Scott No: -
Serial number: 2017-22
Values in set: 6
Date of issue: Sept 9, 2017
Denomination: 540 fen
Designer: Martin Morck
Size of stamps: 44 * 33 mm
Perforation: 13
Sheet composition: 12
Sheet Size: 202 * 160 mm
Printing process: Offset + Engraving
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Works

The Romantic period of the 19th century was a glorious era in the history of Western music. This set of stamps features four musical giants of the Romantic school: Franz Schubert of the early period, Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt of the peak period, and Gustav Mahler of the late period. Austrian composer Schubert is known in history as the "King of Lieder"; Polish musician Chopin is hailed as the "Poet of the Piano"; Hungarian composer and pianist Liszt pioneered the symphonic poem musical genre; Austrian composer and conductor Mahler is honored as a "Master of Symphonies". The masterpieces of these four great artists are imbued with humanistic spirit, genuine human emotions, and profound philosophy of life. Through diverse musical genres, they have bequeathed to humanity numerous timeless classics that still resonate today.

The Foreign Musicians (II) commemorative stamps were issued by China Post on September 9, 2017. The full set comprises 4 stamps, depicting the images of Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Mahler—the four luminaries of the Romantic era—with a total face value of 5.40 yuan. This set continues the design style and printing technology of the first Foreign Musicians stamp series, featuring the composers' portraits, musical scores, and signatures as core elements. It also once again invited renowned engraver Mr. Martin Mörck to take charge of the stamp design and engraving. The organic integration of design and engraving techniques perfectly recaptures the artistic personas of these four Romantic music masters.
The selection of the four musicians reflects the representative creative achievements of the Romantic period:

Schubert: Composed more than 600 art songs and established the form of German vocal cycles.

Chopin: Invented such piano solo genres as nocturnes and études, revolutionizing the system of piano performance techniques.

Liszt: Pioneered the symphonic poem genre, laying the foundation for the development of program music.

Mahler: Acclaimed as a "Master of Symphonies", his works embody humanistic spirit and the diversification of musical genres.

The stamp designs adopt the offset and engraving overprinting technique. The main images showcase the bust portraits of the four musicians, with fragments of their handwritten representative scores interspersed in the background, and the musicians' handwritten foreign language signatures marked on the right side. Designer Martin Mörck used delicate engraved lines to meticulously restore the facial features of each figure—the curls of Schubert, the profile contour of Chopin, the full beard of Liszt, and the glasses of Mahler, all are presented through the combination of dots and lines. The stamps adopt a warm-toned background, forming a serialized visual connection with the first Foreign Musicians stamp set. This design allows the artistic achievements and historical status of the four musicians to be intuitively displayed within the tiny space of the stamps, making it a highly anticipated collection for both music lovers and philatelists.