Franz Schubert: Das fragmentarische Werk (review)

The reception history of Schubert's music has gained added piquancy through the various mysteries and intrigues surrounding famous works. The mythology surrounding the 'Unfinished' Symphony is especially rich in this regard: is it a deliberate torso, a complete two-movement work, or an incomplete four-movement work? In order meaningfully to tackle such questions it is necessary to develop a proper taxonomy of manuscript typology and a deeper understanding of the composer's working methods. Andrea Lindmayer-Brandl's book establishes the aesthetic coordinates, constructs a detailed classification of a wide array of different types of manuscript, and examines the substantial documentary record of Schubert's compositions within this context. As a result we now have a much clearer image of Schubert's musical conceptions and working processes.

Schubert's oeuvre offers an unusually fertile resource for the investigation of fragmentary pieces in all their multifarious possible forms. Of around 1,000 works approximately 200 are in some sense fragments. The specific situation with certain genres reveals structural patterns in the composer's development and career. Of the three genres with the greatest number of fragmentary works, the symphony fragments (46.2%, especially D615, D708A, D729, and D759) mark stages along Schubert's 'way towards a grand symphony' (Otto Erich Deutsch, Schubert: A Documentary Biography (London, 1946), 339), the early piano sonatas (45.6%) mark the composer's period of experiment in sonata form, and the stage works (35%) record his efforts to become a successful opera composer. On a practical level, Lindmayr-Brandl's systematic expansion of the basic compositional sequence from sketch (Entwurf)—first draft (erste Niederschrift)—fair copy (Reinschrift) to include more layers of sketching and drafting makes an immense contribution to the deeper understanding of Schubert's working practice. Furthermore, her perceptive classification of different types of fragment—transmission fragment (Überlieferungsfragment), sketch fragment (Entwurfsfragment), fair copy fragment (Reinschriftfragment), composition fragment (Kompositionsfragment), and so forth—clarifies the stage at which work was interrupted and, where appropriate, suggests plausible reasons for Schubert's abandoning the work. The recognition of a greater number of stages in the compositional process reveals the genesis of individual pieces and the evolution of Schubert's creative personality in increased detail, both in general and within specific musical genres.

Aside from these broad observations, however, there are instances of more detailed interest, and Lindmayr-Brandl chooses four of the more significant examples for closer investigation (ch. 5, pp. 229–306). Her potent blend of aesthetics, musical analysis, and forensics (paper type, handwriting, ink colour, erasures, corrections, and so forth) gives each study the compelling edge of a detective story as she illuminates the specific course of a work's creative evolution (Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, Der Geistertanz) or its public transmission (the B minor Symphony ('The Unfinished'), D759, and the Sonata in C major ('Reliquie'), D840).

She presents an elegantly argued clarification of Schubert's broadening conception of Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, which increases in length, instrumental texture, and dramatic intensity with each new setting: voice and piano (D484, 64 bars)—vocal quartet (D538, 129 bars)—vocal quartet with piano (D705, 139 bars)—vocal octet with strings (D714, 172 bars). In her survey of the three song settings of Der Geistertanz, by contrast, she effectively recalibrates the often cited image of Schubert as a wholly spontaneous composer who made few sketches to one of a genius whose deep analysis and contemplation of the text reveals his transformation from the direct word painting of the youthful essays (D15 and D15A) to the subtler drama of the mature final version (D116), written five days before Gretchen am Spinnrade.

The 'Unfinished' Symphony is unique in the musical literature as a work that has achieved boundless success in the concert repertory irrespective of its fragmentary status. Despite many attempts, the Symphony in E, D729 has failed to find even moderate success by comparison. Lindmayr-Brandl draws attention to Schubert's improving career prospects at the time of the...