Schubert and His Work

Herbert Francis PeyserProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 84K words
Chapters: 9

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Schubert and His Work by Herbert F. PeyserAuthor: Peyser, Herbert F. (Herbert Francis), 1886-1953,Language: English, Class: ML: Music: Literature of music, Release Date: May 23, 2015

Editor's review

Herbert F. Peyser's Schubert and His Work is an introductory portrait of the composer for general music lovers, released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain eBook. Its value lies in tracing Schubert's life and creative profile in relatively plain language, helping readers establish basic coordinates before listening to the works, rather than offering abstruse musicological analysis. The book centers on the composer's life trajectory and works and is suitable as auxiliary reading while enjoying Schubert's music. A good approach is to "listen while reading": read the life and era background first, then select representative pieces by the work types mentioned in the book for comparative listening, which makes the correspondence between text and sound more immediate. Because the book was written long ago, some factual statements and evaluative perspectives may bear the marks of their time; readers should stay discerning and treat it as a historically situated guide rather than the latest research. The English original also requires a certain reading proficiency in English.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Classical music lovers new to Schubert who need a background guide
Learners who want to combine reading biography with listening to repertoire
English readers interested in early twentieth-century music criticism prose
Junior music majors using it as supplementary extracurricular reading

Not a good fit for

Professional researchers seeking the latest musicological findings or in-depth analysis
Readers with no English who need a Chinese translation
Readers expecting systematic music theory instruction or formal analysis of works

Reading tips

Read the life and era background first, then choose pieces by the work types mentioned in the book for comparative listening.
Prepare a list of Schubert works and mark pieces to hear as you read the relevant chapters.
Stay discerning about the book's earlier factual statements and evaluations, and check newer biographies when necessary.
Read chapter by chapter and listen to a corresponding work after each chapter to avoid fatigue from reading straight through.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What musical background is needed to read this book?

The material indicates it is an introduction to the composer and his works for general readers and does not presuppose systematic music theory. Basic experience listening to classical music and a willingness to listen while reading are enough; if you have never encountered Schubert's works, you can first listen to a few well-known songs or symphonies before starting.

Does the book contain detailed analysis of works?

Judging from its classification and title, it is a guide-like work in music literature, focused on an overall introduction to the life and works rather than phrase-by-phrase formal analysis. For in-depth structural analysis, consult specialized works of musical analysis.

The book was written long ago; is its content outdated?

As a work by an early twentieth-century author, some factual details and evaluative perspectives may bear the marks of their time and differ from current research. Treat it as a historically situated introductory guide, and verify key facts against newer Schubert biographies.

How difficult is the English?

The original is in English in the style of popular music criticism; sentence structures are not complex, but composer names, work titles, and musical terms require some English reading ability. Use a dictionary or compare translated work titles as needed; word-by-word close reading is unnecessary.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Herbert Francis Peyser Author · American · 1886–1953

Herbert F. Peyser (1886–1953) was an American music critic and writer born in New York. He served as chief critic for Musical America and as European music correspondent for The New York Times, and from 1949 wrote concert program notes for the New York Philharmonic Society. The library holds nine of his works, mostly biographies and commentaries on composers, including Bach, Handel, Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Schumann and Richard Strauss. He combined composers' lives and working environments with discussion of individual works, writing for general concert-goers in a style both informative and readable. These books helped spread knowledge of classical music among English-speaking readers and are commonly classified under inspirational growth.