Happy Birthday to Franz Schubert!

by Anne French

Franz Schubert was born on January 31, 1797, and lived to be only 31 years old. Not many birthdays to celebrate. Yet in those few years he wrote some 600 lieder, nine symphonies (including the famous "Unfinished Symphony"), great liturgical music, operas, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. We celebrate his birthday today by sharing one of his many gifts to us: the serenely beautiful Impromptu in G Flat Major, performed by Vladimir Horowitz.