Franz Schmidt
Late Romantic · 1874–1939
Franz Schmidt spent his working life inside the Viennese musical machine. Born in 1874 in Pressburg, now Bratislava, he joined the Vienna Court Opera orchestra as a cellist and played for years under Gustav Mahler's direction, later becoming a professor and a leading figure at the city's music academy, where he was admired as a pianist, cellist, and organist alike.
His own music stayed loyal to the rich, late Romantic Vienna of his youth even as fashions moved on. Four symphonies form the heart of it; the Fourth, written after the death of his daughter, unfolds as one continuous span of grief and consolation. His oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln sets the Book of Revelation for soloists, chorus, orchestra, and organ.
Start with the Symphony no. 4 in C, then, if its world draws you in, the oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln.
31 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Fuga Solemnis, for organ, 16 wind instruments and percussion
- Piano Quintet in G
- Quintet for clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano in B flat major
- Quintet for clarinet in A
- String Quartet in A
- String Quartet in G
Keyboard
- 4 Kleine Praludien und Fugen
- Chaconne for organ in C sharp minor
- Choralvorspiel, "Der Heiland ist erstanden"
- Choralvorspiel zu Haydns Gott erhalte
- Nun danket alle Gott, chorale prelude for organ
- O, wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen, chorale prelude for organ
- O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, chorale prelude for organ
- Romance for piano
- Toccata for piano
- Toccata in C major, for organ
- Variations and Fugue for organ
- Was mein Gott will, chorale prelude for organ
Orchestral
- Symphony no. 2 in E flat major
- Symphony no. 4 in C
- Variations on a Theme of Beethoven, for piano left hand and orchestra
- Chaconne for Orchestra in D minor
- Chaconne in C sharp minor, for piano and orchestra
- Concerto in E flat major, for piano left hand
- Konzertante Variationen uber ein Thema von Beethoven
- Piano Concerto in E flat major
- Symphony no. 1 in E
- Symphony no. 3 in A
- Variations on a Hussar's Song for orchestra
Stage
- Notre Dame, opera
Vocal
- Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln, oratorio
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