Schubert

Early life and education

Schubert was born in Vienna on January 31, 1797. His father, Franz Theodor Schubert, the son of a Moravian peasant, was a parish schoolmaster; his mother, Elizabeth Vietz was the daughter of a Silesian master locksmith, and had also been a housemaid for a Viennese family prior to her marriage. Of Franz Theodor's sixteen children (one illegitimate child was born in 1783),[1] eleven died in infancy; five survived. Their father was a well-known teacher, and his school in Lichtental, a part of Vienna's 9th district, was well attended.[2] He was not a famous musician, but he taught his son what he could of music.[3]
The house in which Schubert was born, today Nussdorfer Strasse 54, in the 9th district of Vienna.

At the age of five, Schubert began receiving regular instruction from his father and a year later was enrolled at the Himmelpfortgrund school. His formal musical education also began around the same time. His father continued to teach him the basics of the violin.[3] At seven, Schubert was placed under the instruction of Michael Holzer, the local church organist and choirmaster. Holzer's lessons seem to have mainly consisted of conversations and expressions of admiration[4] and the boy gained more from his acquaintance with a friendly joiner's apprentice who used to take him to a neighboring pianoforte warehouse where he had the opportunity to practice on better instruments.[5]

In October 1808, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt (Imperial seminary) through a choir scholarship. At the Stadtkonvikt, Schubert was introduced to the overtures and symphonies of Mozart.[6] His exposure to these pieces and various lighter compositions, combined with his occasional visits to the opera set the foundation for his greater musical knowledge. At the Stadtkonvikt he would also form a number of close friendships that would last the rest of his life, notably with Joseph von Spaun, who, in those early days, furnished the impoverished Schubert with manuscript paper.[7]