Six songs for flute and piano (D 802)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer who is regarded as one of the most prominent composers of the Romantic era.
Born in a suburb of Vienna in 1797, Schubert's musical gifts were recognized early. He received his first lessons from his father and older brother before earning a choral scholarship to the Imperial Seminary (Stadtkonvikt) at age eleven. There, he was exposed to the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, and received composition lessons from the renowned court composer Antonio Salieri. He worked briefly as a schoolteacher at his father's school but found it unfulfilling, preferring to devote all his time to composition.
He composed seven complete symphonies, most notably the Symphony No. 8 in B minor (the "Unfinished" Symphony) and Symphony No. 9 in C Major (the "Great").
His chamber works are cornerstones of the repertoire, including the Trout Quintet, the String Quartet "Death and the Maiden", and the String Quintet in C Major.
He wrote over 600 Lieder, elevating the form to a high art by giving the piano an equal role in storytelling, most famously in "Erlkönig" (1815) and "Ave Maria!" (1825), and in his song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise.
During his lifetime, Schubert's music was primarily appreciated within a small circle of friends and admirers at private social gatherings known as "Schubertiads". It was only after his death from typhoid fever in 1828 that composers like Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms championed his work, bringing his vast genius to the world. His music fundamentally influenced the future direction of Romantic music and endures as some of the most beloved classical music ever written. He was buried, at his request, near his idol, Ludwig van Beethoven.