Franz Schubert on Music Theory Print

Adagio and Rondo Concertante

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Schubert apparently composed the quartet at the request of Heinrich Grob, the brother of Therese Grob, who at the time Schubert hoped to marry. Offered to Diabelli after Schubert’s death, the composition was not published until 1865. The first known public performance of the quartet was on 1 November 1861 at the Ludwig Bösendorfer Salon in Vienna.

Structure#

The composition, which is written for a standard piano quartet is in two movements played continuously: The composition takes around 14–16 minutes to perform.

Alfonso und Estrella

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

In close collaboration with von Schober in the region of Sankt Pölten, Schubert wrote the vocal numbers of Alfonso und Estrella between September 1821 and February 1822. Schober, only one year older than the young Schubert, and a dabbler in literature, music and theatre, was enthusiastic about the collaboration. Schubert and Schober shared an appreciation for the operatic theories of Ignaz von Mosel, a patron of Schubert’s, who supported Gluck’s operatic ideals. This influence may have led to the omission of all spoken dialog, parting from the German Singspiel form followed in operas such as Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Beethoven’s Fidelio, and Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz.

Allegretto in C minor, D. 915 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The immediate occasion for the composition was the departure of Schubert’s friend Ferdinand Walcher for a post in Venice; Schubert copied the piece into Walcher’s album at the latter’s farewell party. Nevertheless, Blair Johnson points out that it is “tempting” to read into the piece the momentous event that had occurred in Schubert’s life only a month earlier: the death of Beethoven on March 26. Schubert had met his great predecessor only once, but Beethoven, in bed with his final illness, praised the Schubert lieder he had seen and raved about them to all his visitors, most likely thereby singlehandedly raising Schubert’s musical reputation in Vienna. Suzanne Yanko echoes these sentiments: “The influence of Beethoven was evident in this composition.”

Am Brunnen vor dem Tore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Müller’s poem#

Wilhelm Müller first published the poem as “Der Lindenbaum” in Urania – Pocketbook for the Year 1823, one of the popular pocketbooks of the early 19th century that contained poems, stories, and essays across hundreds of pages. It appeared as the fifth poem in a cycle titled Wanderlieder von Wilhelm Müller. Die Winterreise. In 12 Liedern (Wandering Songs by Wilhelm Müller. The Winter Journey. In 12 Songs). The text was later republished unchanged, edited by Christian G. Ackermann in Dessau and dedicated to Carl Maria von Weber, in an expanded 24-poem version of Winterreise in the second volume of Poems from the Posthumous Papers of a Traveling Horn Player in 1824.

An die Musik

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Text#

An die Musik Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden, Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt, Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb’ entzunden, Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt, In eine beßre Welt entrückt! Oft hat ein Seufzer deiner Harf’ entfloßen, Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir, Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschloßen, Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür, Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir! English translation O blessed art, how often in dark hours, When the savage ring of life tightens round me, Have you kindled warm love in my heart, Have transported me to a better world, Transported to a better world! Often a sigh has escaped from your harp, A sweet, sacred harmony of yours, Has opened up the heavens to better times for me, O blessed art, I thank you for that, O blessed art, I thank you!

An Sylvia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Creation#

Although considered to be myth, it is said that Schubert first came up with the idea to write “An Sylvia” as he was walking in Vienna and entered a beer garden with friends. There, he found a volume of Shakespeare on a table and as he was reading, he apparently exclaimed, “Oh! I have such a pretty melody running in my head. If only I had some paper!” The score had no tempo markings and served as Schubert’s only draft of “An Sylvia” which allowed him to write additional notes in the score over time as ideas came to him. Schubert’s friend, Franz von Schober, kept the original manuscript and managed Schubert’s music after the composer’s death. After the Lithographic Institute of Vienna published “An Sylvia” in 1828, Schober published it himself shortly after. In 1829, “An Sylvia” was assigned opus number 106 after Anton Diabelli published the work.

Arpeggione Sonata

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The piece was probably commissioned by Schubert’s friend Vincenz Schuster, who was a virtuoso of the arpeggione, an instrument which had been invented only the previous year. By the time the sonata was published posthumously in 1871, the enthusiasm for the novelty of the arpeggione had long since vanished, together with the instrument itself.

Movements#

The work consists of three movements. A typical performance takes just over 20 minutes.

Auf dem Wasser zu singen

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Text#

Mitten im Schimmer der spiegelnden Wellen Gleitet, wie Schwäne, der wankende Kahn; Ach, auf der Freude sanftschimmernden Wellen Gleitet die Seele dahin wie der Kahn; Denn von dem Himmel herab auf die Wellen Tanzet das Abendrot rund um den Kahn. Über den Wipfeln des westlichen Haines Winket uns freundlich der rötliche Schein; Unter den Zweigen des östlichen Haines Säuselt der Kalmus im rötlichen Schein; Freude des Himmels und Ruhe des Haines Atmet die Seel’ im errötenden Schein. Ach, es entschwindet mit tauigem Flügel Mir auf den wiegenden Wellen die Zeit. Morgen entschwindet mit schimmerndem Flügel Wieder wie gestern und heute die Zeit, Bis ich auf höherem, strahlenden Flügel Selber entschwinde der wechselnden Zeit.

Ave Maria (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Lady of the Lake and the “Ave Maria”#

The piece was composed as a setting of a song (verse XXIX from Canto Three) from Walter Scott’s popular narrative poem The Lady of the Lake, in a German translation by Adam Storck (1780–1822), and thus forms part of Schubert’s . In Scott’s poem, the character Ellen Douglas, the Lady of the Lake (Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands), has gone with her exiled father to stay in the Goblin’s cave as he has declined to join their previous host, Roderick Dhu, in rebellion against King James. Roderick Dhu, the chieftain of Clan Alpine, sets off up the mountain with his warriors, but lingers and hears the distant sound of the harpist Allan-bane, accompanying Ellen who sings a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary, calling upon her for help. Roderick Dhu pauses, then goes on to battle. Schubert’s setting is said to have first been performed at the castle of Countess Sophie Weissenwolff in the little Austrian town of Steyregg and dedicated to her, which led to her becoming known as “the lady of the lake” herself. The opening words and refrain of Ellen’s song, namely “Ave Maria” (Latin for “Hail Mary”), may have led to the idea of adapting Schubert’s melody as a setting for the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer, “Ave Maria”. The Latin version of the “Ave Maria” is now so frequently used with Schubert’s melody that it has led to the impression that he originally wrote the melody as a setting for the “Ave Maria” prayer.

Das Dreimäderlhaus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

In the spring of 1826, Schubert, a poor young composer, has quarters in an old Viennese house together with two friends. The three daughters of Christian Tschöll, the court glass maker, visit the three friends. Two of the girls are in love with Schubert’s roommates, and the third, Hannerl, is chaperoning her sisters. More of Schubert’s friends come to visit. The father arrives in search of his daughters. Schubert’s two roommates drink with Tschöll in their courtyard, underneath a Lilac tree, and he agrees to their engagements with his daughters. Schubert takes on Hannerl as his singing pupil, and although the two fall in love, they are each too shy to reveal their feelings. A couple of months later, the first two daughters are marrying their fiancés at Tschöll’s house, and the three roommates are all guests at the wedding. Actress Giuditta Grisi, the mistress of Baron Franz Schober, one of Schubert’s friends, arrives. She is jealous and believes that he must be cheating on her. She assumes that Hannerl is the other woman and warns her to stay away from her man. Schubert, still unable to tell Hannerl that he loves her, instead asks Schober to sing a song that he has written for her (“Ungeduld”). Hannerl misunderstands Grisi’s warning, believing it to be about Schubert rather than Schober. She turns away from the composer and falls in love with Schober. In the Prater the following morning, everyone assembles. Eventually, Schubert ends up alone, disappointed, but consoled by Hannerl’s happiness and by his music.

Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History of the text#

The beginning of the poetry is based on the play Rose, die schöne Müllerin, Inspired by Giovanni Paisiellos 1788 opera La molinara, Ludwig Berger wrote the plot as a Liedspiel. Berger requested more texts related to the topic, which Müller wrote during a study trip to Italy, completed in Dessau in 1820.

Musical settings#

The poem was first set to music by Franz Schubert in 1823, titled “Das Wandern”, as part of his song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, together with 19 other poems from the cycle. Otto Nicolai and . In 1844, Carl Friedrich Zöllner composed a four-part setting for men’s chorus. With his melody, the poem became a popular German and (folk song). It was included in collections before 1900, such as Ludwig Erk’s Singvögelein – Ein-, zwei- und dreistimmige Lieder Little songbird – songs for one, two and three voices which appeared in 1883 in its 59th edition, and in 1895 in Franz Magnus Böhme’s Volksthümliche Lieder der Deutschen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert Folkloric songs of the Germans in the 18th and 19th centuries . When the Wandervogel youth movement was founded in 1905, the song became part of many of its songbooks but not of the standard . It remained popular, but was not part of typical Nazi songbooks. After World War II, the catalogue of Deutsches Musikarchiv listed around 350 recordings and 160 sheet music versions. It remained a favourite also in Austria and Switzerland.

Der Doppelgänger

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Text#

The title “Der Doppelgänger” is Schubert’s; in Heine’s (1827) the poem is untitled, making the ending a surprise. Heine used the spelling “Doppeltgänger”. Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen, In diesem Hause wohnte mein Schatz; Sie hat schon längst die Stadt verlassen, Doch steht noch das Haus auf demselben Platz. Da steht auch ein Mensch und starrt in die Höhe, Und ringt die Hände, vor Schmerzensgewalt; Mir graust es, wenn ich sein Antlitz sehe, - Der Mond zeigt mir meine eigne Gestalt. Du Doppelgänger! du bleicher Geselle! Was äffst du nach mein Liebesleid, Das mich gequält auf dieser Stelle, So manche Nacht, in alter Zeit? The night is quiet, the streets are calm, In this house my beloved once lived: A long time ago she left the town, But the house still stands, here in the same place. A man stands there also and looks to the sky, And wrings his hands, overwhelmed by pain: I am terrified – when I see his face, The moon shows me my own form! O you Doppelgänger! you pale comrade! Why do you ape the pain of my love Which tormented me upon this spot So many a night, so long ago?

Der Graf von Gleichen

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

The opera is for four sopranos, two tenors, six basses, mixed choir and orchestra. Sketches of eleven numbers for Act I and nine numbers for Act II are extant: :: Akt I ::: 1. Introduktion: Es funkelt der Morgen (sketch) ::: 2. Rezitativ und Cavatine: O Himmel kannst du mir; Mein Weib, o Gott (sketch) ::: 3. Terzett: Wart nur wart (sketch) ::: 4. Duett: Ein Schiff? ein Schiff? (sketch) ::: 5a. Arie: Ihr Blumen, ihr Bäume (sketch) ::: 5b. Rezitativ und Duettritornell: Suleika! Mein Herr und Freund! (sketch) ::: 5c. Duett: Ich wünscht um dich zu schmücken (sketch) ::: 6. Marsch, Rezitativ, Arie und Chor: Ha! Was ist das? (sketch) ::: 7. Quintett: Wie Mondlicht durch die Wolken glänzt (sketch) ::: 8. Rezitativ und Arie: Himmel was mußt’ ich hören?; Ja ich lieb’ ihn (sketch) ::: 9. Lied: Tausend Frauen konnt’ ich schauen (sketch) ::: 10. Duett: Ob ich verstehe? (sketch) ::: 11. Finale I: Sie wird kommen (sketch) :: Akt II ::: 12. Chor: Laßt uns nicht feyern (sketch) ::: 13. Arie: Trocknet nicht Thränen der ewigen Liebe (sketch) ::: 14. Chor: Vaterland nimm uns auf in deinen Arm (sketch) ::: 15. Rezitativ und Arie: Burg meiner Väter; O Vater der Güte (sketch) ::: 16a. Rezitativ und Duett mit Chor: Wo ist er?; Laß ab mir sprengts die Brust (sketch) ::: 16b. Rezitativ und Chor: Doch sprich, wo ist mein süßer Knabe? (sketch) ::: 17a. Terzett: Das Zeichen wars, das er versprach (sketch) ::: 17b. Rezitativ und Quintett: Oh sieh, sie kommt; Meine Arme öffnen sich (sketch) ::: 18. Lied mit Chor: Vor Allem müßt ihr wissen (sketch) ::: 19. Quartett: Gratulire! nun ich habe nichts dagegen (sketch) ::: 20a. Rezitativ und Arie: Sie schläft; Deine Liebe, deine Milde (sketch) ::: 20b. Duett: Wohlan! Sprich zu dem frommen Kinde (sketch) ::: 20c. Arie: Gütter Gott nimm aus dem Herzen (sketch) ::: 20d. Rezitativ und Duett: Angelika!; Schlage nicht die Augen nieder (sketch) ::: 20e. Terzett: Ihr seyd bewegt was ist geschehen? (sketch) ::: 20f. Quintett: Es geht schön im Kreise der volle Pokal (sketch)

Der Taucher

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

A king throws a golden beaker into a whirlpool and promises that the one who can recover it can also keep it. However, none of his knights and pages is willing to do so, and the king has to ask three times before an Edelknecht (squire) finds his courage. He deposits his sword and his coat and commends his life to God and jumps into the intimidating sea. Everyone at the shore fears that the boy will not return. After a while, he emerges with the beaker in his hand. His terrifying report intrigues the king. The king wants him to dive again and promises him a precious ring. The king’s daughter tries to convince her father to stop with his cruel demands. Yet the king throws the beaker in the sea again and promises now that he will make the Edelknecht a knight and let him marry his daughter if he recovers the beaker again. The boy has a look at the girl and wants her to become his bride, so he jumps into the deep again. This time, he does not return.

Der Tod und das Mädchen

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

The piece begins with an introduction in D minor; the first eight bars in the time signature 2/2. Both hands play chords. The section is quiet (pianissimo) and slow (mäßig), and presents the musical theme of Death. The Maiden enters in the ninth bar on an anacrusis. This section is more agitated than the first; it is marked piano and “somewhat faster” (etwas geschwinder). The melody gradually increases in pitch, chromatically at points. The piano accompaniment is syncopated, playing chords of quavers alternating in the left and right hand. A diminished chord in the first bar of the third line (ich bin noch jung) creates an eerie mood. In the eighth bar of the maiden’s song, on the word rühre (“touch”), the quavers stop and the rhythm of the opening section returns. Then an imperfect cadence leads to a rest with fermata. This brings the second section to a total of 13 bars in length. The third and final section is Death’s song. The music returns to the tempo and dynamics of the introduction. Death’s melody has a narrow pitch range (save for the last note where the singer has the option of dropping to D below the melody line). The key modulates to F major, the relative major of D minor. With the last syllable of Death’s song, the key changes into D major. The coda is almost a repeat of the introduction, except it is shortened by one bar and is now in the major key.

Der Wanderer

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

The song begins with a recitative, describing the setting: mountains, a steaming valley, the roaring sea. The wanderer is strolling quietly, unhappily, and asks, sighing, the question: “where?” The next section, consisting of 8 bars of a slow melody sung in pianissimo, describes the feelings of the wanderer: the sun seems cold, the blossom withered, life old. The wanderer expresses the conviction of being a stranger everywhere. This 8-bar section was later used by Schubert as theme on which his Wanderer Fantasy is based. Next the music shifts to the key of E major, the tempo increases and the time signature changes to 6/8. The wanderer asks: “where are you my beloved land?” This place the wanderer longs for is described as green with hope, “the land where my roses bloom, my friends stroll, my dead rise” and, finally, “the land which speaks my language, Oh land, where are you?” Towards the end of this section, the music gets quite animated and forms the climax of the song. Finally, the music returns to the original minor key and slow tempo. After quoting the question “where?” from the opening, the song closes with a “ghostly breath” finally answering the question: “There where you are not, there is happiness.” The song closes in the key of E major.

Der Zwerg (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

Of Dwarves, Perversion, and Patriotism: Schubert’s “Der Zwerg,” D. 771, by Susan Youens 19th-Century Music © 1997 University of California Press.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVGP97dFLXI George London sings “Der Zwerg” (YouTube)

Die Bürgschaft

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The ballad is set in the ancient Greek polis of Syracuse. After a failed attempt by Damon to kill the gruesome tyrant Dionysius, he is caught and sentenced to death but asks for a delay to marry his sister to her designated husband. Dionysius allows him an extension of three days on condition that his friend remains with him to guarantee Damon’s return. If he would not be back on time, his friend would suffer his punishment, while Damon would go with impunity. To Dionysius’ astonishment Damon, despite facing floods, an assault by a bandit gang, beating sun and lack of water on the way back to his own execution, at the last minute returns to save his friend. Ashamed by this deed, the tyrant admits the moral value of fidelity and asks to be considered as a friend in their midst.

Die Forelle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Context#

The lyrics of the lied are from a poem by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart. Opinion is divided on his abilities: The Musical Times considers him to be “one of the feeblest poets” whose work was used by Schubert, and comments that he “was content with versifying pretty ideas”, while the singer and author Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau considered Schubart to be “a very talented poet, musician and orator”. Schubart wrote "" in 1782, while imprisoned in the fortress of Hohenasperg; he was a prisoner there from 1777 to 1787 for insulting the mistress of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. The poem was published in the Schwäbischer Musenalmanach of 1783, consisting of four stanzas. The Schubert scholar John Reed thought the poem to be “sentimental” and “feeble”, with the final stanza of the poem consisting of a “smug moral” that “pointedly advises young girls to be on their guard against young men with rods”. The academic Thomas Kramer observes that "" is “somewhat unusual with its mock-naive pretense of being about a bona fide fish”, whereas he describes it as “a sexual parable”. Fischer-Dieskau saw the poem as “didactic … with its Baroque moral”. Schubert did not set this final stanza, however, and instead concentrated on a person’s observation of the trout and the reaction to its being caught by a fisherman.

Die Freunde von Salamanka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recordings#

*Die Freunde von Salamanka, with fragments of Der Spiegelritter, featuring Edith Mathis, Thomas Moser, Hermann Prey, Simeon ten Holt and Theodor Guschlbauer; Deutsche Grammophon 2LP 1981 reissued without the Spiegelritter fragments on one CD by Brilliant Classics.

Die schöne Müllerin

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

Müller published twenty-five poems in the first fascicule (1821) of Sieben und siebzig Gedichten aus den nachgelassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten (Seventy-seven Poems from the Posthumous Papers of an Itinerant Hornist"). They arose from his unrequited passion for Luise Hensel, herself a poet as well as sister-in-law to Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn. Schubert set twenty of them to music between May and September 1823, while he was also writing his opera Fierrabras. He was 26 years old at the time. Schubert omitted five of the poems, such as a prologue and an epilogue delivered by the poet. The work was published in 1824 by the firm of Sauer and Leidesdorf as Op. 25 under the title Die schöne Müllerin, ein Zyklus von Liedern, gedichtet von Wilhelm Müller (The Lovely Maid of the Mill, a song cycle to poems by Wilhelm Müller) and was dedicated to the singer . The omitted poems were a “Prolog”, “Das Mühlenleben” (following Nr. 6), “Erster Schmerz, letzter Scherz” (following Nr. 15), “Blümlein Vergißmein” (following Nr. 17) and “Epilog”.

Die Verschworenen

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

The work is for four or five sopranos, two contraltos, two or three tenors, two basses, mixed choir and orchestra: :Ouverture (fragment) # Duet: “Sie ist’s! Er ist’s!” (2 versions; 1st version for soprano, tenor and orchestra; 2nd version for two sopranos and orchestra) # Romanze: “Ich schleiche bang’ und still herum” # Ensemble: “Ihr habt auf Eure Burg entboten” # Corus (“Verschwörungschor” conspiracy chorus ): “Ja, wir schwören” # March and chorus: “Vorüber ist die Zeit” # Ensemble: “Verrätherei hab’ ich entdeckt” # Chorus of knights and women: “Willkommen, schön willkommen” # Duet: “Ich muß sie finden” # Arietta: “Ich habe gewagt und habe gestritten” # Arietta: “Gesetzt, ihr habt wirklich gewagt” # Finale: “Wie? Darf ich meinen Augen traun?”; Ensemble: “Ich bin beschämt”

Die Zwillingsbrüder

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The scene takes place in a village on the Rhine, on the 18th birthday of the young heroine, Lieschen. Lieschen is eagerly awaiting her marriage to her young fiancé, Anton. The opera opens with a chorus in the couple’s honor. Unfortunately, upon Lieschen’s birth, her father, Der Schulze, had agreed with a friend, Franz Spiess, that, in exchange for a sum of money, Franz would be allowed to marry Lieschen when she came of age. Immediately following the deal, Spiess had left for the war. Franz, now an old veteran whom the villagers had presumed dead, suddenly returns, on the last day on which he can claim his bride, and Lieschen’s father must keep his word. Coincidentally, Friedrich Spiess, Franz’s twin brother, also a veteran, happens to return to the village on that same day. The Spiess brothers are both under the impression that their twin was killed in the war. Since they are identical twins and they are never in the same place at the same time, the villagers mistake them for each other. The twins’ stories and behaviors do not match (while one brother strives to arrange his marriage to the heroine, the other gladly revokes his right to it), leading Der Schulze to believe that the old soldier has sustained a mentally impairing sword wound and that he is unfit to marry his daughter. After this confusion is used to comic effect in a variety of ways, the twins finally meet, and Lieschen is allowed to marry Anton.

Du bist die Ruh'

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description and analysis#

Rückert’s poem was originally untitled. Schubert used the poem’s first line as the title of the song. Rückert later titled his poem "" (Stay with me). Franz Liszt transcribed many of Schubert’s songs for piano, including "" (S. 558/3). The melody and harmonies are all Schubert’s but with the addition of Liszt’s own interpretation, while still staying true to the original meaning of Rückert’s poem. The piece is in triple meter () and is marked larghetto (fairly slow) and pianissimo (very soft). The piece is in bar form and its original key is E-flat major. It starts with both hands playing broken triads softly and slowly in treble clef. The simplicity of the melody makes this piece that much more difficult to sing as it requires perfect legato and breath control. Any inconsistencies in the sound can disrupt the ‘peace’ of the poem. Schubert sets tender and gentle themes to Rückert’s words, and the simplicity of the piano line further enhances the meaning of the song. The progression of the harmonies repeat with the bar form, always establishing the key of the piece. With a pianissimo and larghetto marking and the piano part light in texture, Schubert sets up the poem for the first few lines, “You are the calm, the mild peace”, in the introduction. The piece has five stanzas. The first and second verses are almost exactly identical to the third and fourth, with the exception of one note. The fifth (and final) verse is the start of the B section (""). Both the piano and the voice have a marking of pianissimo up until measure 57, when there is finally a crescendo. This is in the first few bars of the B section. In measure 59, Schubert marks forte. Here is the climax as well as the highest note of the piece along with a decrescendo. There is then a bar of rest and Schubert marks the next entrance at pianissimo once again. Perhaps this is to reinforce the mood of the song. “What could be more restful than silence?” Schubert repeats this text, thereby creating a sixth verse. He then ends the vocal line on the dominant (B-flat), which leaves the piano to resolve the harmony. Throughout the piece, Schubert sets words like “joy” on the tonic, and words like “pain” on the dominant harmonies.

Erlkönig (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Goethe’s poem was set in music by at least a hundred composers, including Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Carl Friedrich Zelter and Carl Loewe, though no work would become as preeminent as Schubert’s, which stands among the most performed, reworked and recorded compositions ever written. Schubert composed “Erlkönig” at the age of 18 in 1815 – Joseph von Spaun claims that it was written in a few hours one afternoon. He revised the song three times before publishing his fourth version in 1821 as his Opus 1. The work was first performed in concert on 1 December 1820 at a private gathering in Vienna. The public premiere on 7 March 1821, at the Theater am Kärntnertor, featured Johann Michael Vogl as the solo baritone, accompanied by Anselm Hüttenbrenner on the piano ; it was a great success, and quickly propelled the young composer to fame in Vienna.

Fantasia in F minor (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Franz Schubert began writing the Fantasia in January 1828 in Vienna. The work was dedicated to Caroline Esterházy, with whom Schubert was in (unrequited) love. Schubert died in November 1828. After his death, his friends and family undertook to have a number of his works published. This work is one of those pieces; it was published by Anton Diabelli in March 1829. The original manuscript resides at the Austrian National Library.

Fantasy for violin and piano (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

The work is in seven sections/movements: The third movement, Andantino, is a reworking of Schubert’s earlier song “Sei mir gegrüßt” (D 741, 1821–22), formatted as a theme and variations.

External links#

YouTube WQXRClassical: Fantasie in C major, D 934 - Tessa Lark (violin) & Renana Gutman (piano)
YouTube chambermusicsociety: Fantasie in C major, D 934 - Benjamin Beilman (violin) & Juho Pohjonen (piano)

Fierrabras (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The commission#

The Kärntnertor Theater in 1822 commissioned operas from Schubert and Carl Maria von Weber in a drive to increase the number of German operas in the repertoire. Schubert fulfilled his commission with Fierrabras, and Weber his with Euryanthe. The Italian theatre director Domenico Barbaja, who had taken over the theatre in 1821, at the same time brought Rossini to Vienna to oversee the production of several of his operas at the Kärntnertor Theater. Rossini’s operas were so popular that Euryanthe unsuccessfully premiered in October 1823, resulting in the shelving of plans to stage Fierrabras, and the resignation of Joseph Kupelwieser as director of the theatre, complaining of “arrogance” on the part of Barbaja. As a result, Schubert never saw the opera staged, or even received payment for his work.

Franz Schubert's Works

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Publication#

The twenty-two series (some in several volumes) were published from 1884 to 1897 by Breitkopf & Härtel. Eusebius Mandyczewski was one of the main editors. From 1965 Dover Publications started to reprint this edition, and later it was made available at the IMSLP website.

I. Symphonien (Nos. 1-8)#

Editor: Johannes Brahms. Issued 1884. Two volumes (Symphonies 1–3; Symphonies 4–6/8–9). Reprinted: Dover Publications, 1978.

II. Overtüren und Andere Orchesterwerke#

Editor: Johann Nepomuk Fuchs. Issued 1886. Partially reprinted (Nos.1-7) as Overtures “In the Italian style” and Other Works by Dover Publications, 2002.

Gesang der Geister über den Wassern

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The poem#

In 1776, Goethe settled in Weimar, seat of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, and a centre of the intellectual movement known as the Age of Enlightenment. In 1779, he embarked upon his second tour of Switzerland, this time accompanying his employer Duke Karl August (1757–1828). From 9 to 11 October, the party visited the area around Lauterbrunnen, in the Bernese Oberland. Goethe was impressed by the sight of the Staubbach Falls, which cascade down a sheer rock face 300 m ft high. He was motivated to write a first version of this poem, with the title “Gesang der lieblichen Geister in der Wüste” (). He sent it to Charlotte von Stein (1742–1827), lady-in-waiting at the ducal court and a close friend to and influence on Goethe. In 1789, he revised the poem for publication in one of his volumes of collected writings. He gave it the title it now bears, made minor modifications to the wording, and changed its form from a dialogue between two spirits speaking alternately to a monologue. The poem is 35 lines long, mostly of four or five syllables, and is divided into six stanzas of uneven length. It is without either rhymes or strong rhythm. Goethe compares the soul of man to water cycles between Heaven and Earth. It gushes over a high cliff and breaks among the rocks. It flows through grassy meadows to a lake where the stars see their reflection. Wind is the water’s lover, stirring it into restlessness. The soul of man is like the water, and the destiny of man is like the wind. “Gesang der Geister” has been contrasted with "" (), Peter Härtling suggested that the poem could be read in the context of an attempted distancing by Goethe from Charlotte von Stein. Terence James Reed thought that the wind symbolises the psychological disturbance caused by love.

Gretchen am Spinnrade

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

German text#

Meine Ruh’ ist hin, Mein Herz ist schwer; Ich finde sie nimmer Und nimmermehr. Wo ich ihn nicht hab’ Ist mir das Grab, Die ganze Welt Ist mir vergällt. Mein armer Kopf Ist mir verrückt, Mein armer Sinn Ist mir zerstückt. Meine Ruh’ ist hin, Mein Herz ist schwer; Ich finde sie nimmer Und nimmermehr. Nach ihm nur schau’ ich Zum Fenster hinaus, Nach ihm nur geh’ ich Aus dem Haus. Sein hoher Gang, Sein’ edle Gestalt, Seines Mundes Lächeln, Seiner Augen Gewalt, Und seiner Rede Zauberfluß, Sein Händedruck, Und ach sein Kuß! Meine Ruh’ ist hin, Mein Herz ist schwer, Ich finde sie nimmer Und nimmermehr. Mein Busen drängt Sich nach ihm hin. Ach dürft ich fassen Und halten ihn! Und küssen ihn So wie ich wollt’, An seinen Küssen Vergehen sollt'!

Heidenröslein

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Text#

Göschen version Sah ein Knab’ ein Röslein stehn, Röslein auf der Heiden, War so jung und morgenschön, Lief er schnell es nah zu sehn, Sah’s mit vielen Freuden. Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot, Röslein auf der Heiden. Knabe sprach: “Ich breche dich, Röslein auf der Heiden.” Röslein sprach: “Ich steche dich, Dass du ewig denkst an mich, Und ich will’s nicht leiden.” Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot, Röslein auf der Heiden. Und der wilde Knabe brach ’s Röslein auf der Heiden; Röslein wehrte sich und stach, Half ihr doch kein Weh und Ach, Musste es eben leiden. Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot, Röslein auf der Heiden. Literal translation Saw a lad a little rose standing, Little rose upon the heath, It was so young and morning-fair, He ran quickly it near to see, He saw it with much delight, Little rose, little rose, little rose red, Little rose upon the heath. The lad said: “I will pluck you, Little rose upon the heath.” Little rose said: “I will prick you, So that you will forever think of me, and I want not to endure it.” Little rose, little rose, little rose red, Little rose upon the heath. And the willful lad plucked the little rose upon the heath; Little rose resisted and pricked, Yet helped her no pain or woe, It must be endured anyway. Little rose, little rose, little rose red, Little rose upon the heath. Bowring translation Once a boy a Rosebud spied, Heathrose fair and tender, All array’d in youthful pride,– Quickly to the spot he hied, Ravished by her splendour. Rosebud, rosebud, rosebud red, Heathrose fair and tender! Said the boy, “I’ll now pick thee, Heathrose fair and tender!” Said the rosebud, “I’ll prick thee, So that thou’lt remember me, Ne’er will I surrender!” Rosebud, rosebud, rosebud red, Heathrose fair and tender! Now the cruel boy must pick Heathrose fair and tender; Rosebud did her best to prick,– Vain ’twas ‘gainst her fate to kick– She must needs surrender. Rosebud, rosebud, rosebud red, Heathrose fair and tender!

Hermann und Thusnelda

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Since the rediscovery of Tacitus’s Germania in the 16th century, Germans have exalted the Germanic tribes as their direct ancestors. They especially praised German liberty defended by Arminius in 9 A.D. when three legions of the Roman Empire were defeated on Germanic soil, thus putting an end to Roman plans to subjugate Germania. In Klopstock’s poem, blood-stained Hermann returns from battle and is praised by his wife Thusnelda, who is happy about the death of the Roman soldiers. Her husband’s victory heavily delights her making her confess that her love for Hermann has never been as ardent as now after the lurid fight. Arminius himself only regrets that Roman emperor Augustus has not been present as he would have slain him. Klopstock wrote several other dramas and poems about “Germany’s liberator”: * Hermanns Schlacht. Ein Bardiet für die Schaubühne (1769); * Hermann und die Fürsten. Ein Bardiet für die Schaubühne (1784); * Hermanns Tod. Ein Bardiet für die Schaubühne (1787); * “Wir und sie” (1798); * “Hermann aus Walhalla” (1798). In his later years, Christoph Willibald Gluck became interested in patriotic Germanic subjects and notably in Klopstock’s work. Hence, he had planned to set the monumental work Hermanns Schlacht to music, but he died before he could realize it.

Im Frühling

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Text#

Still sitz’ ich an des Hügels Hang, der Himmel ist so klar, das Lüftchen spielt im grünen Tal. Wo ich beim ersten Frühlingsstrahl einst, ach so glücklich war. Wo ich an ihrer Seite ging so traulich und so nah, und tief im dunkeln Felsenquell den schönen Himmel blau und hell und sie im Himmel sah. Sieh, wie der bunte Frühling schon aus Knosp’ und Blüte blickt! Nicht alle Blüten sind mir gleich, am liebsten pflückt ich von dem Zweig, von welchem sie gepflückt! Denn alles ist wie damals noch, die Blumen, das Gefild; die Sonne scheint nicht minder hell, nicht minder freundlich schwimmt im Quell das blaue Himmelsbild. Es wandeln nur sich Will und Wahn, es wechseln Lust und Streit, vorüber flieht der Liebe Glück, und nur die Liebe bleibt zurück, die Lieb und ach, das Leid. O wär ich doch ein Vöglein nur dort an dem Wiesenhang dann blieb ich auf den Zweigen hier, und säng ein süßes Lied von ihr, den ganzen Sommer lang.

Impromptus (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Four Impromptus, D. 899 (Op. 90)#

The first set was composed in 1827, though only the first two were published during Schubert’s lifetime. The first Impromptu in C minor blends elements of sonata, variation, and through-composed structures. The second Impromptu in E♭ major is a swift “moto perpetuo” with a ternary design. The third Impromptu is a flowing and meditative piece in G♭ major, characterized by long melodic lines and unbroken triadic accompaniment. The fourth and final Impromptu, in A♭ major, starts in A♭ minor and is characterized by cascading arpeggios and a chordal response.

Impromptus, Op. 142 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Schubert was a prolific composer, and despite his personal struggles, he produced a plethora of works in the late 1820s. The Impromptus were composed during a particularly creative period in 1827, which included the Piano Trio No. 1, Piano Trio No. 2, the Impromptus, Op. 90, the Fantasy for violin and piano and some 30 other works. The Impromptus were part of the broader Romantic trend of composing short, self-contained piano pieces, a genre popularized in the 1820s. Other composers such as Johann Baptist Cramer, Carl Czerny, Heinrich Marschner, Ignaz Moscheles and Franz Liszt also wrote Impromptus published around this time, though Schubert’s clearly structured Impromptus largely do not conform to the improvisational traits implied by the literary term “impromptu”. The autograph of the Impromptus, Op. 142 is dated to December 1827, and they were first mentioned in a letter from Schubert to the publisher Schott in February 1828. There is no documentary record of the first performance, though it is likely that they were first performed at a house concert in Vienna in early 1828 by Carl Maria von Bocklet, who had also premiered the Piano Trio No. 2. Schubert had difficulty getting the Impromptus, Op. 142 published. His publisher Tobias Haslinger had already published two other Impromptus (Nos. 1 and 2 from Op. 90) and was not interested in the new set. Similarly, they were rejected in October 1828 by Schott as being too difficult and therefore “unmarketable in France”. The work was published posthumously in 1839 by Anton Diabelli in Vienna.

Impromptus, Op. 90 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Schubert was a prolific composer, and despite his personal struggles, he produced a plethora of works in the late 1820s. The Impromptus were composed during a particularly creative period in 1827, which included the Piano Trio No. 1, Piano Trio No. 2, the Impromptus, Op. 142, the Fantasy for violin and piano and some 30 other works. The Impromptus were part of the broader Romantic trend of composing short, self-contained piano pieces, a genre popularized in the 1820s. Schubert’s publisher, Tobias Haslinger, assigned the title “Four Impromptus”, potentially in response to the 1821 publication of similarly titled works by Bohemian composer Jan Václav Voříšek. However, other composers such as Johann Baptist Cramer, Carl Czerny, Heinrich Marschner, Ignaz Moscheles and Franz Liszt also wrote Impromptus published around this time, though Schubert’s clearly structured Impromptus largely do not conform to the improvisational traits implied by the literary term “impromptu”. In Schubert’s lifetime, only the first two pieces appeared in print, and it remains unclear why the latter two were not published until long after his death. Tobias Haslinger had personally prepared the autograph for printing but the pieces were not published until 1857, in a new edition by his son .

Kings of the Dance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Reviews#

NY Times, John Rockwell, February 23, 2006
Village Voice, Deborah Jowitt, March 3, 2006
Ballet.co Magazine, Anjuli Bai, February 2006

Lazarus (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

The work is for three sopranos, two tenors, bass, mixed choir and orchestra. Act 1 Act 2

Roles#

Maria (soprano)
Martha (soprano)
Jemina (soprano)
Lazarus (tenor)
Nathanael (tenor)
Ein Jüngling (tenor)
Simon Peter (bass)

Recordings#

1978 – Carola Nossek, Ursula Reinhardt-Kiss, Ingeborg Springer, Eberhard Büchner, Horit Gebhardt. Staatskapelle Berlin Dietrich Knothe recorded in the Christuskirche, Berlin Berlin Classics 94452BC; reissued 1 CD Brilliant Classics
1981 – (also Mass No. 2 in G, D 167), Theodor Guschlbauer Warner Apex 2008
1983 – Edith Mathis, Wulkopf, Schwarz, Hollweg, Laubenthal, Hermann Prey conducted , Orfeo 2LP
1983 - Lucia Popp, Robert Tear, Helen Donath, Maria Venuti, Josef Protschka, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Symphonie-Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Wolfgang Sawallisch, EMI Classics
1996 – completed by Edison Denisov. Rubens, Nylund, Nold, Weir. Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling Hanssler 1996, also reissued 2 CD Brilliant Classics 99969
1997 – Concentus Musicus Wien, Dorothea Röschmann, soprano; Ľuba Orgonášová, soprano; Elisabeth von Magnus, mezzo-soprano; Herbert Lippert, tenor; Reinaldo Macias, tenor; Raimund Nolte, baritone. Arnold Schoenberg Choir, conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt Classics
2013 – Sarah Wegener, Johanna Winkel, Sophie Harmsen, Andreas Weller, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart, Frieder Bernius 1CD Carus

Sources#

New Schubert Edition, Series II: Stage Works, Vol.10 – Lazarus oder die Feier der Auferstehung D 689: Fragment eines religiösen Dramas in 3 Akten. Edited by Reinhold Kubik. 1987.

Magnificat (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mignon (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

“An Mignon”#

Schubert had started to compose songs on texts by Goethe in 1814, among which is “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” published as his Op. 2 in 1821. His first Mignon-related song was a setting of “An Mignon” ‘Über Tal und Fluß getragen’ , a poem published by Goethe in 1797. Schubert set it as a song for voice and piano in February 1815, 161. Together with fifteen other songs he had composed on Goethe’s texts Schubert sent a fair copy of this song to Goethe in 1816.

New Schubert Edition

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Eusebius Mandyczewski’s critical report of the last volume of the was published in 1897, a century after Schubert’s birth. The old collected edition has a limited critical apparatus, and soon after its completion previously unknown works by Schubert were discovered. From the 1950s ideas about a new and updated collected edition of Schubert’s works began to emerge. The International Schubert Society was founded in 1963, 135 years after the composer’s death, with the sole purpose of supporting such endeavour. Walter Gerstenberg was appointed as head of the NSE’s editorial board. Otto Erich Deutsch, who had published the Schubert Thematic Catalogue, that is the Deutsch Catalogue, in 1951, became honorary president of the editorial board. In 1964, Bärenreiter published a new German version of Deutsch’s (Schubert: A Documentary Biography) as one of the Supplement volumes of the NSE. In 1965, the editorial board became fully operational, with members such as Walther Dürr, Arnold Feil and . The first score volume was published in 1967. Among the sponsors of the NSE project are the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities and its member organization Academy of Sciences and Literature of Mainz (AdW Mainz). In 1969 Feil and Dürr published an article about some of the challenges of the project in the Österreichische Musikzeitschrift. A 1973 article by Dürr, Feil and Landon, in Die Musikforschung, explains the project’s approach to the publication of critical reports.

Notturno (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

This substantial but relatively neglected piece has affinities with the slow movements of both the String Quintet in C major D. 956, and the Piano Trio No. 1, D 898. Completed in the Autumn of 1827, it is possibly a rejected slow movement of the Piano Trio No. 1. It has the sublime slowness of the string quintet movement (in one recording of the Notturno, by the Beaux Arts Trio, Schubert takes half a minute to leave the opening tonic harmony), together with a similar use of pizzicato at various points, and with the same paradoxical effect: the pizzicato decorations of the main tune seem to enhance the underlying tragedy of the music, rather than lightening it. The main thematic idea has a characteristic common to a number of Schubert’s most celebrated melodic ideas, including the second subjects of both the C major string quintet’s first movement and the “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8’s first movement: that of “not going anywhere”, pitch-wise, but seeming to revolve round a single note (the third note of the scale in this case).

Octet (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

Consisting of six movements, the Octet takes an hour to perform. The Octet boasts the largest scale for any chamber work by Schubert. It is scored for a clarinet, a bassoon, a horn, two violins, a viola, a cello, and a double bass. This instrumentation is similar to that of the Beethoven Septet, differing only by the addition of a second violin.

Background#

In response to a reported request by Troyer for a work similar to Beethoven’s Septet, Op. 20, Schubert composed the Octet in early 1824. The work was first performed at the home of Troyer’s employer, the Archduke Rudolf (to whom Beethoven’s Archduke Trio is dedicated) and included many of the musicians who premiered the Septet.

Piano Sonata in A major, D 664 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

This piano sonata, numbered D 664 in the Schubert Thematic Catalogue, consists of three movements: Well regarded among pianists, the “Little” A major sonata is so called to distinguish it from the hefty 1828 sonata in the same key. It is the shortest among Schubert’s complete sonatas. The manuscript, completed in July 1819, was dedicated to 18-year-old Josephine von Koller of Steyr in Upper Austria, whom he considered to be “very pretty” and “a good pianist”. The lyrical, buoyant, in spots typically poignant nature of this sonata fits the image of a young Schubert in love, living in a summery Austrian countryside, which he also considered to be “unimaginably lovely”. The A major sonata is straightforward, with a dulcet melodic opening. It was the first of Schubert’s piano sonatas where the sonata form as perfected by his idol, Beethoven, does not seem to be wrestled with; rather, it is a “joyous breakthrough”, a carefree triumph over strict rules of construction. The original manuscript to this “little” sonata has been lost. James Webster noted the particular A–B–A form of the first movement’s first thematic group. Daniel Coren summarised the nature of the recapitulations in the first and third movements. Leo Black noted Schubert’s reworking of the opening theme from the sonata’s slow movement into his song “Der Unglückliche”.

Piano Sonata in A minor, D 537 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

The sonata has three movements:

I. Allegro ma non troppo#

The first movement is in sonata form. The exposition modulates to the submediant, F major, rather than to the usual mediant, C major. The recapitulation begins in the subdominant, D minor, and most of the recapitulation’s second group is in A major before a short coda returns to the minor mode for the movement’s ending.

II. Allegretto quasi andantino#

The second movement is a five-part rondo with an unconventional key scheme as follows: : A (E major) → B (C major) → A (F major) → C (D minor) → A (E major) Schubert also composes brief transitions at the ends of each episode—that between the B section and the medial A section features a small amount of the B section’s material in F major (the medial A section’s key), while that between the C section and the final A section modulates from the C section’s D minor up a tone to E minor, and then sits on its dominant for a few measures before the return to the movement’s tonic key with the final A section. The movement ends with a short coda that is completely diatonic.

Piano Sonata in A minor, D 784 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

The sonata has three movements:

I. Allegro giusto#

This movement, in the tonic key of A minor, employs a new, sparse piano texture not found in Schubert’s previous works: indeed, over one-fifth of the movement is in bare octaves. Additionally, Schubert also offers a new method of temporal organization to the movement (its tempo and rhythm), and he very unusually does not use much modulation. The proliferation of this motive means that rhythm is of key importance for a pianist to maintain coherence throughout the movement. The calm, hymn-like second subject then follows, is thematically related to the first subject in rhythm and melody. It contains the same downbeat accentuation, although the abrupt breaking off on a short note is not encountered until the subject begins to break into distinct registers at b.75 (it is nevertheless suggested throughout by the portato indication), allowing sudden fortissimo intrusions in the minor and firmly reestablishing the sigh rhythm. The second subject area is shorter than normal for Schubert movements, which Brian Newbould speculates as being due to its creating “such an illusion of space in its scarcely-varied somnambulistic tread”. The development section (b.104ff) is based on various incarnations of the first subject, the second subject, and the dotted rhythm that first appeared at b.27. The key oscillates between the submediant (F major, the key of the Andante), and the subdominant (D minor, which has previously appeared at b.34ff). The recapitulation (b.166ff) is a varied repeat of the exposition, but forgoes the dramatic transition passage that appears at b.47ff at the exposition in favour of a pianissimo resolution of E (D) and C as part of a fully harmonized augmented sixth to the tonic of A major: Robert S. Hatten notes that, in comparison to the “heroic” and “willful” transition in the exposition, the recapitulation’s transition (b.213ff) is “miraculous”, and it ties into the even calmer mood of the second subject this time. The calmness of the second subject is further ensured by the triplets that only now appear to lessen the impact of the downbeat accent, and the fortissimo intrusions are now followed by diminuendos that suggest that the tragic weight of the sonata is being resolved in this passage. A coda concludes the movement at b.260ff, based on the “heroic” transition in the exposition, therefore restoring what was initially excluded from the recapitulation. The long-short rhythm then reappears on a tonic pedal in contrasting high and low registers from b.278ff, suggesting once again the calmness of the second theme; but the rude interruption by the descending third in fortissimo at b.286–9 (albeit now C–A) suggest that this calmness may prove to be only temporary.

Piano Sonata in A minor, D 845 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

The sonata has four movements:

I. Moderato#

The first movement is composed in an atypical sonata form. A plaintive, somewhat ominous pianissimo unison octave phrase ornamented with a mordent opens the work, with a contrasting chordal consequent. The rhythmically similar first and second subjects of the exposition are not clearly separated structurally, a feature continued later in the ambiguous segue into the recapitulation. The atmospheric and expansive development, unusual for its time, is characterized by a sense of time dilation and wandering and is an early example of this defining feature of Schubert’s mature works (see the developments of the late sonatas and the string quintet). The relative major C, as well as the submediant F major, play major structural and dramatic roles in this and later movements. The movement is generally quiet and tense, punctuated by dramatic climaxes and a stentorian coda.

Piano Sonata in A-flat major, D 557 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

The work is relatively short and a performance takes somewhat between 10 and 15 minutes. The sonata is cheerful and uncomplicated, and carries remembrances of Mozart and the Baroque era. The beginning of the first movement resembles the opening of the menuetto, D. 380, Nr. 3. The final movement has a dance-like character.

Score#

The sonata was first published in 1888, in the Breitkopf & Härtel complete edition. ;Manuscripts The autograph of the sonata, dated May 1817, is incomplete — it stops at the 28th measure of the third movement, but there is a contemporary complete manuscript. ;Neue Schubert-Ausgabe (NSA) In the New Schubert Edition D. 557 is given in VII/2/1.

Piano Sonata in B major, D 575 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

The sonata has four movements: The first movement has a four-key exposition (B major, G major, E major, F major). Daniel Coren has noted that the first movement is the only such movement in Schubert’s sonatas in which the recapitulation is an exact transposition of the exposition.

References#

Tirimo, Martino. Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1997.

External links#

*Performance by Seymour Lipkin from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format

Piano Sonata in C major, D 279 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

The sonata has three completed movements: ;I. Allegro Moderato : C major, with the recapitulation in the subdominant key of F major. ;II. Andante : F major. ;III. Menuetto (Allegro vivace) - Trio : A minor, with the trio in A major. :D. 277A is a slightly different version of the same Minuet, with a different Trio in F major. D. 277A probably predates the D. 279 Sonata. Since 1928 several scholars, the first being Walter Rehberg, have suggested D. 346 to be the finale of the sonata D. 279: ;(IV. Allegretto D. 346) : Fragment in C major ending at measure 231, where the second theme ends in F minor. :Both Martino Tirimo and Paul Badura-Skoda published a completion of this Allegretto, as fourth movement to D. 279, in 1997. :The time of composition of this Allegretto is uncertain, probably 1815 or 1816. An abandoned start of a Rondo in C major, D. 309A (mentioned p. 173 in the 1978 version of the Deutsch catalogue however without a catalogue number being assigned to it at the time, so in several publications mentioned as D deest), dated 16 October 1815, is another candidate for what Schubert might have intended as last movement for this sonata.

Piano Sonata in C major, D 840 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Movements#

There are four movements: In the third movement, the opening theme is immediately repeated, slightly embellished, in A major, and the reprise also begins in this key. Presumably the minuet would have then returned to A major. The trio is in the parallel minor, notated enharmonically as G minor.

Structure#

Ernst Krenek outlined the structure of each of the work’s four movements in notes that he contributed to a recording by Ray Lev in 1947. Krenek elaborates on how he composed a completion, included in the recording, for the unfinished movements. According to Krenek: * The first movement introduces “the energetically pulsating rhythm which runs nearly through the entire piece”. Unusually, the second theme is initially in B minor, not the expected dominant of G major, which appears only toward the end of the exposition. The development likewise stresses B minor until a false recapitulation in another unexpected key, B major; the actual recapitulation follows closely in F major, and C major finally makes its return with a forte restatement of the first theme. “The second theme now appears in A minor, and the coda turns to A, a key that was touched upon early in the beginning of the movement, so that the key scheme of the whole is rounded out with admirable logic.” * The second movement is in five-part rondo form, “curiously animated by relentless drive”. Its first theme, in C minor, incorporates downward skips in sevenths; running sixteenth notes and dramatic accents characterize its second, in A major. The running sixteenths continue as the first theme returns, succeeded by a repeat of the second theme in C major and a final, quiet statement of the first theme to complete the movement. * The fragmentary third movement rapidly modulates from A to A major shortly after its beginning, “a very unusual move”, at which point Schubert ceased composition. Krenek speculates that Schubert may have intended to complete the movement “with a recapitulation symmetrically returning from A to A major shortly before the end”. In his completion, Krenek “wrote a brief development section, re-introduced the theme in A and returned to A, adding a few measures of transition to A minor, which is enharmonically the key of the trio, an exceptionally charming lyrical item”. * For the fragmentary fourth movement, Schubert completed the first and second themes of the exposition and introduced a third theme in A minor, derived from the first, to open the development before leaving off work on this movement in rondo-sonata form. Krenek indicates his completion elaborated the idea of the third theme and “followed it up with a swiftly modulating development of the first theme and a normal recapitulation” of slightly shorter length than the exposition. His coda takes the third theme as its basis and refers back to the first theme of the first movement, “an idea to which I felt entitled since Schubert had hinted at it at the end of the finale of the Sonata in A major”.

Piano Sonata in D major, D 850 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

The piano sonata has four movements:

I. Allegro vivace#

The autograph has alla breve Allegro while the first edition (published during Schubert’s lifetime and thus probably a revision) gives common-time Allegro vivace – this is uncharacteristically quick for a Schubert allegro, a marking he often qualified with moderato. The first movement is unrelentingly energetic, ranging from ebullient to stormy to triumphant. A fanfare-like introduction introduces the primary thematic material featured in this movement and ultimately throughout the sonata. In a characteristic Schubertian gesture, this theme is immediately repeated in the minor – also typical is the modulation through remote keys as the exposition is spun out. The cheerful second subject, with its vacillating high-low pattern, is reminiscent of yodeling. This theme is also similar to the opening of the Lied Das Heimweh (homesickness), composed at the same time. The development section features a grandiose chordal fanfare theme based on the first subject, also used in the coda closing the movement. Some of the most challenging writing in Schubert’s solo piano oeuvre is found here, with the relentless triplets providing opportunity for virtuosic display.

Piano Sonata in E major, D 157 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Extant movements of the sonata D 157#

The piano sonata 157 has three known movements: Some commentators describe the first movement of the sonata as by far the most interesting, as it shows Schubert breaking away from the restrictions on harmonic progressions his teacher Antonio Salieri had imposed for vocal music, and as one of his happiest inspirations, prefiguring his later trade marks, while the remaining two movements are described as somewhat run of the mill. Others see in the first movement rather unconvincing unorthodoxies lacking invention, while the other two movements are more musically satisfying, with reminiscences of Beethoven and some of Schubert’s later compositions.

Piano Sonata in E major, D 459 (Schubert)

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Movements / pieces#

I. Allegro moderato :E major :With a recapitulation in the subdominant II. Scherzo: Allegro :E major III. (or: D 459A I.) Adagio :C major IV. (or: D 459A II.) Scherzo: Allegro – Trio: Più tardo :A major :Recapitulation in this movement described by Daniel Coren. V. (or: D 459A III.) Allegro patetico :E major

References#

Tirimo, Martino. Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1997.

Piano Sonata in E minor, D 566 (Schubert)

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Movements#

I. Moderato :E minor II. Allegretto :E major III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio :A major (IV. Rondo: Allegretto, D 506) :E major :D 506 has been associated with the last piece of Fünf Klavierstücke (D 459A/3) and the Adagio D 349 too as a set of movements that might form a sonata.

Piano Sonata in E-flat major, D 568 (Schubert)

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Music#

The sonata has four movements: This sonata is a transposition and elaboration of the Piano Sonata in D, D. 567. Daniel Coren summarized the nature of the recapitulation in the first movement of this sonata as “syncopated primary material”.

References#

Tirimo, Martino. Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1997.

Piano Sonata in F minor, D 625 (Schubert)

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Music#

The sonata has four movements:

I. Allegro#

The entire movement revolves around the rhythm of the first bars, and there is an extensive use of trills, an element which forms part of the initial motive. The second subject could be described as being “a consolatory version of the first.” As is the case with other Schubert sonatas, the composer left the movement unfinished, breaking off at the beginning of the recapitulation after a substantial development section that modulates extensively. The movement has been completed by Paul Badura-Skoda, who recorded the sonata using his completed version, which was also used by Hanae Nakajima in her complete recording of the sonatas. Martino Tirimo has likewise completed this movement in his edition of the complete piano sonatas, and recorded it. Some pianists, however, such as András Schiff, have recorded the movement as Schubert left it, simply stopping where the manuscript ends.

Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, D 571 (Schubert)

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I. Allegro moderato#

F minor. Fragment (breaks off at the end of the development, implying a recapitulation in the subdominant, B minor)

(II. D. 604)#

A major. In sonata form without development. Unusually, the second subject group is in the subdominant key of D major.

(IV. Allegro, D. 570)#

F minor. Fragment (breaks off at the end of the development)

Sources#

Tirimo, Martino. Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1997.

External links#

- Recording of Malcolm Bilson playing the first movement in his own completion

Piano Sonata in G major, D 894 (Schubert)

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Movements#

The sonata consists of four movements:

Mood and character#

The English pianist Imogen Cooper has described the G major sonata as “one of the rare completely serene sonatas that he wrote,” adding, “Of course, as ever with him, there are contrasting passages which become stormy and a little bit dark, but the overall mood is one of peace and luminosity, in a way that the G Major string quartet, written a few months before, was most definitely not”. She noted further that “the last movement has tremendous wit in it — and one or two moments of great poignancy, as if a cloud suddenly covered the sun, and then the sun comes out again”. Pianist Mark Taratushkin, in his analysis of Schubert’s Piano Sonata in G Major, D. 894, points out that the original concept for the second movement was quite different from the version known today. Evidence of this can be seen in the score that Schubert sent to his publisher. The original manuscript, which has survived and is currently digitized in the archive of the British Library, reveals that after completing the minuet, Schubert decided to rewrite the second movement. He tore out the original version from the manuscript and replaced it with the version we know today. The first and last pages of the original movement remain, containing the end of the first movement and the beginning of the third movement, respectively. This peculiar aspect of the manuscript offers valuable insight into how the second movement might have originally sounded. The preserved fragment reveals a theme that is rhythmically characteristic of Schubert’s music, though it was ultimately replaced by a more dynamic orchestral episode in the final version. This change allowed for a greater contrast between the first two themes, which was crucial for the movement’s structure and overall impact. The third movement’s opening theme is remarkably similar to the second theme of the first movement of Schubert’s second Piano Trio both in rhythm and note progression. Peter Pesic commented on Donald Francis Tovey’s observation that Schubert used a “circle of sixths” series of key signatures in the fourth movement of this sonata, in the sequence G → E → B = C → G = A. Pianists Sviatoslav Richter and Paul Lewis stated that this was their favourite Schubert sonata. The former is notable for his extremely slow interpretation of the first movement, and solemn account of the work, making the whole sonata usually last over 45 minutes in total. For Christian Zacharias this Schubert’s sonata belongs to beloved composition.

Piano Trio No. 1 (Schubert)

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Structure#

The piano trio contains four movements: The first movement (, B major) is in sonata form with two main themes in the exposition. The first theme is characterized by dotted rhythms and irregular phrase lengths, while the second theme by contrast has lyrical melodies and regular phrases. As is typical in a classical piece, the development section expands on both themes, going into remote keys and often becoming turbulent. In the last section of the development, fragmented versions of the main theme are presented in a succession of keys, each closer to the central key than the one before. The second movement (, E major) is in the style of a gondola song with a lilting melody and swaying rhythm. Like some of Schubert’s other late slow movements, there is a contrasting section which is more turbulent. Soon after, however, calm is restored. The third movement (, B major) is in the classical minuet form. The scherzo proper features heavy counterpoint, with the three instruments constantly imitating each other. The trio section is a relaxed waltz. The principal theme of the last movement (rondo, , B major) resembles that of one of Schubert’s songs, “Skolie”, although this resemblance might be accidental. A two-bar rhythm is prevalent, giving the marked impression of alla breve time rather than , almost as if Schubert notated it to avoid the frequent syncopations (in the equivalent alla breve, the music starts from the weak beat) which, though sounding smooth in actual performance, look clunky and cumbersome on the score. The sections in are interrupted three times by passages in time, in the style of a polonaise. These give further credence to the theory that the minim is in fact the basic time unit in this movement. The music ends with a coda marked Presto.

Piano Trio No. 2 (Schubert)

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Structure#

The piano trio contains four movements:

I. Allegro#

The first movement is in sonata form. There is disagreement over the break-up of thematic material with one source claiming six separate units of thematic material while another source divides them into three themes each with two periods. There is to an extent extra thematic material during the recapitulation. At least one of the thematic units is based closely on the opening theme of the third movement of the earlier Piano Sonata in G major, D 894. The development section focuses mainly on the final theme of the exposition.

Prometheus (art song)

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Music#

The was written for bass voice in the key of B major, but the key moves repeatedly through various major to minor tonalities, ending in C major. Goethe’s dramatic declamation by Prometheus would be set again, with very different effect, by Hugo Wolf, “with his alternations of ariosos and recitatives, Schubert created a miniature oratorio”, observes Edward F. Kravitt. Among many other by Schubert, Max Reger also created an orchestration for “Prometheus”.

Quartettsatz, D 103 (Schubert)

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Background#

The movement is believed to be one of several quartets sold to Anton Diabelli by Ferdinand Schubert following his brother’s death in 1828. Remaining unpublished, the surviving manuscript comprising an incomplete movement that ends at the recapitulation came into the possession of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde during the latter half of the 19th century. Musicologist Alfred Orel prepared a performing version that was published in 1939.

References#

;Notes ;Sources * Aderhold, Werner (editor). New Schubert Edition, Series VI, Volume 4: String Quartets II. Bärenreiter, 1994. * * * Deutsch, Otto Erich (and others). Schubert Thematic Catalogue (several editions), No. 103. *

Quartettsatz, D 703 (Schubert)

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Background#

Schubert began work on his twelfth string quartet in early December 1820, shortly after a “Schubertiade” held at the home of Ignaz von Sonnleithner on the first of the month. It was his first attempt at writing a string quartet since completing the String Quartet No. 11 in E major, D 353 in 1816. After completing the allegro assai first movement, Schubert wrote out the 41 bar exposition of the following andante movement before abandoning the work. As with the later “Unfinished” Symphony, there has been much speculation on why Schubert left the composition incomplete. One view presented by Bernard Shore is that Schubert put it aside to follow up another musical idea and never got back to it. Javier Arrebola speculates that the work (like several others written during the same period) was put aside because it “…did not yet represent the great leap forward he was striving for”. It has also been speculated that the work was abandoned because Schubert, having written a powerful first movement, was unable to come up with an effective following movement. Impressed by the Quartettsatz, Brahms arranged the posthumous premiere of the work on 1 March 1867 in Vienna, played by the Hellmesberger Quartet. Publication of the score, also edited by Brahms, followed in 1870. For a number of years it was believed that the Quartettsatz was an early work dating to around 1814 (perhaps a confusion with the Quartettsatz in C minor D 103). In 1905, Edmondstoune Duncan wrote of the composition that it was “…fairly workman-like and effective, but is of little further consequence, and is only mentioned by way of completeness”. established the work’s true importance as a forerunner of the late string quartets which are among Schubert’s greatest works. Four years after the “Quartettsatz,” Schubert returned to the genre to write the Rosamunde Quartet, D 804, which was followed by the “Death and the Maiden” Quartet D 810 and the Fifteenth Quartet, D 887.

Rastlose Liebe

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Rendering (Berio)

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Movements#

The work has three movements:

Rondo in A major for Violin and Strings, D 438 (Schubert)

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Background#

Schubert composed the piece in 1816, along with a number of other works featuring a violin soloist including the three sonatinas (D 384/385 & D 408) and the Konzertstück in D major, D 345. It is believed that the work was composed with the intent that either the composer himself or his brother Ferdinand would take the soloist’s part. The piece was unpublished during the composer’s lifetime, not seeing publication until 1897, when Breitkopf & Härtel published it in an edition edited by Eusebius Mandyczewski.

Rosamunde

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The play#

Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern (Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus) is a play in four acts by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily known for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. The premiere of the play took place on 20 December 1823 in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien, but it was not a success. The text of the original play by von Chézy is lost. A modified version in five acts was discovered in the State Library of Württemberg and was published in 1996. Fragmentary autograph sources relating to the original play have been recovered.

Schubert opus/Deutsch number concordance

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Background#

Only a small minority of Schubert’s works were published in his lifetime. Not all published works were allocated opus numbers, and the sequence of opus numbers that were allocated bore little relationship to the order in which the works were either composed or published. For example, the first of his works to be published, the song “Die Forelle”, was given the opus number 32. After Schubert’s death in 1828, a number of his works were published with posthumous opus numbers. This practice was discontinued after the publication of Op. 173, in 1867. Otto Erich Deutsch (1883–1967) was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of Schubert’s works: Schubert: Thematic Catalogue of all his Works in Chronological Order. This was first published in English in 1951, and subsequently revised for a new edition in German, in 1978.

Schubert Thematic Catalogue

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1951 edition#

The Deutsch catalogue was first published in London in 1951 by J. M. Dent & Sons, as Schubert: Thematic Catalogue of all his Works in Chronological Order, compiled by O. E. Deutsch, in collaboration with Donald R. Wakeling.

1978 edition: NSE VIII/4#

In 1978, as part VIII Supplement / Volume 4 of the New Schubert Edition (NSE), an updated version of the catalogue was published in German. A few compositions that had been undated in the first edition received a new number (usually followed by a letter), e.g. was renumbered to .

Schubert's compositions for violin and piano

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Sonatas (1816–1817)#

Schubert was an accomplished violinist and had already extensively composed for violin, including over a dozen string quartets, by the time he started to write violin sonatas at age 19.

Sonatinas Op. 137#

The compositions for violin and piano D 384, 385 and 408 were named Sonata in Schubert’s autographs. They were named Sonatina when published posthumously as Op. 137 in 1836. Since these works are modest in size—rather to be compared to Mozart’s violin sonatas than to Beethoven’s—the “Sonatina” diminutive stuck to them.

Schubert's last sonatas

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Historical background#

The last year of Schubert’s life was marked by growing public acclaim for the composer’s works, but also by the gradual deterioration of his health. On March 26, 1828, together with other musicians in Vienna, Schubert gave a public concert of his own works, which was a great success and earned him a considerable profit. In addition, two new German publishers took an interest in his works, leading to a short period of financial well-being. However, by the time the summer months arrived, Schubert was again short of money and had to cancel some journeys he had previously planned. Schubert had been struggling with syphilis since 1822–23, and suffered from weakness, headaches and dizziness. However, he seems to have led a relatively normal life until September 1828, when new symptoms such as effusions of blood appeared. At this stage he moved from the Vienna home of his friend Franz von Schober to his brother Ferdinand’s house in the suburbs, following the advice of his doctor; unfortunately, this may have actually worsened his condition. However, up until the last weeks of his life in November 1828, he continued to compose an extraordinary amount of music, including such masterpieces as the three last sonatas. Schubert probably began sketching the sonatas sometime around the spring months of 1828; the final versions were written in September. These months also saw the appearance of the Three Piano Pieces, D. 946, the Mass in E major, D. 950, the String Quintet, D. 956, and the songs published posthumously as the Schwanengesang collection (D. 957 and D. 965A), among others. The final sonata was completed on September 26, and two days later, Schubert played from the sonata trilogy at an evening gathering in Vienna. In a letter to Probst (one of his publishers), dated October 2, 1828, Schubert mentioned the sonatas amongst other works he had recently completed and wished to publish. However, Probst was not interested in the sonatas, and by November 19, Schubert was dead. In the following year, Schubert’s brother Ferdinand sold the sonatas’ autographs to another publisher, Anton Diabelli, who would only publish them about ten years later, in 1838 or 1839. Schubert had intended the sonatas to be dedicated to Johann Nepomuk Hummel, whom he greatly admired. Hummel was a leading pianist, a pupil of Mozart, and a pioneering composer of the Romantic style (like Schubert himself). However, by the time the sonatas were published in 1839, Hummel was dead, and Diabelli, the new publisher, decided to dedicate them instead to composer Robert Schumann, who had praised many of Schubert’s works in his critical writings.

Schubert's song cycles

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Don Gayseros#

D 93, Song cycle Don Gayseros for voice and piano (1815?); lyrics from The Magic Ring by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué: :: 1. “Don Gayseros I” ‘Don Gayseros, wunderlicher, schöner Ritter’ :: 2. “Don Gayseros II” ‘Nächtens klang die süße Laute’ (fragment?) :: 3. “Don Gayseros III” ‘An dem jungen Morgenhimmel’ (fragment?)

Gesänge des Harfners aus “Wilhelm Meister”#

Gesänge des Harfners aus “Wilhelm Meister” (The Songs of the Harpist from Wilhelm Meister), 478 is a song cycle for voice and piano, first published in 1822 as Op. 12. The texts of the cycle derived from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. #“Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt” (“Harfenspieler I” 2nd setting; 2nd version – 1822?) #“Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß”, formerly D 480 (“Harfenspieler III” 3rd setting – 1822) #“An die Türen will ich schleichen”, formerly D 479 (“Harfenspieler II” 2nd version – 1822?) Alternative settings and versions of the “Harfenspieler” texts: * “Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt”: ** D 325 “Harfenspieler” (1815, first setting) ** D 478 “Harfenspieler I” (1816, 1st version of 2nd setting; modified 2nd version) * “An die Türen will ich schleichen”: ** D 478 (formerly D 479) “Harfenspieler II” (1816, 1st version; modified 2nd version) * “Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß”: ** D 478 (formerly D 480) “Harfenspieler III” (1816, 1st and 2nd settings; modified version of the 3rd setting)

Schubert's symphonies

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Early symphonies#

By 1818, Schubert had completed 6 symphonies: * , Symphony No. 1 in D major (1813) * , Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major (1814–1815) * , Symphony No. 3 in D major (1815) * , Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Tragic (1816) * , Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major (1816) * , Symphony No. 6 in C major, Little C major (1817–1818) There is also an early unfinished symphony: * , Symphony in D major formerly D 997 (1811?, fragment of the first movement is extant)

Schwanengesang

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Background#

Named by its first publisher, Tobias Haslinger, who presumably wished to present it as Schubert’s last testament, Schwanengesang differs from the earlier Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise song-cycles by including settings of more than one poet. Seven texts by Ludwig Rellstab (1799–1860) are followed by six by Heinrich Heine (1797–1856); inclusion of the last song, to words by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804–1875), may or may not reflect Schubert’s wishes. In any case, all 14 songs were composed in 1828 and the collection was published in 1829, a few months after the composer’s death.

Schwertlied

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Historic context#

Theodor Körner was a famous poet during his lifetime, and was appointed poet to the court at the Vienna Burgtheater. He nonetheless gave up his civilian life and joined the Lützow Free Corps, a Prussian military unit composed of volunteers from all over Germany. As a soldier, Körner wrote several patriotic poems, like “Lützows wilde, verwegene Jagd” and the “Schwertlied”. Several hours after having written the “Schwertlied” Körner fell in battle near Gadebusch (Mecklenburg), and consequently became a national hero in Germany.

Six moments musicaux (Schubert)

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Background#

It has been said that Schubert was deeply influenced in writing these pieces by the Impromptus, Op. 7, of Jan Václav Voříšek (1822). They were published by Leidesdorf in Vienna in 1828, under the title “Six Momens sic musicals sic “. The standard French forms are now usually used – moments (instead of momens), and musicaux (instead of musicals). Because the title is not Schubert’s own, it has been argued that we “might reasonably conclude that these are not really ‘moments’ of music at all, as some of the six pieces last more than five or six minutes.” The sixth number was published in 1824 in a Christmas album under the title Les plaintes d’un troubadour.

Sonata in C major for piano four-hands, D 812 (Schubert)

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History#

In 1818 Count János Károly Esterházy de Galántha () hired Schubert as music teacher for his daughters, Mária Terezia and Karoline, when the family was staying at their summer residence in Zseliz, at that time in rural Hungary. Schubert was in Zseliz from 7 July to 19 November, around which time he wrote his Sonata in B-flat major for piano four-hands, D 617. In May 1822, Schubert dedicated his Op. 8, a collection of four songs (, , and ), to Count János Károly. Later that year the composer contracted syphilis, suffering from the condition for the largest part of 1823 and partially recovering towards the end of the year. His Op. 30, the B-flat major piano duet Sonata of 1818, was published in December. A few months later symptoms of his illness regained momentum. In a letter of 31 March to his friend Leopold Kupelwieser, he describes the failure of his latest opera projects and voices his despair over his health situation. In the letter he also mentions his latest chamber music compositions (the String Quartets and 810, and the Octet ), and his plan to write another Quartet, after which he adds: He ends the letter referring to his anticipated second visit to Zseliz: On 7 May Schubert attended the concert in which Beethoven presented his 9th Symphony. Feeling in better health, he was in Zseliz by the end of the month, again as music teacher of the Esterházy family for the summer season. Around this time his friend Moritz von Schwind wrote to Kupelwieser informing him that the composer had left for Hungary, planning to write a symphony. The Deutsch catalogue lists three compositions, all for piano four-hands, which Schubert composed during his first couple of months in Zseliz: * Sonata in C major, D 812: autograph parts dated June 1824. * , composed between late May and the middle of July. * , composed in July. In the second half of July the composer wrote to his brother Ferdinand, starting with an analysis of the sorrow brought by his absence, followed by: This indicates that these pieces for piano four-hands were performed there and then, shortly after their completion by the composer, maybe even by the young countesses, his pupils. By around July 1824 symptoms of Schubert’s venereal disease were as good as gone, which they would remain for the next two years. In August he writes to Schwind, again mentioning the Sonata D 812 and Variations D 813: The “attracting star” is interpreted as referring to Countess Karoline, who was going to turn 19 in September. Still in August, Schwind wrote to Schober: A few weeks after Karoline’s birthday, Schubert feels even more desolate than a month earlier when writing to Schwind – from the composer’s letter of 21 September 1824 to Schober (who had left Vienna in 1823): Schubert returned to Vienna in October, in a carriage together with Baron , a friend of Count Esterházy to whom Schubert had dedicated Die schöne Müllerin and who had participated, together with the composer and members of the Esterházy family, in music performances at Zseliz. Some three decades later, after becoming a champion of Schubert’s music, Schönstein wrote: In the summer of 1825, Schubert stayed in Gmunden from early June to the middle of July, and in Bad Gastein from the middle of August till early September. Contemporary correspondence of his friends makes clear he was working on a Symphony, later dubbed Gmunden-Gastein Symphony. In March 1828, on the anniversary of Beethoven’s death, Schubert gave his only public concert: its scale was somewhat smaller than the ambition he voiced in his letter to Kupelwieser four years earlier (only chamber music was performed), but it was a considerable success. That same year he composed his last major work for piano four-hands, the Fantasia in F minor, D 940, which he dedicated to Karoline Esterházy. In 1829, the year after Schubert’s death, it was published as his Op. 103. That year, some of the obituaries written by Schubert’s friends mentioned a Symphony, composed in Bad Gastein in 1825, which was particularly liked by the composer.

Sonatas, duos and fantasies by Franz Schubert

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Sonatas for piano solo#

Twenty-four extant sonatas and sonata fragments are listed in the 1978 version of the Deutsch catalogue: # D. 154, Piano Sonata in E major (1815, fragment; similarity with the first movement of the Piano Sonata in E major, D. 157) #: I. Allegro (fragment) # D. 157, Piano Sonata in E major (1815, unfinished – first three movements are extant) #: I. Allegro ma non troppo #: II. Andante #: III. Menuetto. Allegro vivace – Trio # D. 279, Piano Sonata in C major (1815, unfinished – first three movements are extant; the Allegretto in C major, D. 346 fragment is probably the fourth movement) #: I. Allegro moderato #: II. Andante #: III. Menuetto. Allegro vivace – Trio #: IV. Allegretto (D. 346, fragment) # D. 459, Piano Sonata in E major (1816, in 2 movements; also paired with D. 459A to have a five movement sonata or five piano pieces “Fünf Klavierstücke”) #: I. Allegro moderato #: II. Scherzo. Allegro # D. 459A, Three piano pieces “Drei Klavierstücke” (1816?, also paired with D. 459 to have a five movement sonata or five piano pieces “Fünf Klavierstücke” #: III. Adagio #: IV. Scherzo. Allegro – Trio. Più tardo #: V. Allegro patetico # D. 537, Piano Sonata in A minor (1817, first published as Op. posth. 164) #: I. Allegro ma non troppo #: II. Allegretto quasi andantino #: III. Allegro vivace # D. 557, Piano Sonata in A major (1817; there is not complete certainty that the third movement, in E major, is the Finale of the work) #: I. Allegro moderato #: II. Andante #: III. Allegro # D. 566, Piano Sonata in E minor (1817, unfinished? – first three movements are extant; the Rondo in E major, D. 506 is probably the fourth movement) #: I. Moderato #: II. Allegretto #: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio #: IV. Rondo. Allegretto (D. 506) # D. 568, Piano Sonata in D major/E major (1817, 2 versions; for the 1st version, the Scherzo in D major, D. 593 No. 2 possibly constitutes the third movement; the last movement is a fragment; NSA also appends an amended first movement from the 1st version; 2nd version first published as Op. posth. 122) #*1st version, in D major formerly D. 567 #:: I. Allegro moderato #:: II. Andante molto #:: III. Scherzo. Allegro moderato – Trio (D. 593 No. 2) #:: IV. Allegretto (fragment) #*2nd version, in E major #:: I. Allegro moderato #:: II. Andante molto #:: III. Menuetto. Allegro – Trio #:: IV. Allegro moderato # D. 571, Piano Sonata in F minor (1817, unfinished – fragment of an “Allegro moderato” first movement is extant. The Piano piece in A major, D. 604, an Andante, as well as the Scherzo in D major and Allegro in F minor fragment from D. 570 probably constitute the remaining movements) #: I. Allegro moderato (fragment) #: II. Andante (D. 604) #: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio (D. 570) #: IV. Allegro (D. 570, fragment) # D. 575, Piano Sonata in B major (1817, first published as Op. posth. 147) #: I. Allegro, ma non troppo #: II. Andante #: III. Scherzo. Allegretto – Trio #: IV. Allegro giusto # D. 613, Piano Sonata in C major (1818, unfinished – fragments of two movements are extant; the Adagio in E major, D. 612 as well as the Minuet with Trio D. 600/610 possibly constitute the remaining movements) #: I. Moderato (fragment) #: II. Adagio (D. 612) #: III. Menuetto – Trio (D. 600/610) #: IV. Without tempo indication (fragment) # D. 625, Piano Sonata in F minor (1818, unfinished – a completed Scherzo with Trio, and fragments of two “Allegro” movements are extant; the Adagio in D major D. 505 is probably the second movement) #: I. Allegro (fragment) #: II. Adagio (D. 505) #: III. Scherzo. Allegretto – Trio #: IV. Allegro (fragment) # D. 655, Piano Sonata in C minor (1819, fragment) #: I. Allegro (fragment) # D. 664, Piano Sonata in A major, Little A major (1819 or 1825, first published as Op. posth. 120) #: I. Allegro moderato #: II. Andante #: III. Allegro # D. 769A, Piano Sonata in E minor formerly D. 994 (ca. 1823, fragment) #: I. Allegro (fragment) # D. 784, Piano Sonata in A minor, Grande Sonate (1823, first published as Op. posth. 143) #: I. Allegro giusto #: II. Andante #: III. Allegro vivace # D. 840, Piano Sonata in C major, Reliquie (1825, unfinished – first and second movements are complete; third and fourth movements are fragments) #: I. Moderato #: II. Andante #: III. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio (fragment) #: IV. Rondo. Allegro (fragment) # D. 845, Piano Sonata in A minor (1825, first published as Op. 42) #: I. Moderato #: II. Andante poco mosso #: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Un poco più lento #: IV. Rondo. Allegro vivace # D. 850, Piano Sonata in D major, Gasteiner (1825, first published as Op. 53) #: I. Allegro #: II. Con moto #: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio #: IV. Rondo. Allegro moderato # D. 894, Piano Sonata in G major, Fantasie (1826, first published as Op. 78; NSA also appends a discarded 1st version of the second movement) #: I. Molto moderato e cantabile #: II. Andante #: III. Menuetto. Allegro moderato – Trio #: IV. Allegretto # D. 958, Piano Sonata in C minor (1828) #: I. Allegro #: II. Adagio #: III. Menuetto. Allegro – Trio #: IV. Allegro # D. 959, Piano Sonata in A major (1828) #: I. Allegro #: II. Andantino #: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Un poco più lento #: IV. Rondo. Allegretto # D. 960, Piano Sonata in B major (1828) #: I. Molto moderato #: II. Andante sostenuto #: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace e con delicatezza – Trio #: IV. Allegro, ma non troppo There are also some possibly lost piano sonatas: * D Anh. I/8, Piano Sonata in F major (1815, lost or identical to D. 157) * D Anh. I/9, Piano Sonata in F major (1816, lost or identical to D. 459) * D deest, Piano Sonata in C major (1825?, lost or identical to D. 568 1st version) Piano compositions that possibly were intended as piano sonata movements: * D. 277A, Minuet in A minor with Trio in F major for piano (1815, alternate third movement for the Piano Sonata in C major, D. 279) * D. 346, Allegretto in C major for piano (1816?, fragment; probably the fourth movement of the Piano Sonata in C major, D. 279) * D. 505, Adagio in D major for piano (1818?, probably the second movement of the unfinished Piano Sonata in F minor, D. 625; first published in E major in an abridged form as Op. posth. 145 No. 1) * D. 506, Rondo in E major for piano (1817?, probably the fourth movement of the unfinished? Piano Sonata in E minor, D. 566; first published as Op. posth. 145 No. 2) * D. 570, Scherzo in D major and Allegro in F minor for piano (1817?, the “Allegro” is a fragment; these were probably intended as the third and fourth movements, respectively, of the unfinished Piano Sonata in F minor, D. 571) * D. 593, Two Scherzi for piano (1817): No. 2, Allegro moderato in D major (possibly the third movement of the unfinished Sonata in D major, D. 568 1st version, formerly D. 567 ) * D. 600, Minuet in C minor for piano (1814?; the Trio in E major, D. 610 was probably intended for this Minuet; in turn the Minuet with Trio D. 600/610 tandem possibly constitute the third movement of the unfinished Piano Sonata in C major, D. 613) * D. 604, Piano piece in A major (1816 or 1817; also appears as “Andante in A major”; probably the second movement of the unfinished Piano Sonata in F minor, D. 571) * D. 610, Trio in E major for piano, to be regarded as the lost son of a minuet (1818, this Trio was probably intended for the Minuet in C minor, D. 600; in turn the Minuet with Trio D. 600/610 tandem possibly constitute the third movement of the unfinished Piano Sonata in C major, D. 613) * D. 612, Adagio in E major for piano (1818, probably the second movement of the unfinished Piano Sonata in C major, D. 613)

Sonatensatz, D 28 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

This work was written in 1812, immediately after the fifteen-year-old composer lost his place in Vienna’s Imperial Chapel Choir due to his voice breaking. Schubert spent most of the August composing this work, his first ever composition for strings and piano, but abandoned it after finishing the first movement. It was also in this year that his mother died. Although relatively little known, the work is important among Schubert’s early output, and Schubert’s only previous exercise in the genre when he penned his more celebrated piano trios D. 898 and D. 929 15 years later.

Stabat Mater in F minor (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

This setting is essentially a short oratorio with arias, duets, trios and chorus work. #:It is unknown if the allusion to the hymn was a patriotic gesture, or an homage to Haydn. #"" Allegretto, B-flat major, 2/4; soprano and tenor duet #"" Larghetto, G minor ending in G major, 3/4; chorus (divisi) #"" Adagio, C minor, common time; tenor #"" C major, common time; chorus #:Schubert authorised cuts in this movement from bars 19–46, and bars 65–71. #"" Andantino, G major, 3/8; bass #"" Maestoso, E major, cut common time; chorus #"" Allegretto moderato, A major, common time; trio #:— “”… Più mosso, A minor, common time #"" Andante sostenuto, F major, 3/4; trio and choir #“Amen” Allegro maestoso, F major, cut common time; chorus #:Schubert authorised a cut in this movement from bars 101-115.

Stabat Mater in G minor (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stage works by Franz Schubert

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Overture for Der Teufel als Hydraulicus#

D 4, Overture to the vocal comedy Der Teufel als Hydraulicus for orchestra (1812?)

Die Zauberharfe#

D 644, Music for the Zauberspiel (The Magic Harp) for tenor, six spoken roles, mixed choir and orchestra (1820, in three acts: overtures to the first and third acts, and thirteen numbers; overture to the first act known as the “Rosamunde” Overture, also used in D 797) :: Act 1 ::: Overture ::: 1. Chor der Troubadours: Harfentöne laßt erklingen ::: 2. Chor der Troubadours und Ritter: Zum Saal, der goldne Becher blinkt ::: 3. Melodram ::: 4. Finale I: Ida gib ein Zeichen :: Act 2 ::: 5. Chor der Troubadours und Ritter: Leben laßt den goldnen Wein ::: 6. Melodram: Furie bebe! ::: 7. Chor der Ritter: Die Zauberin laßt uns betrügen (2 versions, 1st version is a sketch) ::: 8. Melodram: Da zieh’n sie hin in heller Mondennacht ::: 9. Finale II. Romanze des Palmerin: Was belebt die schöne Welt? (2 versions, 1st version is a sketch; NSA also appends an alternative, concert version); Chor der Genien: Schlafe, Liebliche :: Act 3 ::: Ouverture to act 3 ::: 10. Melodram: Geschlossen ist der Bund ::: 11. Melodram hinter den Kulißen ::: 12. Melodram: Wohlan! Euer Verlangen werde erfüllt! ::: 13. Finale III. Schlußgesang: Durch der Töne Zaubermacht

Ständchen (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lieder#

Lieder named “Ständchen” or “Abendständchen” (evening serenade): *“Abendständchen an Lina” (“Sei sanft wie ihre Seele”), D 265, for voice and piano, words by Gabriele von Baumberg *“Ständchen”, D 889 (“Horch, horch! die Lerch im Ätherblau” / “Hark, hark, the lark”), after Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. *“Ständchen” (“Leise flehen meine Lieder”), No. 4 of Schwanengesang (Swan Song), D 957.

Part songs#

Part songs known as “Ständchen” or “Nächtliches Ständchen” (serenade at night): *“Leise, leise laßt uns singen, schlummre sanft”, D 635, also known as “Ruhe”, or “Nächtliches Ständchen”. This autograph contains the text of a single stanza, of which the text author is unknown. Eusebius Mandyczewski suggests Schubert may have been the text author. Variant versions of the text, in multiple stanzas, originated posthumously. In 1900 the music was published as “Ständchen”, with lyrics by Robert Graf. Mandyczewski was the first to publish the song with its original text version (1906–1907). *“Ständchen” (“Zögernd leise, in des Dunkels nächt’ger Hülle”), D 920/921, for alto solo, TTBB or SSAA chorus and piano, words by Franz Grillparzer

Ständchen, D 889 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Song title#

In German translations of Cymbeline, the short lyric which Schubert set to music is simply titled Lied (Song). Schubert’s title, “Ständchen”, is usually translated into English as Serenade, to be sung in the evening, from . The words of the poem, and its context within the play, indicate that it is unquestionably to be sung in the morning: if there were any doubt, the lines which immediately precede the text of the ‘Song’ include this snippet of dialogue: Cloten: It’s almost morning, is’t not? First Lord: Day, my lord. The German word Ständchen is unspecific about the time of the homage. As others have pointed out, and as H. H. Furness in his ‘Variorum Edition’ of Cymbeline makes abundantly clear, “This present song is the supreme crown of all aubades…” The Schirmer edition of Liszt’s transcription for solo piano clarifies the context with the title of Morgenständchen (morning serenade), and the German title of Schubert’s song would be more accurately rendered in English as Aubade.

Ständchen, D 920 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The poem which Schubert set was specially commissioned from Franz Grillparzer by Anna Fröhlich, a singing teacher in Vienna, to celebrate the birthday (or name-day) of her pupil Louise Gosmar. Fröhlich showed Grillparzer’s poem to Schubert and asked him to set it to music, who obliged within a few days with the version for mezzo-soprano and men’s voices (D. 920 in Otto Deutsch’s chronological catalogue). However, Fröhlich was unhappy because she wanted a setting for Gosmar to sing with her female friends. So Schubert swiftly produced a re-scored version with SSAA chorus, D. 921. The composer failed to turn up at the public performance and had to be fetched from a nearby beer-house. Schubert only set two other poems by Grillparzer: “Bertas Lied in der Nacht”, D 653, and “Mirjams Siegesgesang”, D 942.

String Quartet No. 1 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

A partial autograph of the composer kept in the Vienna City Library has the date 1812 written on the cover. The composition date is however more likely 1810, when the composer was 13 years old. As such it may be Schubert’s earliest extant completed multi-movement work for more than one player. The quartet was played in 1812 by the quartet of Schubert’s family (his father Franz Theodor, his brothers Ignaz and Ferdinand, and Schubert himself playing viola). The first published edition of the quartet was in 1890, in the complete edition of Franz Schubert’s Works issued by Breitkopf & Härtel.

String Quartet No. 10 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Historical background#

Musicologist Otto Erich Deutsch records that the youthful work (Schubert was sixteen years old at the time) was first performed privately in the Schubert household, by members of the family. Perhaps in part for this reason, this composition has acquired the nickname of the “Haushaltung” (Household) Quartet. Author Melvin Berger suggests that the quartet’s nickname has stuck because the piece “is so well suited for home performance,” calling it “technically … quite undemanding” to accommodate the “limited performing abilities” of amateur musicians. The quartet was published only posthumously, in 1830, as Op. 125 No. 1.

String Quartet No. 13 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Starting in 1824, Schubert largely turned away from the composition of songs to concentrate on instrumental chamber music. In addition to the A-minor String Quartet, the Quartet in D minor, the Octet, the Grand Duo and Divertissement a la Hongroise (both for piano duet), and the Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano all date from that year. With the exception of the Grand Duo, all of these works display cyclic elements—that is, two or more movements in each work are deliberately related in some way to enhance the sense of unity. In the case of the A-minor Quartet, a motive from the third-movement Minuet becomes the most important melodic figure for the following finale. Schubert dedicated the work to Schuppanzigh, who served as the first violinist of the string quartet appointed by Beethoven. Schuppanzigh himself played in the premiere performance which took place on 14 March 1824.

String Quartet No. 14 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

1823 and 1824 were hard years for Schubert. For much of 1823 he was sick, some scholars believe with an outburst of tertiary stage syphilis, and in May had to be hospitalized. He was also without money: he had entered into a disastrous deal with Anton Diabelli to publish a batch of works, and received almost no payment; and his latest attempt at opera, Fierrabras, was a flop. In a letter to a friend, he wrote, Yet, despite his bad health, poverty, and depression, Schubert continued to turn out the tuneful, light, and gemütlich music that made him the toast of Viennese society: the song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, the octet for string quartet, contrabass, clarinet, horn and bassoon, more than 20 songs, and numerous light pieces for piano. After 1820, Schubert returned to the string quartet form, which he had last visited as a teenager. He wrote the one-movement Quartettsatz in 1820, and the Rosamunde quartet in 1824 using a theme from the incidental music that he wrote for a play that failed. These quartets are a huge step forward from his initial attempts. Even Schubert recognized this fact; in July 1824, he wrote to his brother Ferdinand of his earlier quartets, “it would be better if you stuck to other quartets than mine, for there is nothing in them…” There are several qualities that set these mature quartets apart from Schubert’s earlier attempts. In the early quartets, it is primarily the first violin that carries the melody, with the other instruments playing supporting roles; in the later quartets, the part writing is much more advanced, and each instrument brings its own character and presence, for a more complex and integrated texture. Also, the later quartets are structurally much more integrated, with motifs, harmonies, and textures recurring in a way that ties the entire work together. But beyond these technical improvements, Schubert in these later works made the quartet medium his own. “He had now ceased to write quartets to order, for experimental study, or for the home circle”, writes Walter Willson Cobbett. “To the independent artist… the string quartet had now also become a vehicle for conveying to the world his inner struggles.” For Schubert, who lived a life suspended between the lyrical, romantic, charming and the dramatic, chaotic, and depressive, the string quartet offered a medium “to reconcile his essentially lyric themes with his feeling for dramatic utterance within a form that provided the possibility of extreme color contrasts”, writes music historian Homer Ulrich. Schubert wrote the D minor quartet in March 1824, within weeks of completing the A minor Rosamunde quartet. He apparently planned to publish a three-set volume of quartets; but the Rosamunde was published within a year, while the D minor quartet was only published in 1831, three years after Schubert’s death, by Diabelli. It was first played in January 1826 at the Vienna home of Karl and Franz Hacker, amateur violinists, apparently with Schubert on the viola.

String Quartet No. 15 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Analysis#

The four movements of the quartet are: The length of performance of the quartet is about 50 minutes, if all repeats are observed. A notable performance by Ébène Quartet clocks at 55 minutes.

I. Allegro molto moderato#

The first movement is based around a motive of chromatic descending fourths within alternating major and minor modes. The main lyrical theme of the movement which begins with a sixteenth note pickup to a dotted eighth note will be heard in many variations throughout the rest of the movements of the quartet. This may include the use of a motive in triplets to connect the first and second main groups of this sonata form; the second group opens, exactly as happens in the later-written String Quintet and similar to the technique in some works by Beethoven — not in the dominant key but with a quiet theme in the mediant, B-flat, with rhythm not quite the same as that of the lyrical theme that slowed matters down early on (bar fourteen, again), and adding to the texture with pizzicato accompaniment. There is a triplet-dominated, agitated transition and the same theme is heard, now in D, with triplet accompaniments; the triplets, not the theme, continue to the end of the exposition, and descend gradually from D down to G major for the repeat, or for the second ending and the beginning of the development, where continuity means the continued rustling of quiet strings, building for a bit by exchanging with more energetic passages, then bringing in faster versions of the dotted rhythms of the main themes. The climax of the development leads to a particularly quiet recapitulation, much varied at its opening from what we had heard originally. In the coda the opening of the quartet, both its rhythm and its major/minor exchanges, get a further chance to play themselves out. There is a remarkably innovative harmonic passage in the first movement. Between mm. 414 and 429 Schubert prolongs G major with an equal subdivision of the octave using major thirds. Passing seventh chords in the bass provide a smooth linear progression connecting these major thirds, the result of which is a whole tone descent in the bass-voice, in this case the cello. The following major third prolongations occur: G(mm. 414-416) E-flat (mm. 417-418) B(mm. 419-420) G(mm. 421-422) E-flat(423-426). In measure 426 Schubert enharmonically reinterprets this dominant-seventh structure, resolving it as a German augmented 6th, thus proceeding bVI-V-I in mm. 427-429.

String Quintet (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition and publication history#

The quintet was composed in the summer or early autumn of 1828, Probst replied, asking only to see some of Schubert’s vocal works and requesting more popular piano music. Even at this very late stage in Schubert’s career, he was regarded as a composer who mainly focused on songs and piano pieces and was not taken seriously as a chamber music composer. The work remained unpublished at the time of Schubert’s death in November 1828; the manuscript was sold to the Viennese publisher Diabelli by Schubert’s brother Ferdinand shortly thereafter, but was neglected and waited 25 years to be published, in 1853. The manuscript and all sketches are now lost. The first known public performance occurred three years earlier, on 17 November 1850 at the Musikverein in Vienna.

String Trios (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

String Trio in B major, D 111A#

A few bars of an Allegro movement is all that is left of the string trio D 111A, composed in September 1814. The fragment is printed in the New Schubert Edition.

String Trio in B major, D 471#

Schubert started composing this piece in September 1816, but only finished the first movement. The second unfinished movement was first published in 1897, in the first volume of the Revisionsbericht of the Alte Gesamt-Ausgabe.

Symphony No. 10 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Contemporary history#

The sketch appears to date from the last weeks of the composer’s life, in October–November 1828, and is presumed to be the Last Symphony (Letzte Symphonie) mentioned by his friend Eduard von Bauernfeld in an appreciation of Schubert published in the Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode for 13 June 1829. The music of the symphony appears to some extent exploratory and contains unusual elements, notably the hybrid form of the third movement and the highly contrapuntal nature of much of the material. Sketches for the third movement are intermingled with several counterpoint exercises, which suggests that it is related in some way to the single counterpoint lesson Schubert took from Simon Sechter a few weeks before his death in 1828.

Symphony No. 2 (Schubert)

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Symphony No. 3 (Schubert)

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Symphony No. 4 (Schubert)

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Structure#

Schubert added the title Tragic to his autograph manuscript some time after the work was completed. The opening theme of the Allegro of the first movement derives from the opening theme of Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 in the same key. The slow movement is in ABABA form, which would be a favorite form for most of Schubert’s future symphonic slow movements. The themes in the B section are not new. They are developed from the Allegro theme of the first movement and the themes of the A section. The second appearance of B, the third return of A and the beginning of the coda have a sixteenth-note ostinato accompaniment added to help bring cohesiveness to the sections. This was a device that Beethoven had previously used in the slow movements of his Op. 18 No. 1 quartet and his Pathetique sonata.

Symphony No. 5 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Scoring#

The symphony is scored for one flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns in B and E, and stringsof all his symphonies, it is scored for the smallest orchestra. It is Schubert’s only symphony which does not include clarinets, trumpets or timpani.

Mozartian influence#

In character, the writing is often said to resemble Mozart; Schubert was infatuated with the composer at the time he composed it, writing in his diary on June 13 of the year of composition, “O Mozart! Immortal Mozart! what countless impressions of a brighter, better life hast thou stamped upon our souls!” This is reflected particularly in the lighter instrumentation, as noted above. Indeed, the instrumentation matches that of the first version (without clarinets) of Mozart’s 40th symphony. For another example, there is a strong similarity between the opening themes of the second movement of D. 485 and the last movement of Mozart’s Violin Sonata in F major, K. 377.

Symphony No. 7 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instrumentation#

This symphony is scored for an even larger orchestral force than Schubert’s eighth and ninth symphonies. The score calls for double woodwinds, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings.

Movements#

;Weingartner completion ;Newbould completion : \relative c \tempo “Adagio” \key e \minor \time 2/2 g2\pp (fis) a (g) b (ais4 b8. cis16) d4 (cis) ->~\fz 8 r\fermata (The true marking is rather than , but that is not available in LilyPond as implemented on Wikipedia.)

Symphony No. 8 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early history#

In 1823, the Graz Music Society gave Schubert an honorary diploma. He felt obliged to dedicate a symphony to them in return, and sent his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, a leading member of the Society, an orchestral score he had written in 1822 consisting of the two completed movements of the Unfinished plus at least the first two pages of the start of a scherzo. This much is known. What may never be known is how much of the symphony Schubert actually wrote, and how much of what he did write he gave to Hüttenbrenner. The following exists: * The first two movements, complete in full score * The first two pages of a scherzo in full score The rest of the scherzo (except for the missing second strain of the trio) exists in a separate manuscript in short score (not sent to Hüttenbrenner, but found among Schubert’s copious manuscripts after his death and carefully preserved by his devoted schoolteacher brother Ferdinand), along with a complete short score of the second movement and the end of the first movement, but nothing of any fourth movement. A fourth movement finale in the home key (B minor) would have been the norm for any symphony written at that time, but there is no direct evidence that Schubert ever started work on it. It has, however, been surmised that the most extended entr’acte from Rosamunde (also in B minor, in the same style of the first movement and with the same instrumentation as the symphony) was indeed that fourth movement, which Schubert recycled by inserting it into his Rosamunde incidental music composed in early 1823 just after the Wanderer Fantasy. The Schubert scholar Brian Newbould, who harmonized, orchestrated and conjecturally completed the piano sketch of the scherzo, believed this to be true; but not all scholars agree. Pages appear to have been torn out after the beginning of the scherzo in the full score sent to Hüttenbrenner, in any event. That Hüttenbrenner neither had the work performed, nor even let the society know he had the manuscript, is curious and has spawned various theories. Old age and approaching death seem to have influenced Hüttenbrenner to reveal the work to an important and gracious visitor at long last (in 1865, when he was 71 and had only three more years to live). This was the conductor Johann von Herbeck, who premiered the extant two movements on 17 December 1865 in Vienna, adding the brilliantly busy but expressively lightweight perpetual-motion last movement of Schubert’s 3rd Symphony in D major, as an inadequate finale, expressively quite incompatible with the monumental first two movements of the Unfinished, and not even in the correct key. The performance was nevertheless received with great enthusiasm by the audience. The score of those two movements was not published before 1867. The Unfinished Symphony has been called No. 7 (recently, for example, in the New Schubert Edition) instead of No. 8 as it usually is, since the other work sometimes referred to as Schubert’s 7th (in E major, completed by Felix Weingartner) was also left incomplete but in a different way, with at least fragments of all four of its movements in Schubert’s hand.

Symphony No. 9 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition and early reception#

For a long time, the symphony was believed to be a work of Schubert’s last year, 1828. It was true that, in the last months of his life, he did start drafting a symphony – but this was the work in D major now accepted as Symphony No. 10, which has been realized for performance by Brian Newbould. It is now known that sketches for the ‘Great’ were largely composed in the summer of 1825 and that it was indeed the work to which Schubert was referring in a letter of March, 1824 when he said he was preparing himself to write ‘a grand symphony’ (originally listed as the Gmunden-Gastein symphony, D 849, in the Deutsch Catalogue). By the spring or summer of 1826, it was completely scored and in October, Schubert, who was unable to pay for a performance, sent it to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde with a dedication. In response, they gave him a small payment, arranged for the copying of the orchestral parts, and at some point in the latter half of 1827, gave the work an unofficial perfunctory run-through (the exact date and the conductor are unknown) – though it was set aside as too long and difficult for the amateur orchestra of the conservatory. A recent hypothesis suggests that the symphony may have received its first performance on 12 March 1829 in a Concert Spirituel at the of the Palais Niederösterreich in Vienna. The evidence for this hypothesis is slender, however, and it contradicts contemporary sources which prove that Schubert’s Symphony No. 6 (also in C major) was performed at this instance. In 1836, Schubert’s brother Ferdinand attempted to have the final movement performed, yet there is no evidence that a public performance ever took place. Schumann celebrated the event in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik with an ecstatic article in which, in a phrase destined to become famous, he hailed the symphony for its ‘heavenly length’. The symphony, however, was found to be very difficult for orchestras of the day because of its extremely lengthy woodwind and string parts. When Mendelssohn took the symphony to Paris in 1842 and London in 1844, orchestras flatly refused to play it; in London, the violinists are reputed to have collapsed in laughter when rehearsing the second subject of the finale.

Symphony, D 615 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

This sketch is the first of a series of four unfinished symphonies – D 615, D 708A, D 729 (the seventh), and D 759 (the eighth) – that are milestones in Schubert’s symphonic development between the sixth and ninth symphonies. These four symphonies are in varying states of completion: D 615 has incomplete sketches of only two movements (the allegro and the finale), D 708A has incomplete sketches of all four movements, D 729 is structurally complete but was not fully orchestrated, and D 759 has the first two movements complete and orchestrated and a third movement in an incomplete piano sketch. Previously, his fourth symphony had had Beethovenian influence (although it is more reminiscent of the earlier Sturm und Drang movement), his fifth Mozartian influence, and his sixth Rossinian influence (Schubert had listened to Rossini’s music before writing his sixth symphony and was extremely impressed, then incorporating aspects of Rossini’s style into his music). After writing the sixth symphony, Schubert experienced a crisis in his symphonic output, as he was not sure about whether he should continue on the path he was on in the sixth symphony of being influenced by Rossini. There is thus some Beethovenian influence present, which would persist throughout his symphonic output, but Schubert soon creates his own style and explores new territory. Additionally, he was still learning how to master instrumental writing, despite having done so for vocal works some years before. His mastery of songwriting was helped by the fact that the words gave hints as to the structure he would use, help that could not come in instrumental writing. This can be seen from the fact that Schubert had written his first six symphonies directly into full orchestral score, without sketching for piano beforehand, but D 615 and D 708A only survive as sketches in piano score. He returned to writing directly into orchestral score for his seventh symphony, although piano sketches exist for the eighth. These four unfinished symphonies thus show how Schubert was, as he stated in a letter from the mid-1820s, preoccupied with “planning a path to write a grand symphony plans he would realize in the ninth symphony “, with his string quartets, octet and these unfinished symphonies as intermediate steps in this plan. The unusually large number of unfinished symphonies on the way to the ninth from the sixth show how preoccupied he was with writing this great symphony, and how important this plan was to him.

Symphony, D 708A (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

This sketch is the second of a series of four unfinished symphonies – D 615, D 708A, D 729 (the seventh), and D 759 (the eighth) – that are milestones in Schubert’s symphonic development between the sixth and ninth symphonies. These four symphonies are in varying states of completion: D 615 has incomplete sketches of only two movements (the allegro and the finale), D 708A has incomplete sketches of all four movements, D 729 is structurally complete but was not fully orchestrated, and D 759 has the first two movements complete and orchestrated and a third movement in an incomplete piano sketch. Previously, his fourth symphony had had some Beethovenian influence (although it is more reminiscent of the earlier Sturm und Drang movement), his fifth Mozartian influence, and his sixth Rossinian influence (Schubert had listened to Rossini’s music before writing his sixth symphony and was extremely impressed, then incorporating aspects of Rossini’s style into his music). These four unfinished symphonies thus show how Schubert was, as he stated in a letter from the mid-1820s, preoccupied with “planning a path to write a grand symphony plans he would realize in the ninth symphony “, with his string quartets, octet and these unfinished symphonies as intermediate steps in this plan. Schubert therefore considered using trombones for this purpose, as they were not so restricted and could reinforce the bass register of the orchestra; but due to his then being unfamiliar with how to write for the trombone, and the fact that the symphony was not conceived with the use of trombones in mind, he abandoned work on D 708A and started writing the seventh symphony, in which he decided to use a trio of trombones from the very beginning. He later had to abandon work on that symphony as well to work on his opera Alfonso und Estrella. Schubert’s use of trombones can later be seen in the eighth, ninth, and tenth symphonies.

The Shepherd on the Rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lyrics#

Of the seven verses, the first four and the last came from the poetry of Wilhelm Müller, while verses five and six were attributed to Helmina von Chézy but were written by Karl August Varnhagen von Ense.

Background#

The lied, Schubert’s penultimate composition, was written as a belated response to a request from the operatic soprano Anna Milder-Hauptmann, a friend of Schubert. She had requested a show-piece that would allow her to express a wide range of feelings, and he wrote it as thanks for her attempts to stage one of his operas in Berlin. and the work was published a year and a half after Schubert’s death. Milder sang it for the first time at the House of the Blackheads in Riga on 10 February 1830.

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Choreography#

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is set to the finale, allegro vivace, of Schubert’s Symphony No. 9. The ballet is usually danced to a recording of the score, with amplification effects. The ballet is danced by three women and two men, with solos, duets, trios and group formations. The choreography consists of classical ballet steps. Dance critic Zoë Anderson described the ballet, “The performance style looks back to the graciousness of nineteenth-century tutu works, while moving at a walloping pace.” Dance researcher Ann Nugent wrote that the ballet is “effectively a baroque ballet where classical form is embellished by the limbs’ delicate tracery. It is supremely elegant, with just the hint of a subtext, a sense that the classical occasionally likes to break out of its restraints.” Vertiginous Thrill is known for its technically demanding choreography, to the point where a dancer told Forsythe she would rather give birth again than to dance the ballet. He explained, Apparently, it has a reputation of being extremely difficult to dance. But then again, dancers do like challenge. I made it for that reason, to exploit the talent that I had at that time… one of the really important things is for people to pay attention to the music. People get involved with the steps, which are finally of absolutely no value without the musicality. I think that I’d left a lot of the musical nuance over to those dancers because they were so skilled. Then you go back, and you’re going, ‘Okay, what was it exactly?’ You thought it was somehow all your own craft, and it wasn’t, it was actually their incredible artistry.

Three Marches Militaires (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

It is not certain when the Marches militaires were written: many scholars favour 1818 but some prefer alternative dates such as 1822 or 1824. It is known that they were written during Schubert’s stay at Count Johann Karl Esterházy’s summer home in Zseliz in Hungary (now Želiezovce in Slovakia). He had accepted a job there as music teacher to the Count’s daughters, Maria Theresia and Caroline, and these and similar works were written for instructional purposes. The Marches militaires were published in Vienna on 7 August 1826, as Op. 51, by Anton Diabelli. They are all in ternary form, with a central trio leading to a reprise of the main march.

Trout Quintet

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nickname#

The piece is known as the Trout because the fourth movement is a set of variations on Schubert’s earlier Lied “Die Forelle” (“The Trout”). The quintet was written for Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy music patron and amateur cellist from Steyr, Upper Austria, who also suggested that Schubert include a set of variations on the Lied. Sets of variations on melodies from his Lieder are found in four other works by Schubert: the Death and the Maiden Quartet, the “Trockne Blumen” (dried flowers) Variations for Flute and Piano (D. 802), the Wanderer Fantasy, and the Fantasia for Violin and Piano in C major (D. 934, on “Sei mir gegrüßt”).

Violin Sonatas, Op. 137 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sonatas#

Since Schubert’s Sonatas Op. 137 are modest in size—rather to be compared to Mozart’s violin sonatas than to Beethoven’s—the “Sonatina” diminutive stuck to them. They are works from the Classical period but Schubert would later transition into the Romantic period through his lieder.

No. 1 in D major, D 384#

Schubert wrote “März 1816” (March 1816) on the autograph score of his Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major (D 384). The sonata has three movements:

Wanderer Fantasy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Historical background#

Schubert composed this work in late 1822, just after breaking off work on the Unfinished Symphony while sketching its incomplete scherzo. It was written for and dedicated to Carl Emanuel Liebenberg von Zsittin, who had studied piano with Johann Nepomuk Hummel, in the hope of some remuneration from the dedication. It is not only a technically formidable challenge for the performer, but also a structurally formidable four-movement work combining theme-and-variations with sonata form. Each movement transitions into the next instead of ending with a final definitive cadence, and each starts with a variation of the opening phrase of his lied “Der Wanderer” (D. 489). The second movement, marked “adagio,” states the theme virtually identically as it is in the song, whereas the three fast movements begin with variants in diminution (shortened note values): the first movement, “allegro con fuoco ma non troppo,” a monothematic sonata form in which the second theme is another variant; the third, “presto,” a scherzo in triple meter; and the finale, marked simply “allegro,” starting as a quasi-fugue and growing increasingly demanding on technical and interpretive skills as it storms on to its conclusion.

Wanderer's Nightsong

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wanderer’s Nightsong I#

The manuscript of “Wanderer’s Nightsong” ("") was among Goethe’s letters to his friend Charlotte von Stein and bears the signature “At the slope of Ettersberg, on 12 Feb. 76”; supposedly it was written under the tree later called the Goethe Oak. One translation is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Franz Schubert set the poem to music in 1815 (as No.3 in his Op.4, D.224), changing “stillest” and “füllest” to “stillst” and “füllst,” and, more significantly, “Erquickung” (refreshment) to “Entzückung” (delight).

Welcome and Farewell

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin and content#

In 1770 Goethe went to Strasbourg and assumedly wrote the love song in the following spring of 1771. It was written in the spirit of the Sturm und Drang period for the daughter of a parson, Friederike Brion.

Text#

Es schlug mein Herz; geschwind zu Pferde! Es war getan fast eh gedacht; Der Abend wiegte schon die Erde, Und an den Bergen hing die Nacht. Schon stand im Nebelkleid die Eiche, Ein aufgetürmter Riese, da, Wo Finsternis aus dem Gesträuche Mit hundert schwarzen Augen sah. Der Mond von einem Wolkenhügel Sah kläglich aus dem Duft hervor, Die Winde schwangen leise Flügel, Umsausten schauerlich mein Ohr. Die Nacht schuf tausend Ungeheuer; Doch frisch und fröhlich war mein Mut: In meinen Adern welches Feuer! In meinem Herzen welche Glut! Dich sah ich, und die milde Freude Floss von dem süssen Blick auf mich; Ganz war mein Herz an deiner Seite, Und jeder Atemzug für dich. Ein rosenfarbnes Frühlingswetter Umgab das liebliche Gesicht, Und Zärtlichkeit für mich — ihr Götter! Ich hofft’ es, ich verdient’ es nicht! Doch ach, schon mit der Morgensonne Verengt der Abschied mir das Herz: In deinen Küssen, welche Wonne! In deinem Auge, welcher Schmerz! Ich ging, du standst und sahst zur Erden, Und sahst mir nach mit nassem Blick: Und doch, welch Glück geliebt zu werden! Und lieben, Götter, welch ein Glück! Quick throbb’d my heart: to horse! haste, haste And lo! ’twas done with speed of light; The evening soon the world embraced, And o’er the mountains hung the night. Soon stood, in robe of mist, the oak, A tow’ring giant in his size, Where darkness through the thicket broke, And glared with hundred gloomy eyes. From out a hill of clouds the moon With mournful gaze began to peer: The winds their soft wings flutter’d soon, And murmur’d in my awe-struck ear; The night a thousand monsters made, Yet fresh and joyous was my mind; What fire within my veins then play’d! What glow was in my bosom shrin’d! I saw thee, and with tender pride Felt thy sweet gaze pour joy on me; While all my heart was at thy side, And every breath I breath’d for thee. The roseate hues that spring supplies Were playing round thy features fair, And love for me—ye Deities! I hoped it, I deserved it ne’er! But, when the morning sun return’d, Departure filled with grief my heart: Within thy kiss, what rapture burn’d! But in thy look, what bitter smart! I went—thy gaze to earth first roved; Thou follow’dst me with tearful eye: And yet, what rapture to be loved! And, Gods, to love—what ecstacy! My heart beat fast, a horse! away! Quicker than thought I am astride, Earth now lulled by end of day, Night hovering on the mountainside. A robe of mist around him flung, The oak a towering giant stood, A hundred eyes of jet had sprung From darkness in the bushy wood. Atop a hill of cloud the moon Shed piteous glimmers through the mist, Softly the wind took flight, and soon With horrible wings around me hissed. Night made a thousand ghouls respire, Of what I felt, a thousandth part My mind, what a consuming fire! What a glow was in my heart! You I saw, your look replied, Your sweet felicity, my own, My heart was with you, at your side, I breathed for you, for you alone. A blush was there, as if your face A rosy hue of Spring had caught, For me-ye gods!-this tenderness! I hoped, and I deserved it not. Yet soon the morning sun was there, My heart, ah, shrank as leave I took: How rapturous your kisses were, What anguish then was in your look! I left, you stood with downcast eyes, In tears you saw me riding off: Yet, to be loved, what happiness! What happiness, ye gods, to love!

Wiegenlied, D 498 (Schubert)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lyrics#

The author of the lyrics is unknown; they are sometimes attributed to Matthias Claudius, but the poem does not appear in Claudius’ collected works.

Alois Melichar arranged Wiegenlied along with incidental music from Schubert’s opera Rosamunde to form the song “Mille cherubini in coro” for the 1935 film Vergiß mein nicht. It was performed by the tenor Beniamino Gigli with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. In more recent times the song was notably sung by tenor Luciano Pavarotti, usually in his Christmas concerts.

Winterreise

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Authorship and composition#

Winterreise was composed in two parts, each with twelve songs, the first part in February 1827 and the second in October 1827. The two parts were also published separately by Tobias Haslinger, the first on 14 January 1828, and the second (the proofs of which Schubert was still correcting days before his death on 19 November) on 30 December 1828. The text consists of poems by Wilhelm Müller. Müller, a poet, soldier and Imperial Librarian at Dessau in Prussia (present-day east-central Germany), died in 1827 aged 32, and probably never heard the first setting of his poems in Die schöne Müllerin (1823), let alone Winterreise. Die schöne Müllerin had become central to the performing repertoire and partnership of Schubert with his friend, the baritone singer Johann Michael Vogl, who introduced Schubert’s songs to many people in their tours through Austria in the mid-1820s. Schubert found the first twelve poems under the title Wanderlieder von Wilhelm Müller. Die Winterreise. In 12 Liedern in an almanack () published in Leipzig in 1823. His intimate friend Franz von Schober had provided this book for him. It was after he set these, in February 1827, that he discovered the full series of poems in Müller’s book of 1824, Poems from the posthumous papers of a travelling horn-player, dedicated to the composer Carl Maria von Weber (godfather of Müller’s son F. Max Müller), “as a pledge of his friendship and admiration”. Weber died in 1826. On 4 March 1827, Schubert invited a group of friends to his lodgings intending to sing the first group of songs, but he was out when they arrived, and the event was postponed until later in the year, when the full performance was given. Between the 1823 and 1824 editions, Müller varied the texts slightly and also (with the addition of the further 12 poems) altered the order in which they were presented. Owing to the two stages of composition, Schubert’s order in the song-cycle preserves the integrity of the cycle of the first twelve poems published and appends the twelve new poems as a Fortsetzung (Continuation), following Müller’s order (if one excludes the poems already set) with the one exception of switching “Die Nebensonnen” and “Mut!”. In the complete book edition, Müller’s final running-order was as follows: “Gute Nacht”; “Die Wetterfahne”; “Gefror’ne Tränen”; “Erstarrung”; “Der Lindenbaum”; “Die Post”; “Wasserflut”; “Auf dem Flusse”; “Rückblick”; “Der greise Kopf”; “Die Krähe”; “Letzte Hoffnung”; “Im Dorfe”; “Der stürmische Morgen”; “Täuschung”; “Der Wegweiser”; “Das Wirtshaus”; " Das Irrlicht"; “Rast”; “Die Nebensonnen”; “Frühlingstraum”; “Einsamkeit”; “Mut!”; “Der Leiermann”. Thus, Schubert’s numbers would run 1–5, 13, 6–8, 14–21, 9–10, 23, 11–12, 22, 24, a sequence occasionally attempted by Hans Joachim Moser and Günther Baum. Schubert’s original group of settings therefore closed with the dramatic cadence of “Irrlicht”, “Rast”, “Frühlingstraum” and “Einsamkeit”, and his second sequence begins with “Die Post”. Dramatically, the first half is the sequence from the leaving of the beloved’s house, and the second half the torments of reawakening hope and the path to resignation. In Winterreise Schubert raises the importance of the pianist to a role equal to that of the singer. In particular, the piano’s rhythms constantly express the moods of the poet, like the distinctive rhythm of “Auf dem Flusse”, the restless syncopated figures in “Rückblick”, the dramatic tremolos in “Einsamkeit”, the glimmering clusters of notes in “Irrlicht”, or the sharp accents in “Der stürmische Morgen”. The piano supplies rich effects in the nature imagery of the poems, the voices of the elements, the creatures and active objects, the rushing storm, the crying wind, the water under the ice, birds singing, ravens croaking, dogs baying, the rusty weathervane grating, the post horn calling, and the drone and repeated melody of the hurdy-gurdy.