There is a general assumption that great artists emerge in great times and live lives full of drama. Beethoven (q.v.) is the classic example: his adult life coincides with the time of the French Revolution and the ensuing Napoleonic Wars, and one of the most defining anecdotes in his life is his tearing up the dedication of his “Eroica” Symphony on hearing that his idol Napoleon had disappointed him by declaring himself emperor. Remarkably, though, Beethoven’s immediate successor among the luminaries of Vienna Classicism, Franz Schubert, led an existence striking only for its lack of drama and import, and his career coincided with the period known in the cultural history of the German-speaking world as “Biedermeier”, a term borrowed from a furniture style and implying a kind of…

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Citation: Kovach, Thomas A.. "Franz Schubert". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 September 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3967, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3967 Franz Schubert 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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