Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished,” D. 759

• Schubert ceased working on this symphony in autumn of 1822. He completed two movements and sketched a third. At the time, Schubert’s circle of friends was more interested in his literary-inspired works; that’s one theory about Schubert’s abandonment of the project. 
• Schubert’s friends Josef and Anselm Hüttenbrenner ended up with the manuscript to Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, and they released it to the public in 1865. Its premiere led to Schubert’s first international success – 37 years after his death.  
  • Schubert had been friends with Anselm Hüttenbrenner since 1815, when both of them were studying with Antonio Salieri. 

In 1818, Schubert inscribed a piece of music to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner: “my dear fellow coffee, wine and punch drinker Anselm Hüttenbrenner, the world-famous composer.” 

Franz Schubert

Anselm Hüttenbrenner also described Schubert when they met: “Schubert’s outward appearance was anything but striking or prepossessing. He was short of stature, with a full, round face, and was rather stout. His forehead was very beautifully domed. Because of his short-sightedness he always wore spectacles, which he did not take off even during sleep. Dress was a thing in which he took no interest whatever … and listening to flattering talk about himself he found downright nauseating.”⁴⁸⁵ 

Anselm Hüttenbrenner¹

1. Maurice J.E. Brown, Eric Sams, and Robert Winter, “Schubert, Franz,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed April 6, 2021,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025109.