ABSTRACT
Franz Peter Schubert was born in Vienna on the 31st of January 1797. His father was a parish schoolmaster, who married twice and had a large family, the mere clothing and feeding of which must have tried his narrow resources severely. Franz's musical instincts revealed themselves very early, and he received such instruction at home as his father and brothers could give him, supplemented by the ministrations of the parish organist. He very soon outpaced his teachers, whose science was not very profound, and in 1808 he entered the Convict-Schule, an establishment for educating the choristers of the Court-chapel. The musical instruction given in the school was of the paltriest kind, and the precious years that might have given Schubert a knowledge of the science of musical composition which would have placed him by the side of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
