A celebration of Franz Schubert in town

During his lifetime, Franz Schubert’s friends in Vienna often hosted parties in their homes that featured performances of Schubert’s songs and chamber music. These events became known as “Schubertiads,” and they have continued to this day. Here in Taos, pianist and musicologist Claire Detels has organized a Schubertiad as a fundraiser for the Taos Community Chorus.

The concert is the third annual Schubertiad that Detels has organized. It will be held on Saturday (Jan. 28) at 3 p.m. in a private home in Taos. Admission is $10 to $20; for reservations and directions, contact Detels at cjdetels@yahoo.com or (575) 779-9889.

“People just love the context of a house concert where they can relax and be closer to the performers and have refreshments and meet interesting people,” said Detels. “People love to hear this music. It really was written to be heard in a house concert context. So, if you go to concert halls and you hear Schubert Lieder [German for ‘songs’] or you hear other chamber music, intimate piano pieces or string pieces, you just don’t get the same effect as when you’re in a smaller place.”

Schubert was born in 1797 and died in 1828 at the age of 31. According to Detels, he was very poor and in ill health. Schubert was trained initially to be a schoolteacher, as his father had been. However, he did not enjoy the work. He stopped teaching and tried to make a living as a composer, which Detels said was a “very bold thing to do” at that time. He struggled financially throughout his short career. Though his music became popular in Vienna in his lifetime, he was not widely known as a great composer until after his death.

“His style of song was very imaginative,” said Detels, noting Schubert’s use of piano and melodic parts. Schubert wrote more than 600 songs and used the lyrics of Romantic poets of his day. Detels said Schubert’s songs cover a range of expression – from cheerful folk-like songs to songs that are deeply spiritual.

Performers for the Taos Schubertiad include Taos Community Chorus soloists Julia Armstrong, Elizabeth Calvert, Francis Donald, Julie Greer and Salman Lee. Pianists Kim Bakkum, Claire Detels, Martha Grossman and Martha Shepp of Piano Taos will be accompanying the singers; full biographies are available at pianotaos.com.

Violinist Ellen Chávez de Leitner is also accompanying the soloists. Chávez de Leitner currently performs in the San Juan Symphony and Roswell Symphony and has performed with the Santa Fe Symphony and Taos Chamber Orchestra and Chorus. In Austria, she has played seasons with the Innsbruck Symphony Orchestra, Graz Philharmonic, Hübner’s Kursalon, Jeunesse Wien and Albert Schweitzerhaus Chamber Orchestra.

The concert includes the following songs by Schubert: “Liebe schwarmt auf allen Wegen,” “Gretchen am Spinnrad,” “Tanzen: Landler, Walzen,” “Nacht und Traume,” “Lachen und Weinen,” “Die Forelle” and his “Piano Sonata in A Major, Op 120/ D664.” Also on the program are Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Sonata in F Major, ‘Spring,’” Robert Schumann’s “Frauenliebe und Leben,” and Gustav Mahler’s “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen.”