Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian c… Read Full Bio ↴Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the art songs Erlkönig, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Ave Maria; the Trout Quintet, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the "Great" Symphony No. 9 in C major, the String Quartet No. 14 "Death and the Maiden", a String Quintet, the two sets of Impromptus for solo piano, the three last piano sonatas, the Fantasia in F minor for piano four hands, the opera Fierrabras, the incidental music to the play Rosamunde, and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang.

Born in the Himmelpfortgrund suburb of Vienna, Schubert showed uncommon gifts for music from an early age. His father gave him his first violin lessons and his elder brother gave him piano lessons, but Schubert soon exceeded their abilities. In 1808, at the age of eleven, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt school, where he became acquainted with the orchestral music of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. He left the Stadtkonvikt at the end of 1813 and returned home to live with his father, where he began studying to become a schoolteacher. Despite this, he continued his studies in composition with Antonio Salieri and still composed prolifically. In 1821, Schubert was admitted to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde as a performing member, which helped establish his name among the Viennese citizenry. He gave a concert of his works to critical acclaim in March 1828, the only time he did so in his career. He died eight months later at the age of 31, the cause officially attributed to typhoid fever, but believed by some historians to be syphilis.

Appreciation of Schubert's music while he was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased greatly in the decades following 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 in the history of Western classical music and his work continues to be admired and widely performed.

Gott Im Frühling
Franz Schubert Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Still sitz' ich an des Hügels Hang
Der Himmel ist so klar
Das Lüftchen spielt im grünen Tal
Wo ich beim ersten Frühlingsstrahl
Einst, ach so glücklich war

Wo ich an ihrer Seite ging
So traulich und so nah

Und tief im dunklen Felsenquell
Den schönen Himmel blau und hell
Und sie im Himmel sah

Sieh, wie der bunte Frühling schön
Aus Knosp' und Blüte blickt!
Nicht alle Blüten sind mir gleich
Am liebsten pflückt ich von dem Zweig
Von welchem sie gepflückt!

Denn alles ist wie damals noch
Die Blumen, das Gefild
Die Sonne scheint nicht minder hell
Nicht minder freundlich schwimmt im Quell
Das blaue Himmelsbild

Es wandeln nur sich Will und Wahn
Es wechseln Lust und Streit
Vorüber flieht der Liebe Glück
Und nur die Liebe bleibt zurück
Die Lieb und ach, das Leid

O wär ich doch ein Vöglein nur
Dort an dem Wiesenhang
Dann blieb ich auf den Zweigen hier

Und säng ein süßes Lied von ihr
Den ganzen Sommer lang

Overall Meaning

In Franz Schubert's song "Im Frühling" (In Spring), the singer sits on a hillside, surrounded by a clear sky and a gentle breeze playing in the green valley. This setting brings back memories of a past spring, when the singer was once happy, walking alongside their beloved. They would gaze into a deep, dark rock pool, seeing the beautiful and bright sky reflected in it, while envisioning their loved one in heaven. The singer then reflects on how spring is beautiful and vibrant, with blossoms and buds emerging, but not all flowers hold the same meaning for them. They prefer to pick flowers from the same branch their beloved once picked from.

The song maintains a sense of continuity, with everything still being as it was in the past. The flowers, the landscapes, and even the sky seem unchanged. However, the singer acknowledges that feelings and perceptions have shifted. Will and delusion have transformed, and joy and conflict alternate. The happiness of love passes by quickly, leaving only love itself and the accompanying pain. The singer expresses a wish to be a bird on the meadow's slope, singing a sweet song about their beloved throughout the entire summer.

Line by Line Meaning

Still sitz' ich an des Hügels Hang
I sit quietly at the slope of the hill

Der Himmel ist so klar
The sky is so clear

Das Lüftchen spielt im grünen Tal
The gentle breeze plays in the green valley

Wo ich beim ersten Frühlingsstrahl
Where I, at the first ray of spring

Einst, ach so glücklich war
Once, oh so happy

Wo ich an ihrer Seite ging
Where I walked by her side

So traulich und so nah
So intimately and so close

Und tief im dunklen Felsenquell
And deep in the dark rock spring

Den schönen Himmel blau und hell
Seeing the beautiful sky, blue and bright

Und sie im Himmel sah
And seeing her in the sky

Sieh, wie der bunte Frühling schön
See, how beautiful the colorful spring is