Vienna in Violet

  Thus concluded the dramatic events of February 1822 in Vienna. Spring, with its attendant promise of change, was in the air. As Count von Neulinger repeatedly promised himself, all would be well.

  the end :||

  Postlude: Moderato

  Author’s Note

  Vienna in Violet is entirely a work of fiction. As it features more than the usual number of people who actually walked the earth and events that actually occurred, I want to distinguish the historical portions of the story from the totally invented ones.

  Of the main characters, all of the von Neulinger and Merlinbeck families, their attendants and retainers are pure inventions, as are Ignatz Nordwalder and Captain Millstein. The platinum hunters, Barenberg, Himmelfarb, Tagili and Lord Bellingham are also inventions, but Lord Wollaston, with his interest in acquiring vast quantities of the platinum, was real.

  About the real Franz Schubert a great deal is known, and most of the personages and the non-criminal events surrounding him did happen at approximately the time they occur in the story. Schubert met Carl Maria von Weber and attended a concert with him on Sunday, February 24, 1822. He submitted to Weber the score of his opera, Alfonso und Estrella, whose librettist was Franz Schober. Weber expressed initial interest in it, although the opera was not produced in Schubert’s lifetime by Weber or anyone else. Schubert was the friend and accompanist of the actor/singer Johann Michael Vogl then, indeed for most of his adult life.

  Nonetheless, Schubert, Schober, and Vogl are also fictional creations. I consulted several biographies of Schubert before embarking on my tale. My bible for ready reference was Schubert—a Biography by George Marek, published by Viking in 1986. Though unanimous about Schubert’s talent, biographers do not agree regarding Schubert’s personality, degree of shyness, degree of impoverishment, sexual orientation, degree of innocence or degree of earthiness. Thus I felt free to mold a hypothetical Schubert to fit my story.

  I followed this same principle in developing Schober and Vogl; I tried to remain true to the contours of their characters when historians were in agreement about them. Schober was known to be dissolute, Vogl was known to have a fondness for Epictetus, for example, but I felt free to invent their manners, words and actions during the week of their lives I appropriated.

  I consulted only one full biography of Weber in English (written by John Warrack). Aside from anything Weber says directly and his method of approaching drinks, my portrait of him is derived heavily from that biography. Still Weber, too, is more my creation than the actual composer.

  I took my greatest liberties with Kunegunde Rosa, who in fact was the daughter of the first curator of the Oberes Gallerie in Vienna. She was a pupil of Michael Vogl, and they married in 1826. I found no record of her ever having trod the boards anywhere, and I did not learn anything of her actual personality from the materials I consulted.

  Aside from “Die Sonne und Das Veilchen” all other references to Schubert’s music mention pieces that he had written or was working on by 1822. “Der Erlkönig” (“Erlking”).was published in 1815, and arguably was Schubert’s best-known work. The other soirée songs mentioned or alluded to are “An Den Mond” (“To the Moon”)1815, “Die Forelle” (“The Trout”) 1817, “Der Tod und Das Mädchen” (“Death and the Maiden”)1817, “Gretchen am Spinnrade” (“Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel”) 1814, “Heidenröslein” (“A Hedgerose”) 1815, “Lob der Tränin” (“Praise of Tears”) 1817, “Frühlingsglaube” (“Faith in Spring”) 1820, “Geheimes” (“The Secret”) 1821, and “Ganymed” (“Ganymede”)1817.

  The quotation from “Gehiemes” (pp.68-69) reads in German,

  Blicket sie wohl In die Runde;

  Doch sie sucht nur zu verkünden

  Ihm die nächste süsse Stunde.

  The English version I cite is by Sergius Kagan.

  The two mentioned instrumental pieces by Schubert are his “Wandererfantasie”, finished and published in 1822, (first mentioned on p.173) and not the famous “Unfinished” Symphony (number 8) in B minor, but his fragmentary 7th Symphony in E minor (referred to on p. 244). Schubert began work on his 8th Symphony in October of 1822, more than six months after the meeting with Weber.

  All mentioned works by Mozart, Beethoven, and von Weber, are of course, real. A work by Friedrich Schneider was performed at St. Stephens before Weber, Schubert and Salieri on Sunday, February 24, 1822, but I did not find the actual composition. Hauptnegler, the pianist and Bildman with his Empress of the Common are complete fabrications.

  Another musical selection may merit some further attention. In 1822, modern Germany did not exist, even as a concept. A sense of national unity among German states was just sprouting, though the sense of unity was strong among German speakers. There was no German national anthem. The song, “Heil dir in Siegerkranz” (p.127) was sung to the tune of “My Country, ’Tis of thee.” The words of the first verse are: Heil dir in Siegerkranz,/Hersher des Vaterlands,/Heil Kaiser dir! (Hail to you in the victor’s crown,/leader of the Fatherland/Hail, Kaisr, to you) were written by Heinrich Harrier in 1790 as a patriotic anthem for the King of Prussia. Later in the nineteenth century, starting around the time of the Franco-Prussian War, the song was commonly used to welcome the German Kaiser when he traveled and was associated with a greater unified Germany.

  I close with a few small scraps of information to tie up some loose ends for my historical characters. Franz Schober continued in the theater for several years, attempting to work more as an actor than as a playwright. He was never a successful thespian. He suffered through a legendarily unhappy marriage and lived until 1882. He often was consulted about his memories of Schubert and helped promote Schubert’s greatness after the composer’s death.

  For Vogl, Weber and Schubert, 1822 marked turning points. All three men reached pinnacles in their lives. Vogl, after his long, successful acting career, retired from the theater later that year. He continued to sing recitals and give readings until his permanent retirement in 1834. He died in 1840. He always was a great promoter of Schubert’s memory and music, both before and after the composer’s death.

  Weber went on to write two more operas after the triumph of Der Freischütz: Euryanthe, and Oberon. Neither matched the former’s success. The strain and effort literally killed him (along with tuberculosis), as he died in London, in 1826 just days after getting Oberon up and running. He allowed Schubert to attend some early rehearsals of Euryanthe in October of 1823. He also had a different Franz Schubert working as a production assistant on the opera. Schubert the composer made it known that he wasn’t thrilled with the new work. At about that time Weber lost interest in Alfonso und Estrella, which had to wait until 1854 to reach the stage. It has never made it into the standard repertoire.

  In February, 1822, Schubert approached his worldly, although not his creative, zenith. Through the rest of the year his star remained in the ascendant. He received increased public notice and inspiring critical accolades. However, some time near the end of the year, or the beginning of 1823, Schubert became seriously ill and stopped working for several months. When he recovered sufficiently, by the fall of 1823, his outlook on life seems to have changed. At any rate, his music changed. A reigning theory is that he became aware of his mortality and turned from writing as a means of immediate advancement towards writing for the ages. In his last years he produced works of great musical depth. He died, almost certainly of syphilis, on November 19, 1828.

  About the Author

  After wrapping up a forty-year teaching career teaching English mostly at the high school level and producing plays for thirty-four years at The Roxbury Latin School in Boston, David W. Frank has continued his literary and dramatic pursuits in non-academic settings. His adaptations of Ibsen’s The Pillars of Society and Henry Fielding’s The Mock Doctor were published online, and his adaptations of Gozzi’s The Love of Three Oranges and Aristophanes’ The Clouds were performed, as well as the revue, Musical! for which he wrote the book. His original play, 4’33
” In Rehearsal was also performed onstage. David’s life-long hobby, classical piano, introduced him to Schubert at an early age, and his education includes a year at the Eastman School in Rochester, New York. Vienna in Violet is his third published novel, the first with a historical setting and the second to feature a musical maguffin.

  * The piano score has a hole in it at this spot, and the number is in dispute. A sole mark resembling a “t” remains in the score, leading some to suggest that the number is eight (acht), not five (fünf). The verbal manuscript is unambiguous.