In 'Schubert in the European Imagination, Volume 1: The Romantic and Victorian Eras', Scott Messing examines the historical reception of Franz Schubert as conveyed through the gendered imagery and language of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe.

How Franz Schubert and his compositions were viewed in nineteenth-century European criticism, literature, and the visual arts, from Schumann to George Eliot to Whistler.

Schubert Studies comprises eleven essays by renowned Schubert scholars and performers. The volume sheds light on certain aspects of Schubert‘s music and biography which have hitherto remained relatively neglected, or which warrant further investigation. Musical topics include analyses of tempo conventions, transitional procedures and rhythmic organization. There are reassessments of several works, using autograph research, performing experience and other approaches; while assumptions as to the extent of Schubert‘s influence on later Czech composers are also brought into question. Concerns with aspects of Schubert‘s biography, in particular the social and musical circles in which he moved, come under examination in several essays. The final two chapters deal specifically with the composer‘s relationships with women, and the psychological and physiological illnesses from which he suffered. Each of the essays here charts new and existing evidence to provide fresh perspectives on these aspects of Schubert‘s life and music, making this volume an indispensable tool for scholars concerned with his work.