![]() ![]() They need to create that atmosphere by the tonal colour of the voice and of the possibilities of the instrument. Winterreise requires the performers to immerse themselves totally in the atmosphere of cold, dark, forlorn despair. For example, he used the dramatic G minor for Der Erlkönig the despairing D minor for Gretchen am Spinnrade the resolute, yet exhultant, A-flat major for Auf dem Wasser zu Singe and the happy and restful key of F major for Fruhlingsglaube (Belief in Spring). Schubert also made use of synaesthesia (the colour of certain musical keys) to create a definite atmosphere. And the falling semiquavers with their repeated notes illustrate the flowing water in Auf dem Wasser zu Singen (To sing on the water). In Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) a sextuplet figure (six notes played over four beats), winding round and round, illustrates the spinning wheel. In Der Erlkönig (The Earl King), based on the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, continuous triplets (three notes played evenly over two beats) illustrate a horse galloping through the night. Schubert, on the other hand, predominantly used rhythm or melody in the piano writing which served to illustrate the setting of the text. There was often a protracted coda (the concluding passage) played by the piano at the end of the song which seemed to make a comment or reinforce the emotive content in the text. Schumann relied on harmony, rather than a motive, to create the visual images associated with the poem. The right hand of the pianist often played the vocal melody – though sometimes with embellishments. Unlike Schubert, Schumann rarely introduced the singer with an introduction played by the piano. The romantic composers such as Schubert, and later Robert Schumann, treated musical settings of poems very differently. Schubert composed countless other songs where the text (poems) are placed into a musical context, written for voice and the equal partnership of a piano, with the piano writing suggesting strong visual imagery tied to the meaning of the poem. He finishes by singing that he wrote “good night” on the gate of his lover showing that despite the fact he is the one who is leaving, his thoughts were still of her. Why is the traveller embarking on this journey? Surely this is about unrequited love. He reflects on a woman who “spoke of love, the mother of marriage”. The first song in Winterreise, Gute Nacht (Good Night) begins enigmatically, as our protoganist ventures out into the snow, accompanied by trudging and relentless short notes on the piano. A literary and philosophical man, Vogl came to regard Schubert’s songs as “divine inspirations, the utterance of a musical clairvoyance”. ![]() Schubert set both collections of Müller’s poems to music to be performed with his friend and baritone Johann Michael Vogl. Winterreise would prove to be a much darker journey. ![]() Die Schöne Müllerin, written in 1823 with poems also by Müller is - despite the hopelessness of unrequited love and the protagonist’s probable death at the end - a positive sounding cycle. His art song output consists of the three main cycles – Die Schöne Müllerin (The Beautiful Miller’s Daughter), Winterreise, and Schwanengesang (Swan Song), which was published after his death. ![]()
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