Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the art song "Erlkönig" , the Piano Trout Quintet in A major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the "Great" Symphony No. 9 in C major, a String Quintet, the three last piano sonatas, the opera Fierrabras, the incidental music to the play Rosamunde, and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. He was remarkably prolific, writing over 1,500 works in his short career. His compositional style progressed rapidly throughout his short life. The largest number of his compositions are songs for solo voice and piano (roughly 630). Schubert also composed a considerable number of secular works for two or more voices, namely part songs, choruses and cantatas. He completed eight orchestral overtures and seven complete symphonies, in addition to fragments of six others. While he composed no concertos, he did write three concertante works for violin and orchestra. Schubert wrote a large body of music for solo piano, including eleven incontrovertibly completed sonatas and at least eleven more in varying states of completion, numerous miscellaneous works and many short dances, in addition to producing a large set of works for piano four hands. He also wrote over fifty chamber works, including some fragmentary works. Schubert's sacred output includes seven masses, one oratorio and one requiem, among other mass movements and numerous smaller compositions. He completed only eleven of his twenty stage works.

"Nähe des Geliebten" (Close to the beloved) is the twelfth of Schubert's long line of Goethe settings which began with Gretchen am Spinnrade in 1814 and continued with unabated enthusiasm in 1815. Nahe des Geliebten shows that the eighteen-year-old composer was brilliantly capable of choosing when to abandon his through-composed style, so perfect for Gretchen, and return to a strophic treatment of the text. The poem is a litany, and if the music were to vary from verse to verse, Goethe's depiction of a lover's constancy would have been undermined. The piano introduction (played only once) is a miracle: with each change of chord we perceive the opening of a loving heart, the unfolding realisation of deep devotion. The singer enters, the home key is reached, a promise is kept, and the power of imagination has surmounted the agony of separation..

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schubert)

Although originally composed for Voice and Piano, I created this Interpretation of "Nähe des Geliebten" (Close to the beloved D.162) for Flute & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).