CLASSICAL

Ständchen (Serenade)

This month Declan Zapala has prepared us a haunting serenade from the Romantic era. It’s full of lush chords and harmonics that will stir your soul and your fingers.

Franz Schubert’s acquaintance and peer, one Ludwig van Beethoven, is quoted to have said on his deathbed, “Truly, the spark of divine genius resides in this Schubert”. Such an accolade from one of history’s most famous composers is particularly fitting when we consider the story of Schubert. Born in Vienna in 1797, Franz Peter Schubert led aremarkably busy life that was cut short, passing away aged just 31. In his brief time he was an inexhaustible powerhouse of creativity and wrote astaggering 1500 works for various settings. After excelling at piano aged 5, and violin aged 8, Schubert became aprolific composer from the age of 13 after he composed his first piece, aFantasy for piano duet. This bright compositional spark continued throughout his entire life, even while training to be amusic teacher at his dad’s music school during his late teens.