The compositions of 182o are remarkable, and show a great advance in development and maturity of style. The unfinished oratorio Lazarus was begun in Feb. ; later followed, amid a num ber of smaller works, the 23rd Psalm, the Gesang der Geister, the quartettsatz in C minor and the great pianoforte fantasia on Der Wanderer. But of almost more biographical interest is the fact that in this year two of Schubert's operas appeared at the Karnthnerthor theatre, Die Zwillingsbriider on June 14, and Die Zauberharfe on Aug. 19. Still, however, publishers held obsti nately aloof, and it was not until his friend Vogl had sung Erlkonig at a concert in the Karnthnerthor (Feb. 8, 1821) that Diabelli hesitatingly agreed to print some of his works on commission. The first seven opus-numbers (all songs) appeared on these terms; then the commission ceased, and he began to receive the meagre pittances which were all that the great publishing houses ever accorded to him. Much has been written about the neglect from which he suffered during his lifetime. It was not the fault of his friends, it was only indirectly the fault of the Viennese public ; the persons most to blame were the cautious intermediaries who stinted and hindered him from publication.
The production of his two dramatic pieces turned Schubert's attention more firmly than ever in the direction of the stage; and towards the end of 1821 he set himself on a course which for nearly three years brought him continuous mortification and disappointment. Alfonso und Estrella was refused, so was Fierra bras; Die Verschworenen was prohibited by the censor (appar ently on the ground of its title) ; Rosamunde was withdrawn after two nights, owing to the badness of its libretto. Of these works the two former are written on a scale which would make their per formances exceedingly difficult (Fierrabras, for instance, contains over i,000 pages of manuscript score), but Die V 3rschworenen is a bright, attractive comedy, and Rosamunde contains some of the most charming music that Schubert ever composed. In 1822 he made the acquaintance both of Weber and of Beethoven, but little came of it in either case, though Beethoven cordially acknowledged his genius. Von Schober was away from Vienna; new friends appeared of a less desirable character; on the whole these were the darkest years of his life.
In the spring of 1824 he wrote the magnificent octet, "A Sketch for a Grand Symphony"; and in the summer went back to Zelesz, when he became attracted by Hungarian idiom, and wrote the Divertissement a l'Hongroise and the string quartet in A minor. Most of his biographers insert here a story of his hope less passion for his pupil Countess Caroline Esterhazy ; but what ever may be said as to the general likelihood of the romance, the details by which it is illustrated are apocryphal, and the song l'Addio, placed at its climax, is undoubtedly spurious. A more debatable problem is raised by the grand duo in C major (op. 14o)
which is dated from Zelesz in the summer of this year. It bears no relation to the style of Schubert's pianoforte music, it is wholly orchestral in character, and it may well be a transcript or sketch of the "grand symphony" for which the octet was a prepa ration. If so, it settles the question, raised by Sir George Grove, of a "symphony in C major" which is not to be found among Schubert's orchestral scores.
Despite his preoccupation with the stage and later with his official duties he found time during these years for a good deal of miscellaneous composition. The Mass in A flat was completed and the exquisite "Unfinished Symphony" begun in 1822. The Mfillerlieder, and several other of his best songs, were written in 1825; to 1824, beside the works mentioned above, belong the variations on Trockne Blumen and the two string quartets in E and E flat. There is also a sonata for piano and arpeggione, an interesting attempt to encourage a cumbersome and now obsolete instrument.
The mishaps of the recent years were compensated by the pros perity and happiness of 1825. Publication had been moving more rapidly ; the stress of poverty was for a time lightened ; in the summer there was a pleasant holiday in Upper Austria, where Schubert was welcomed with enthusiasm. It was during this tour that he produced his "Songs from Sir Walter Scott," and his piano sonata in A minor (op. 42), the former of which he sold to Artaria for £20, the largest sum which he had yet received for any com position. Sir George Grove, on the authority of Randhartinger, attributes to this summer a lost "Gastein" symphony which is possibly the same work as that already mentioned under the record of the preceding year.
From 1826 to 1828 Schubert resided continuously in Vienna, except for a brief visit to Graz in 1827. The history of his life during these three years is little more than a record of his compo sitions. The only events worth notice are that in 1826 he applied for a conductorship at the opera, and lost it by refusing to alter one of his songs at rehearsal, and that in the spring of 1828 he gave, for the first and only time in his career, a public concert of his own works. But the compositions themselves are a sufficient biography. The string quartet in D minor, with the variations on the song Der Tod und das Madchen, was written during the win ter of 1825-26, and first played on Jan. 25. Later in the year came the string quartet in G major, the "Rondeau brilliant," for piano and violin, and the fine sonata in G which, by some pedantry of the publisher's, is printed without its proper title. To these should be added the three Shakespearian songs, of which Hark! Hark! the Lark and Who is Sylvia? were written on the same day, the former at a tavern where he broke his after noon's walk, the latter on his return to his lodging in the evening.