Schubert: Octet in F Major, D. 803

OCTET IN F MAJOR for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Double bass, Clarinet, 
French Horn and Bassoon, D. 803

1. Adagio. Allegro 
2. Adagio 
3. Allegro vivace 
4. Andante 
5. Menuetto: Allegretto 
6. Andante molto. Allegro 

 James Buswell, First violin 
Syoko Aki, Second violin* 
Walter Trampler, Viola 
Leslie Parnas, Cello 
Alvin Brehm, Double bass* 
Richard Stoltzman, Clarinet* 
Robert Routch, French horn* 
Loren Glickman, Bassoon 
*Guest Artist

In the spring of 1818 Schubert declared his independence from his parents and his job as a schoolteacher once and for all by moving out of his family's dwelling. He spent the summer as the music master to the family of Count Johann Esterhazy in Hungary before moving in with his friend Johann Mayrhofer, who had an apartment in the center of Vienna. Schubert refused to take on music students as a means of income, insisting that he had to be free to devote himself to composition. As a result, the young composer was more or less financially dependent upon the generosity of his friends. 

The Octet, D. 803, along with the String Quartets in A minor, D. 804, and D minor, D. 810- all written early in 1824 -- would appear to be among the first fruits of Schubert's new resolve and indeed these works signal a new direction in his instrumental output. The title page of the composer's autograph of the Octet is dated February 1824 and at the very end of the score stands the remark "finished on the first of March 1824," providing an accurate guide to the date of the work. There is otherwise little contemporary information about the composition.