Franz Schubert died in 1829, at the tragically young age of 31, known in Vienna as a mere composer of songs. But he left behind a treasure trove of unpublished manuscripts, scattered across the city and beyond.

They could easily have been lost to history but for the devotion of a handful of followers whose painstaking efforts ensured the survival of some of the most cherished works in classical music, such as the Great C Major Symphony, the Unfinished Symphony and the composer's numerous operas, sacred and chamber compositions.

Filling a significant gap in studies about the musical great, Schubert Lives recounts the dramatic story of how close these extraordinary works came to disappearing into oblivion, and how astonished audiences in Vienna and the wider world came to appreciate their emergence to take a rightful place of honour in the classical canon.

"John Uff has written a book about Shubert's slow journey over two centuries to universal acceptance and celebrity - a theme never before addressed in such forensic detail. It's a riveting read, free of jargon and musicological mumbo-jumbo, that will delight all Schubertians" - Richard Stokes, Professor of Lieder, Royal Academy of Music

Autorentext

John Uff's interest in music has spanned a lifetime and taken many forms including playing the piano, violin, viola, trombone and singing and, while his children were growing up, becoming a luthier to make violins, violas and cellos for them to play. His passion for Schubert developed early as a boy treble in the school choir, when something in his music lodged in the mind and has never departed. The question what is it about Schubert has remained intriguing as the answer continues to elude. His later pursuit of books on Schubert and his music led to the realisation that the life of this extraordinary man had left significant gaps, particularly in what happened between his tragically early death in 1828 and the present day. The fate of the music he left, the majority being in manuscripts of which there were often no copies, is an adventure story in its own right.John is a keen supporter of the Schubert Institute (SIUK) and has assigned all the profits from this publication to their use to further the support of Schubert's music and particularly young performers. His day job as a KC and now as an Emeritus Professor of Law at King's College London have given ample opportunity to further his musical interests, both as Treasurer of Gray's Inn, with its fine musical tradition, and as President of the Bar Musical Society. He has also written plays for a village amateur drama group about the fate of local lads in WWI, a theme that has always fascinated. His many publications on legal issues have also been a useful prelude to writing about music.