Is it possible to be both extraordinary and ordinary? Very few great composers have been noteworthy people.Franz Schubert is an example of someone who might have been happier  had he been just one of the crowd, ordinary and unremarked.Fortunately for us he was a genius,but maybe that was unlucky for him.

He lived a lonely  life amongst his fun loving bohemian friends but his own prospects for happiness were severely limited. Shy,introverted,physically awkward and unprepossessing,impractical and feckless,desperate for love . It was highly unlikely that such a man would make his way in society,get married,have children and lead a conventional and satisfying life.

In much of his music there is a melancholic undercurrent. In his last great song cycle Winterreise ( Winter Journey) all that unhappiness morphs into resignation at best and despair at worst.The last song in the cycle is “The Organ Grinder”.It is probably the most desolate song ever written and in it Schubert bares his soul- he has reached the limits of despair.It is devastating.

I have added a link which contains all the lyrics plus translations,also an extra performance of that last song which has English subtitles. The performance is by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau and Alfred Brendel- both preeminent Schubert interpreters .