On bullying and social rejection: The case of Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert, a towering figure in music, arguably ranks among the best melodists in the classical and romantic tradition. His short life of 31 years belies a vast reservoir of compositions: seven symphonies, operas, sacred music (among them the “Ave Maria”), 600 secular songs, and a large body of chamber and piano music, among them the haunting “Serenade,” the playful “Moment Musicale,” and the transcendent “Impromptu No. 3.”

At age 7, he was discovered by Antonio Salieri who taught him musical theory and composition, and at age 11, one of his teachers exclaimed, “this one’s learned from God!” Schubert’s compositions express “every shade of human emotion—tenderness, drama, even evocations of the countryside,” and demonstrated a profound appreciation of the possibility of what human achievement can reach.

In spite of this, few know that Schubert led a tenuous life marked by insecurity, self-doubt, and bullying. A new biography on Schubert by Christopher Gibbs, assistant professor of music at the University of Buffalo, presents a darker side to the man: beneath Schubert’s hedonistic and socially engaging side lurks a dark and morbid surface seldom seen even by even those who knew him.

Gibbs said Schubert had a “dual nature,” in that he also possessed a “black-winged demon of sorrow and melancholy” and was a “hedonist” who indulged in “sensual living.” Another biographer claims Schubert was “mildly manic-depressive.” Gibbs adds, “stark contrasts of mood are found in his most significant letters, which often juxtapose laments of ‘misery’ with buoyant talk of friends, musical life, and composing.”

What could have been the cause of these mood swings of sociability interspersed by episodes of extreme insecurity, and feelings of inferiority? No one knows for sure: may be genetic, or season-influenced. Schubert’s fortune—or perhaps misfortune—was being born in the same era with the world’s biggest musical geniuses.

Ludwig van Beethoven was not just a contemporary but took up residence in the same city Schubert grew up in: Vienna. Schubert adored Beethoven and to say the latter influenced Schubert’s works no matter how remote is an understatement. Schubert honed his compositional skills by “studying the work of great composers,” notably Beethoven, before whom Schubert, rightly or wrongly, felt inadequate in comparing himself with. This, in spite of Beethoven’s recognition of Schubert as “[t]ruly, in this Schubert there dwells a divine spark.”

What really triggered Schubert’s “morbid and depressive” personality, characterized by a profound sense of “loneliness coupled with a craving for intimacy”? My take is, in spite of (or, perhaps because of) Schubert’s obvious musical genius, he was the target of bullying and likely felt socially dejected. In a land of tall people, he was “short” and “squat” at 5-foot-1. His round, plump body earned for him the moniker “Schwammerl” or “little mushroom.” This may have contributed in no small measure to his heavy drinking, a fact now confirmed by contemporary sources, albeit dismissed or downplayed by friends.

Being relegated to the category of “mushroom,” with many of its varieties poisonous, for a thinking man, is not just hurting but assaulting. One is typified as no longer human but a species of fungus, and a substandard one (“little”) at that. If physical and emotional impacts are an offshoot of long-term impacts of social rejection, one such may be what biographers called Schubert’s lack of “close and enduring relationships with women.” Still, this did not prevent him from venturing into self-destructive habits and from seeking secret pleasures of the flesh, resulting in his contacting syphilis in his early 20s. Gibbs ratiocinated the sexually transmitted condition led to years of continual ill-health, further rendering Schubert unacceptable for courtship and marriage.

Bullying is the use of force or hurtful teasing with the intent to dominate or intimidate. Dehumanizing epithets characterizing a person or group of persons as “cockroaches” (as in Rwanda) or “peste” meaning pest (at times said in jest in the Philippines), leave the recipient helplessly captive and scarred.

Schubert, in spite of personal pains, and occasional succumbing to bullying’s manipulative thrusts, managed to ignore the abuses for the most part. He stocked his short life with years of hard musical work, his way of perhaps brushing off the assaults. During his short 31 years stint on earth, he was able to compose over 1,500 works, with the largest number of these—over 600—for solo voice and piano. He could have wallowed in frustration and negativity. Instead, he diverted for the most part the abuses heaped unto him into creative work, channeling them to his life’s gifts and passion: music.

One lesson from Schubert’s life: Either we turn our hearts to things that make us sad and sick, or we can take our energies to another level, to a realm where our strengths and gifts lie. Though our gifts may not be as copious as the talents bestowed unto history’s greats, they are genuine gifts nonetheless worth nurturing. We can sulk or rejoice. The choice is ours.

—————-

Dr. Gil Marvel Tabucanon is currently teaching jurisprudence and legal theories at Macquarie University Sydney.

READ: Why are we bullied?