Schubert

Schubert, family of German musicians:

(1) Anton Schubert , double-bass player; b. Dresden, June 28, 1766; d. there, Oct. 12, 1853. He was a member of the Dresden Court Orch. from 1790 until he retired in 1840.

(2) Franz Anton Schubert , double-bass player and composer, brother of the preceding; b. Dresden, July 20, 1768; d. there, March 5, 1827. He was named director of the Italian Opera in 1808 and royal church composer in 1814 in Dresden. He composed much church music.

(3) Franz Schubert , violinist and composer, son of the preceding; b. Dresden, July 22, 1808; d. there, April 12, 1878. He studied with his father, Rottmeier, and L. Haase; after further training with C.P. Lafont in Paris, he returned to Dresden as a member of the Court Orch. in 1823, becoming its concertmaster in 1861. With F.A. Kummer, he wrote some duos for cello; also composed 12 bagatelles, Die Biene being the most successful in his day. His wife was the soprano Maschinka Schubert (b. Reval, Aug. 25, 1815; d. Dresden, Sept. 20, 1882), the daughter of the Kapellmeister Georg Abraham Schneider (1770–1839) and the singer Caroline Portmann; she was a pupil of her mother and of Giulio Bordogni; made her debut in London (1832), and later was a leading singer at the Dresden Court Opera. Their daughter was the soprano Georgine Schubert (b. Dresden, Oct. 28, 1840; d. Strelitz, Dec. 26, 1878); she studied with her mother, and later with Jenny Lind and Manuel Garcia; made her operatic debut in La Sonnambula in Hamburg (1839), and then sang widely in both opera and concert.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire