John Reed (11) (1909–1999)

The most remarkable composer of song literature in the history of Western music, Franz Schubert sometimes gets overlooked in favor of his more bombastic contemporaries. 1997 marks the bicentennial of his birth; record companies and concert programmers, who love such pegs, have accordingly scheduled loads of Schubert for the year. You can find some useful insights into the composer and his work with this biography, a slightly expanded version of the essay written for the New Grove Dictionary show more of Music and Musicians. Also helpful is the detailed chronicle of his music, arranged by type and date of composition.

This second edition of a biography of the first great Romantic composer is updated to reflect current knowledge and thought about his life and works, and discusses the controversy over the composer's sexual orientation and how it might be reflected in his music. Includes music examples, a chronology, etc. show less