Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828), an early romantic Austrian composer, is best known for his lieder, German art songs for voice and piano.

The lieder of Franz Schubert assumed great importance during the 19th century as a result of several concomitant cultural and sociological developments in Germany, which included the new profusion of lyric poetry, particularly in the works of Goethe, and the evolution of the piano into a highly complex mechanism. As a composer, Schubert possessed an astonishing lyric gift and at times turned out several songs in a day.

In musical history Schubert stands with others at the beginning of the romantic movement, anticipating the subjective approach to composition of later composers but lacking Beethoven's forcefulness and inventive treatment of instrumental music. Despite his more conservative tendencies, however, Schubert's contributions include the introduction of cyclical form in his Wanderer Fantasy for piano, the use of long-line melodies--instead...