Editing Franz Schubert (section)

===Musical maturity===
Schubert's compositions of 1819 and 1820 show a marked advance in development and maturity of style.{{sfn|Hadow|1911|p=384}} He began the ultimately unfinished [[oratorio]] ''Lazarus'' (D. 689) in February 1820. This was later followed by the hymn "Der 23. Psalm" (D. 706), the octet "[[Gesang der Geister über den Wassern]]" (D. 714), the [[Quartettsatz, D. 703 (Schubert)|Quartettsatz]] in C minor (D. 703), the ''[[Wanderer Fantasy]]'' in C major for piano (D. 760), and additional smaller works. In 1820, two of Schubert's operas were staged: ''[[Die Zwillingsbrüder]]'' (D. 647) appeared at the [[Theater am Kärntnertor]] on 14 June, and ''Die Zauberharfe'' (D. 644) appeared at the [[Theater an der Wien]] on 21 August.<ref name="Austin46">[[#Austin|Austin (1873)]], pp. 46–47</ref> Hitherto, his larger compositions (apart from his masses) had been restricted to the amateur orchestra at the Gundelhof (Brandstätte 5, Vienna), a society which grew out of the quartet-parties at his home. Now he began to assume a more prominent position, addressing a wider public.<ref name="Austin46" /> Publishers, however, remained distant, with [[Anton Diabelli]] hesitantly agreeing to print some of his works on commission.<ref name="Wilberforce90">[[#Wilberforce|Wilberforce (1866)]], pp. 90–92</ref> The first seven opus numbers, all songs, appeared on these terms; then the commission ceased, and he began to receive parsimonious royalties.{{sfn|Hadow|1911|p=385}} The situation improved somewhat in March 1821 when Vogl performed the song "[[Erlkönig (Schubert)|Erlkönig]]" (D. 328) at a concert that was extremely well received.<ref name="Wilberforce25">[[#Wilberforce|Wilberforce (1866)]], p. 25</ref> That month, Schubert composed a Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli (D 718), being one of the fifty composers who contributed to the ''[[Vaterländischer Künstlerverein]]'' publication.

[[File:Franz Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder.jpeg|thumb|left|Watercolour of Franz Schubert by [[Wilhelm August Rieder]] (1825)]]

The production of the two operas turned Schubert's attention more firmly than ever in the direction of the stage, where, for a variety of reasons, he was almost completely unsuccessful. All in all, he embarked on twenty stage projects, each of them failures that were quickly forgotten. In 1822, ''[[Alfonso und Estrella]]'' was rejected, partly owing to its libretto, written by Schubert's friend [[Franz von Schober]].<ref name="newbould173">[[#Newbould|Newbould (1999)]], p. 173</ref> In 1823, ''[[Fierrabras (opera)|Fierrabras]]'' (D 796) was rejected: [[Domenico Barbaia]], [[impresario]] for the court theatres, largely lost interest in new German opera due to the popularity of [[Rossini]] and the Italian operatic style, and the failure of [[Carl Maria von Weber]]'s ''[[Euryanthe]]''.<ref name="CambridgeCompanion245">[[#Denny|Denny (1997)]], pp. 245–246</ref> ''Die Verschworenen'' (''The Conspirators'', D 787) was prohibited by the censor, apparently because of its title,<ref name="Gibbs111">[[#GibbsLife|Gibbs (2000)]], p. 111</ref> and the play ''[[Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern]]'', for which Schubert had written incidental music (D 797), was withdrawn after two nights, due to the play's poor quality.{{sfn|Hadow|1911|p=385}}

Despite his operatic failures, Schubert's reputation was growing steadily on other fronts. In 1821, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde finally accepted him as a performing member, and the number of performances of his music grew remarkably.<ref name=McKay101>[[#McKayBio|McKay (1996)]], p. 101</ref> These performances helped Schubert's reputation grow rapidly among the members of the Gesellschaft<ref name=McKay101/> and established his name.<ref name="newbould173"/> Some of the members of the Gesellschaft, most notably [[Ignaz von Sonnleithner]] and his son [[Leopold von Sonnleithner]], had a sizeable influence on the affairs of the society, and as a result of that and of Schubert's growing reputation, his works were included in three major concerts of the Gesellschaft in 1821. In April, one of his male-voice quartets was performed, and in November, his Overture in E minor (D. 648) received its first public performance;<ref name=McKay101/> at a different concert on the same day as the premiere of the Overture, his song ''[[Der Wanderer]]'' (D. 489) was performed.<ref name=newbould173/>

In 1822, Schubert made the acquaintance of both Weber and [[Beethoven]] but little came of it in either case;{{sfn|Hadow|1911|p=385}} however, Beethoven is said to have acknowledged the younger man's gifts on a few occasions. On his deathbed, Beethoven is said to have looked into some of the younger man's works and exclaimed: "Truly, the spark of divine genius resides in this Schubert!" Beethoven also reportedly predicted that Schubert "would make a great sensation in the world," and regretted that he had not been more familiar with him earlier; he wished to see his operas and works for piano, but his severe illness prevented him from doing so.<ref name="lvbv1">[[#Thayer|Thayer (1921)]], pp. 299–300</ref>