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Unfinished Symphonist

from FAWM 2023 by Gary McGath

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about

Franz Schubert, who wasn't quite a starving artist, but fell short of the recognition which other great composers in Vienna, like Mozart and Beethoven, got. He didn't live even as long as Mozart.

lyrics

Franz Schubert lived, Franz Schubert died short of the highest fame.
Though loved by people in the know, he was no household name.
For music old Vienna was the greatest place by far,
But only one who took the stage could truly be a star.

He sang with friends, he worked with friends, his songs were widely known,
But for the rights the publishers would barely throw a bone.
His symphonies and string quartets and piano music fine
Were sometimes not performed at all, although they were divine.

In writing wondrous melodies no one could match his skill.
He took the greatest poetry and made it greater still.
But when it came to opera, he met with no success.
He lacked the right theatric touch, the art of sheer excess.

Franz Schubert lived, Franz Schubert died when he was thirty-one.
If he'd lived out a normal life, what might he then have done?
So many of his greatest works were poorly stored away,
And only through some lucky breaks can they be heard today.

credits

from FAWM 2023, released February 27, 2023
The tune is "Der Fischer" by Franz Schubert.

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Gary McGath Boston, Massachusetts

New England filksinger.

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