Music unites nations 
1797 - 2017
220. birthday of the famous viennese composer
Franz Schubert - Ave Maria
being sung by the magnificent American soprano Renée Fleming
Franz Peter Schubert
* 31. Jänner 1797, in Wien, Alsergrund
† 19. November 1828 in Wien, Wieden
In a short lifespan of less than 32 years, Schubert was a prolific composer, writing some 600 Lieder, ten complete or nearly complete symphonies, liturgical music, operas, incidental music and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. Appreciation of his music while he was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades immediately after his death. Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers discovered and championed his works. Today, Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers of the early Romantic era and, as such, is one of the most frequently performed composers of the early nineteenth century.
Franz Schubert is an incredibly underrated composer. Had he lived another 40 years he would probably be remembered as equal to Beethoven. Bearing in mind that he died at 31 his output is truly astonishing.
