>>51048058
>Schubert is early romantic
Attempts to look upon Schubert as a herald of the Romantic era are not convincing; in the final count he must be placed among the Classical composers. It is true that formal grace and balance in his compositions are often sacrificed to the exuberance of his imagination, but Romanticism is not the tendency to distort or modify Classical forms, but to dispense with them; and this Schubert was incapable of doing. Except the Fourth Symphony, none of his works bears a title of his own bestowing, none carries a programme, none is labelled with extra-musical hints. On the contrary - and the point has been made - his mature work grows more conventional.