The Correspondence of the Schubert Circle. Commentaries

The correspondence between Franz Schubert and his circle of friends, dating from the years 1811 to 1830, is a precious document of Biedermeier cultur and of the intellectual history of Austria in general. Only short extracts from these letters - most of which are still in possession of the descendants of Schubert`s friends - have been known so far. This will change with a forthcoming edition of all letters collected by Till Gerrit Waidelich and shortly to be published in two volumes. The goal of the present project is to complete this important collection with a detailed commentary of all 800 documents. A thorough commentary of the forthcoming edition is indispensable for scholars and even more for the general reader interested in cultural history. It will offer information that helps to contextualize the documents and thus to gain a comprehensive understanding of their historical relevance. In thematic commentaries and short biographies it will provide a wide range of data concerning questions in music history, arts, biography ans social history. Since the letters of about fifty different scribes are edited in a general chronological order, finaly differentiated registers will be required to trace important connections between them. It is planned to publish these commentaries alongside the edition as two further volumes in the well established series "Schubert:Perspektiven - Studien".

The correspondence between Franz Schubert and his circle of friends, dating from the years 1811 to 1830, is a precious document of Biedermeier cultur and of the intellectual history of Austria in general. Only short extracts from these letters - most of which are still in possession of the descendants of Schubert`s friends - have been known so far. This will change with a forthcoming edition of all letters collected by Till Gerrit Waidelich and shortly to be published in two volumes. The goal of the present project is to complete this important collection with a detailed commentary of all 800 documents. A thorough commentary of the forthcoming edition is indispensable for scholars and even more for the general reader interested in cultural history. It will offer information that helps to contextualize the documents and thus to gain a comprehensive understanding of their historical relevance. In thematic commentaries and short biographies it will provide a wide range of data concerning questions in music history, arts, biography ans social history. Since the letters of about fifty different scribes are edited in a general chronological order, finaly differentiated registers will be required to trace important connections between them. It is planned to publish these commentaries alongside the edition as two further volumes in the well established series "Schubert:Perspektiven - Studien".