piano accompaniment. Afterwards, give students a brief overview of the piece that they just sang. Ideas: “Die Forelle” (The Trout), “Der Wanderer” (The Wanderer).

Resources

• Franz Schubert - Wikipedia
• Franz Schubert (1797–1828): Biography, Music + More | CMS
• Franz Schubert | Biography, Music, & Facts | Britannica
• Schubert Feeling Chart