Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) was an Austrian composer of the early Romantic period, who had an extraordinary ability to express lyrical and romantic moods and great melodic talent. He is the first great representative of early Romanticism and is sometimes referred to as a Romantic classic. He wrote over 1,000 works, most of the most impressive of which were written during the time he was unhappily in love. However, much of his work was not recognized until after Schubert's death, which is why he spent most of his life in poverty. He died at the age of thirty-one, after a sudden illness of several weeks. To this day, Franz Schubert remains one of the leading composers of the Romantic musical repertoire.