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 ...(+)
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.
The "Ungarische Melodie" (Hungarian Melody in B Minor
D.817), belongs to the second of two visits Schubert
made to Zelész in Hungary between late May and
mid-October 1824. At a salary of 100 florins a month,
his duties included teaching and supervising the
musical activities of the two daughters of Count Johann
Karl Esterházy of Galánta during their summer
residence. Schubert still found time to compose and
produced several works for piano duet including the C
major Sonata ('Grand Duo'), D812, the Variations in A
flat major, D813 and the Divertissement à la
Hongroise, D818, works presumably envisioned for the
girls. He would later dedicate his Fantasie in F minor,
D940, to the younger sister Karoline. Contemporary
reports indicate Schubert’s Melodie was inspired by a
folk tune sung by a Hungarian maid working in the
Esterházys’ kitchen. Dated 2nd September 1824, this
short piece was to be the impetus behind the more
expansive closing Rondo of his three-movement
Divertissement à la Hongroise, which later went on to
find a home within Franz Liszt’s two-handed
transcription Mélodies hongroises d’après Schubert,
S425.
Source: Hyperion
(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W21907_GB
LLH2083707)
Although originally composed for Solo Piano, I created
this Interpretation of the "Ungarische Melodie"
(Hungarian Melody in B Minor D.817) for Flute & Strings
(2 Violins, Viola & Cello).