Curse of the ninth "serious" music criticism. Though composers can indeed be found who died after achieving nine symphonies (the most famous example perhaps being Ludwig van Beethoven), nine is not a statistically predominant total in the history of the symphony. In addition, while some very prominent composers (e.g. Schubert, Dvořák, Spohr, Bruckner, Mahler, and Vaughan Williams) are regularly adduced as examples, several of them are only credited with having "composed nine symphonies" as a result of error or oversimplification (see below). According to Arnold Schoenberg, this superstition began with Gustav Mahler, who, after writing his Eighth Symphony, wrote "Das Lied von der Erde",
Ferdinand Schubert Ferdinand Schubert Ferdinand Schubert (born October 18, 1794 in Vienna; died February 26, 1859) was an Austrian composer and brother of Franz Schubert. He also designed the grave stone for the grave of Ludwig van Beethoven, which is now at Vienna's Central Cemetery. Ferdinand Lukas Schubert was an Austrian teacher, organist and composer. He is notable for his compositions and for his role in publishing the complete works of his younger brother Franz Schubert. He received training in piano and violin from his father, Franz Theodor Schubert, and his older brother Ignaz, later from Michael Wood, and finally from the