8 h 15 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 15 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a city alive with music, friendship and longing shape a composer's world.
In Franz Schubert's Song of Life, Joseph August Lux places the composer at the heart of Vienna's musical world. Theatres, salons and taverns form the setting for a novel about an artist and the people around him. Music draws them together; friendship gives that shared life its warmth.
Schubert's circle includes poets, painters and fellow musicians who gather for evenings of music and talk. His songs bring poetry, including work by Goethe, into music for voice and piano. Blending a real life with imagined scenes, Lux explores the pull of music and an Austrian spirit marked by cheerfulness and longing.
What you’ll discover
- A city full of music Enter Vienna's theatres, salons and taverns, where singing and playing belong to the city's life.
- Friendship around the composer Meet the poets, painters and musicians whose shared evenings place friendship beside artistic work.
- Poetry becomes song Discover the place of lieder in Schubert's world, where poems meet voice and piano.
- Cheerfulness beside longing Explore the restless Austrian spirit through the mingling of warmth, music and yearning.
- An artist through fiction Approach Schubert through a novel that brings imagined scenes to the outline of a real life.
Who will love it
Readers who love music, old Vienna and stories of friendship will feel at home here. It suits anyone curious about how a gifted, modest man turns joy and sorrow into art.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A choirboy no teacher can teach
- Loss and a first sting of love
- Schoolroom, fried chicken and a first Mass
- Free in Vienna and poor at once
- A summer at the count's castle
- Trout, Erl-King and the road to fame
- Failed operas, illness and a symphony laid aside
- Genius that is received, not made
- Vienna as the immortal beloved
- A song told in motifs and humor
Who’s who
- Franz SchubertA shy schoolmaster's son from Vienna with a lark's voice and a head full of songs, who wants only freedom to compose.
- Father SchoolmasterFranz's stern, thrifty father, who wants his son to become an honest schoolteacher and cannot say how proud he is.
- SalieriThe sharp-nosed court composer who loathes Mozart's music and, grudgingly, makes the young genius study counterpoint.
- SpaunFranz's gentle school friend, who brings him music paper and carries his songs to others.
- SchwindA romantic young painter called Cherubim, Franz's closest friend, who dreams of knights and secretly loves Netty Hönig.
- SchoberA charming, vain man about town who gives Franz a room and a libretto, and plays at being an actor and poet.
- VoglAn older court opera singer who first doubts Franz and then carries his songs to the public.
- Therese PufferA fair singer of the salons, called Melusine by the friends, whom Franz adores from a distance.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Le Chant de la vie de Franz Schubert
A shy Viennese choirboy with a voice like a lark dreams of music while his stern father plans a schoolmaster's life.
Medium level5–10 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What does a boy do when his father wants a schoolmaster and his head is full of music? In this novel by Joseph Aug.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A choirboy no teacher can teach
The novel opens in a church gallery, where the court choirboys sing like the carved angels above them. One voice climbs to high C, and it belongs to Franzl Schubert. His conductor Ruczizka laughs that the dear Lord taught him, because there is nothing left to add.
The court composer Salieri catches the boy scribbling notes and seizes the pages. He finds a small piece built on a Mozart sonata. Salieri hated everything about Mozart, so he rages in Italian. Then, to the boy's confusion, he orders Ruczizka to drill him in counterpoint.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- français
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Lux, Joseph August. Franz Schubert's Song of Life. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/franz-schuberts-song-of-life.
Lux, J. A. (2026). Franz Schubert's song of life. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/franz-schuberts-song-of-life
Lux, Joseph August. Franz Schubert's Song of Life. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/franz-schuberts-song-of-life.
@book{lux2026franz,
author = {Lux, Joseph August},
title = {Franz Schubert's Song of Life},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/franz-schuberts-song-of-life}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Le Chant de la vie de Franz Schubert
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Franz Schubert's Song of Life about?
It is a novel about the composer Franz Schubert, from his boyhood in the Vienna court choir to his years of poverty, friendship and songwriting. It shows how his loves and losses shape the music.
Is Franz Schubert's Song of Life a true story?
It is a biographical novel. Real people appear, among them Schubert, Schwind, Vogl, Beethoven and Salieri, but Lux imagines their conversations and inner feelings. He wrote it to show the Austrian soul through Schubert.
What do the two musical motifs mean in the book?
A gentle, hopeful phrase of notes sounds whenever Franz feels joy and promise. A dark chord rings when sorrow, illness or warning comes. Together they stand for the cheerful and the wounded sides of his nature.
The author
Joseph August Lux
1871–1947 · Austrian writer
Joseph August Lux (1871–1947) was an Austrian writer. He was born in Vienna and died in Anif, near Salzburg. He wrote about art and architecture in the early twentieth century. His books included a work about the composer Franz Schubert, published in English as Franz Schubert's Song of Life.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
