ABSTRACT

It seems that Parisian music lovers first heard the songs of Franz Schubert when Adolphe Nourrit began singing them in the early 1830s. Nourrit's admiration for German music is touchingly revealed in a letter written to Hiller in 1836 in which Nourrit confides in him his desire to retire and sing all the German songs he loves. Music lovers in France were even able to catch a glimpse of Schubert's 'human side' through the eyes and memory of a musician who had recently come to live and work in Paris after a successful career as a violinist and singer in Germany. It was inevitable that the 'discovery' of Schubert's songs in Paris would have an impact upon the art of songwriting in France. France was in the forefront of the publication of Schubert's songs outside Germany and it was to be many years, for example, before an English complete edition appeared.