Joseph Schubert

Joseph Schubert (20 December 1754 – 28 July 1837) was a German composer, violinist, and violist. Schubert was born in Varnsdorf, Bohemia (now Czech Republic) to a musical family. He received his early musical education from his father, who was a cantor, and then in Prague. In 1778, he moved to Berlin to study the violin with Paul Kohn, director of the royal orchestra there. In 1779, Schubert obtained a position as violinist in the court of Heinrich Friedrich, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. In 1788, he accepted a post as violist in the court orchestra of Dresden, where he remained until his death in 1837. Schubert gained recognition as a versatile composer, cited in the 1812 edition of Ernst Ludwig Gerber's lexicon of composers. His œuvre includes 15 masses, 4 operas, 17 sonatas, and 49 concertos for solo instruments. The Saxon State Library in Dresden holds the manuscripts of three viola concertos attributed to him.