For Schubert fans, the summer of '97 means a visit to Vienna

Insight on the News, August 11, 1997 by Anne Z. Cooke, Steve Haggerty

Franz Schubert lived a short but intense life, composing more works even than Mozart. On the anniversary of his 200th birthday, Vienna celebrates his legacy with exhibitions and music, music, music.

On the 200th anniversary of his birth, there still are no bathrooms, running water or heat in the one-room apartment at No. 54 Nussdorferstrasse in Vienna where classical composer Franz Schubert was born in 1797, the 12th of 14 children.

In Schubert's time, 16 other poor families crowded into the dank, smoky rooms along the second-floor corridor, living and sleeping among a jumble of clothes and furniture, each family sharing a chamber pot and cooking over a wood fire on a raised hearth in the corner.

"Imagine living here with babies and no sanitation and no place to be alone," says tour guide Irene Koller, shaking her head as she leads a group through three rooms that have been joined to create the Schubert Museum. "It's amazing that anyone even noticed he was gifted."

The museum, one of 15 historic places where Schubert lived or visited, is part of a self-guided tour developed for "Schubert 97," the city's yearlong birthday party for the musician, the only "Viennese" composer actually born here.

Since much of historic Vienna has survived (or been restored after World War II), discovering Schubert's Vienna is relatively easy But the man himself remains an enigma. Short, plump, pasty and nearsighted, he was so poor that his friends had to support him. Obsessive about composing but indifferent to practicalities, he owned little more than his clothes, pen and ink, a guitar and his glasses. Everything of value in the museum--even the piano--belonged to his brother Ignaz.

"The truth is, we don't know much about Schubert," says Koller. "But in Vienna, he was among friends." And Vienna, with its easygoing ways, was good for Schubert. Even now, people gather in the Stadtpark, picnic on the grass, push baby carriages past the flower gardens and enjoy the sun at the sidewalk cafes on the Graben, the city's first pedestrian street. Students loiter on the Stephansplatz below the great cathedral, and couples stroll hand in hand down busy Karntner Strasse, chatting and window-shopping.

No one stays home or in a hotel room when there are friends to meet, store windows sparkling with diamonds to admire and bookstores to browse through. On every corner, coffeehouses preserve that sacred ritual, reading the newspaper over a hot cup of java. And there is music everywhere, the lifeblood of the city flowing through concert halls, theaters and churches.

Surrounded by music, Schubert's genius showed itself early. By age 12, he had joined the prestigious Imperial Court Chapel choir and was writing compositions. By 21, he was earning money writing, playing and selling his own compositions. Few of these works brought him any real income, although his songs brought him a kind of pop fame.

By the time Schubert died at age 31 from typhoid fever and syphilis, however, he had produced more music than Mozart, about 1,000 separate works. This summer and fall, many are being performed at memorial concerts and three exhibitions designed in conjunction with "Schubert 97" should please aficionados.

The Austrian Theater Museum has mounted a retrospective of Schubert's operas -- unsuccessful when they were produced. The Historical Museum has put the complete collection of his musical scores (some originals) on display The National Library is presenting "A Century of Music: 1797-1897," with letters, manuscripts and documents from Schubert, Ludwig von Beethoven Franz Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner and Hugo Wolf.

The self-guided tour, which follows Schubert's life year by year, is centered in the old city where he spent most of his time, moving often and frequenting numerous cafes and coffeehouses. Eat at Zu Den Drei Hacken, a Schubert favorite, still open for lousiness (Singerstrasse 28, First District). In Grinzing, Vienna's wine district, look for the plaque that commemorates the pleasant summer afternoons that Schubert and his friends spent here in revelry (Himmelstrasse 25, 19th District).

The Lichtentaler Church (Marktgasse 40, Ninth District), near the area in which Schubert grew up, is a simple church in a working-class neighborhood. But it had a great choirmaster and fine music. Sitting in the nave in the gloom beneath vaulted arches, the young Schubert must have thrilled to the uncluttered space and heavenly sounds, so unlike home.

Visitors also can see the Stadtkonvikt (Dr. Ignaz Seipel Platzt I, First District), the boarding school in which Schubert enrolled in 1808 and where he studied composition while singing in the chapel choir. Perhaps he was in the audience in the grand salon at the Academy of Sciences across the street when Haydn made his last public appearance during a performance of The Creation.

When Beethoven died in 1827, Schubert was a pallbearer in the elaborate procession to Wahring Cemetery, then outside the city walls (Wahringer Strasse, near 142, 18th District). He died himself soon afterward. Most visitors end their search for Schubert with a pilgrimage to his grave. He lies in a place of honor marked by an elaborate marble memorial in the musicians' corner, near Beethoven and the two Johann Strausses, father and son. Admirers often bear bouquets of flowers to the graves. Nearby in a grassy field, tourists rest and remember Schubert's true legacy -- his music.