Joseph Schubert (composer)

{{Short description|German composer, violinist, and violist (1754–1837)}}

{{distinguish|Franz Schubert}}

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Joseph Schubert (20 December 1754 – 28 July 1837) was a German composer, violinist, and violist.{{Cite web |date=2014-11-03 |title=Die Oper in Italien und Deutschland zwischen 1770 und 1830 |url=http://www.oper-um-1800.uni-koeln.de/einzeldarstellung_komponist.php?id_komponist=599&herkunft= |access-date=2024-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103162336/http://www.oper-um-1800.uni-koeln.de/einzeldarstellung_komponist.php?id_komponist=599&herkunft= |archive-date=2014-11-03 }}

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.