When he was 11, young Schubert competed for, and
won, a place as a boy soprano in the famous Imperial Court Chapel.
The boys of which, their descendants at least,
are still known today as the Vienna Boys Choir.
At the age of 15, Schubert's voice broke, as he said, he croaked his last.
And so he was gradually eased out of the choir, and out of the choir school,
and when on to earn an effective teaching certificate at a local college.
So he tried his hand at grade school teaching in his father's school,
but with no particular success.
So Schubert quit his day job, and although he gave music lessons from time to time,
and had some small income from publishing his songs, for the most part,
Schubert live a Bohemian existence, no steady income.
Roaming with friends and
mentors in downtown Vienna as the situation required, and
spending much of his evening pub crawling, as he called it, with his friends.
But composer Schubert was remarkably productive,
producing nearly a thousand compositions and
more than 600 songs in his short life of just 31 years, yes, 31 years.
Here's Schubert in his youth, wearing his iconic glasses.