Kevin's Watch

Schubert didn't invent the lied - the song. But it was pretty close. Same with Haydn and sonata form. Schubert turned the keyboard-accompanied song into a voice/piano duet. For the first time, and moreso than with any future composer, the piano is an equal partner. Writing about 600 lieder, he had a lot of practice to achieve the levels of beauty and interaction he wanted.

Let's start with my favorite love song of all time:

Du bist die Ruh (You are the peace)
video.google.com/videosearch?www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPfIp0Lkek0
In other songs, the piano has an even more active role than here. But it is already singing its own song. This song also shows Schubert's amazing gift for melodies. Come on, folks, how gorgeous is this???

Du bist die Ruh

Du bist die Ruh, Der Friede mild,
Die Sehnsucht du und was sie stillt.
Ich weihe dir voll Lust und Schmerz
Zur Wohnung hier mein Aug und Herz.

Kehr ein bei mir, und schließe du
Still hinter dir die Pforten zu.
Treib andern Schmerz aus dieser Brust!
Voll sei dies Herz von deiner Lust.

Dies Augenzelt von deinem Glanz
Allein erhellt,
O füll es ganz!
_____________________________________________

Thou art rest and gentle peace,
Thou art longing, and that which stills it.
I consecrate to thee, with my joys and griefs,
As thy dwelling-place, my eyes and heart.

Enter into me and close thou
The gates softly behind thee:
Drive other griefs from this breast,
Let this heart be filled with thy joys.

My world of sight thy radiance
Alone can illuminate.
Oh, fill it to the fullest!
__________________________________________________________

Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the spinning wheel)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpeJChQcWKE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w25VEWphwYQ
It would be difficult for the piano to have a more active role than it does here. The piano is the spinning wheel. It's impossible to miss the turning, turning, turning. And as Gretchen's excitement builds as she's thinking about her boyfriend, the spinning gets faster and faster. A trick of the piano's harmonies. Then she collapses at the thought of his kiss (This babe needs it bad, folks.), and the wheel stops spinning. After a brief rest, she gets it spinning again. But it takes a couple tries, and starts slowly.


Gretchen am Spinnrade

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,
Seine 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.
Auch dürf ich fassen
Und halten ihn,

Und küssen ihn,
So wie ich wollt,
An seinen Küssen
Vergehen sollt!
____________________________________________________________

My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy,
I will find it never
and never more.

Where I do not have him,
That is the grave,
The whole world
Is bitter to me.

My poor head
Is crazy to me,
My poor mind
Is torn apart.

My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy,
I will find it never
and never more.

For him only, I look
Out the window
Only for him do I go
Out of the house.

His tall walk,
His noble figure,
His mouth's smile,
His eyes' power,

And his mouth's
Magic flow,
His handclasp,
and ah! his kiss!

My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy,
I will find it never
and never more.

My bosom urges itself
toward him.
Ah, might I grasp
And hold him!

And kiss him,
As I would wish,
At his kisses
I should die!


____________________________________________________________
Der Erlkönig (The Elfking)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iAl0mWXceo&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=idBZPteNJxs&feature=related
Those Germans are damned depressing sometimes, eh? Schubert's song cycles (Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise) are about death. Mahler's Kindertotenlieder literally means "songs on the death of children." Der Erlkönig is about a father with his small boy on a horse. The boy sees the Elfking and his daughters, who try to entice him into going with them. The boy is terrified. And the song does not end happily.

However, it's an amazing piece of music! You hear the horse running with the first notes of the piano. And Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is the ultimate singer of all German songs. Not only a fantastic voice, but he does different voices for the different characters: the sure, strong father; the scared son; and the sweet-talking Elfking.

A couple other things of interest. This song is through-composed. From wikipedia:

Music is described as through-composed when it is relatively continuous, non-sectional, and/or non-repetitive. A song is said to be through-composed if it has different music for each stanza of the lyrics. This is in contrast to strophic form, in which each stanza is set to the same music.

I don't know of any rock/pop songs that are through-composed, although there might be some. It's certainly different not hearing the same music repeated over and over with different words.

But there is a part that's repeated. Each time the boy cries out to his father - Mein Vater, mein Vater... - we get a few seconds of the same music. Thing is, the music modulates so that, as he becomes more and more terrified, it's in a higher pitch each time we hear it.


Der Erlkönig

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.

"Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?"
"Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?"
"Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif."

"Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir;
Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand."

"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?"
"Sei ruhig, bleib ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind."

"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehen?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein."

"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?"
"Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau."

"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt."
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!"

Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.
______________________________________________________

Who rides, so late, through night and wind?
It is the father with his child.
He holds the boy in the crook of his arm
He holds him safe, he keeps him warm.

"My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?"
"Father, do you not see the Erlking?
The Erlking with crown and cloak?"
"My son, it's a wisp of fog."

"You lovely child, come, go with me!
Many a beautiful game I'll play with you;
Some colorful flowers are on the shore,
My mother has many golden robes."

"My father, my father, can't you hear,
What the Erlking quietly promised me?"
"Be calm, stay calm, my child;
The wind rustles through dry leaves."

"Do you want to come with me, fine lad?
My daughters should be waiting for you;
My daughters lead the nightly dances
And will rock and dance and sing you to sleep."

"My father, my father, can't you see there,
The Erlking's daughters in the gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it well:
The old willows seem so gray."

"I love you, your beautiful form entices me;
And if you're not willing, I shall use force."
"My father, my father, he's grabbing me now!
The Erlking has wounded me!"

The father shudders; he rides swiftly,
He holds in his arms the moaning child.
Barely he arrives at the yard in urgency;
In his arms, the child was dead.




(And a follow-up to that last video...)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazlqD4mLvw&feature=related

Very cool youtube videos, Fist! Now I see what the missing ingredient was in earlier classical club threads that would have made the music come alive. (Maybe youtube didn't exist back then).

I'm afraid the lied still isn't a big part of my musical listening. I'm not sure if it ever will be, but I can appreciate it in small doses like this. Maybe I just can't feel the joy and sorrow of Schubert's songs - I'm expressing my inadequacy as a listener, not saying I think his songs lack feeling. You obviously have great feeling for them!

You mention Mahler's songs. I admit I'm more partial to his songs, maybe because they are thematically "affiliated" with his symphonies, which I love. Not saying that isn't the case with Schubert songs and symphonies; I simply don't know his music well enough to tell.

That said, I enjoyed that rendition of The Elfking by a young Fischer-Dieskau - what a shocking sight! I'm just too used to pictures of him in his older years.

And sorry, but I'll take a sad song over a love song almost every time. You are the peace is lovely enough, but the Elfking is more gripping (yes, I suppose its subject matter makes it so).

I don't know of any rock/pop songs that are through-composed, although there might be some.

I'm just guessing in the dark here, but maybe progressive rock by its nature incorporates the "through-composed" technique. But again, I'm no student of prog rock, though there are certainly plenty of prog rock aficionados here at Vespers who may be able to provide examples.

As for that last youtube clip: Heh! It took me a moment before I recognized the tune Mr. Moore was embellishing.

I've always gotten the impression that you prefer symphonic music to chamber, so Mahler's songs would naturally work better for you. I prefer chamber, so Schubert's are a natural for me. Not that we don't both like things in the other, but hey, everybody has their preferences.

Yeah, I know why you're attracted to the sadder/darker songs. I love them too. This one is certainly a good example. Still, love is the answer, and all that crap. So I also love Elton John's Your Song, Dan Fogelberg's Longer, Meatloaf's For Crying Out Loud, Simon and Garfunkle's Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Du bist die Ruh.

And yeah, Dudley has some great stuff! I never heard of those videos before! Getting his hand in motion in the beginning of the first video is hysterical! As is the endless ending of the second.