LESS than 5ft tall and round in stature with a face marked with scars, Franz Schubert was not the most graceful of men.

But he more than made up for it in his musical composition – elegant works filled with melodies that lift the soul.

In his memoires, the singer Karl von Schönstein described him as “this heaven-inspired clairvoyant who, as it were, simply shook his most glorious things out of his sleeve”.

It’s an image that appeals to guest conductor Andrew Manze, who will present Schubert’s Symphony No.9 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday.

“It’s just melody from beginning to end, I find it the most charming thing,” he says.

Composed from 1824-26, the work was dubbed “The Great C Major” to distinguish it from his Sixth Symphony in the same key.

This, says Manze, is why audiences have been divided in their opinion.

“It means some people approach it expecting it to be something it’s not,” he explains. “The idea of ‘great’ makes it sound heroic and heavy and it’s really not. It’s quite thought-provoking at times, and it’s challenging like Beethoven can be, but it’s also very entertaining and witty.

“If he were living today, he’d be writing pop songs that everyone knows.”

No 9 was chosen by Canadian-born violinist James Ehnes, the concert’s guest soloist, and has been programmed alongside Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No.3, from his only opera Fidelio, and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.1.

“Prokofiev was relatively young when he wrote it and of course Schubert died when he was young so we’re hearing young men’s music,” says Manze.

“The Beethoven is much more mature and one of his finest overtures in that it’s a really substantial piece. Sometimes overtures can be a little bit of nothing that you play and then you’ve forgotten it.

“This has got some classic moments – it starts with a song that he used as a prayer and in the middle a trumpet calls from offstage to say that something’s going on.

“You only find out when you hear the opera what that is so the overture is this fantastic, dramatic taster for the opera.”

Thursday’s concert will be Manze’s Liverpool debut and he is looking forward to working with the RLPO.

“I know them by repute,” he says.

“It’s fantastic what they’ve achieved, particularly in recent years, the way the orchestra’s put itself on the map internationally.”

SCHUBERT’S The Great is at the Philharmonic Hall on Thursday.