Sunday, June 18, 2006
Gustav Klimt's "Schubert at the Piano"
A Musical Soiree can be among the most rewarding evenings of one’s whole life. If you are a musician or a music lover, being invited to a sumptuous evening of songs and chamber music is something to be highly regarded, because this is where we make music as well as make musical friends and alliances. Some forms of music can only be aired and shared in such a setting. The combination of music, friends, food and conversation is irresistible. This is where you learn what sounds good, what moves people, and what’s on peoples minds.
Klimt brings us into the middle of such an occasion and presents us with one of its highlights. Franz Schubert wrote some of the most memorable songs, chamber music and piano solos of the early 19th century. In Klimt’s painting, you can truly “hear” the warm musical moment emanating from the piano and the experience is verified by the rapt faces of the listeners, some of whom may be musicians or music lovers. It’s difficult to remember any other image that captures more fully all the details and atmosphere of a soiree. Klimt was a great admirer of Schubert, of course, and his own reaction to Schubert's music must surely be captured in the faces of the listeners. They say the painting was destroyed during WWII when a bomb hit the building in which it was housed. A fire ensued and it was reduced to ashes. The image lives on and continues to inspire us and that is - why we love this painting.
