The timid, myopic and rather portly composer Franz Schubert falls for the beautiful, blond Countess Maria Esterhazy. Franz nurture unrealistic fantasies about the two, as Maria only admires him for his music. When Schubert is fired from his position as a teacher in the parish school, the village innkeeper Therese, who secretly has the hots for Schubert, gets him an engagement at a concert in Palace Esterhazy. At the high-point of the concert, Maria sings a love song, which Schubert wrote with her in mind. Afterwards, Schubert dares to propose to her, which completely surprises her and which she turns down gently.