Schubertreise XXXIII

Conor Biggs, bass
Michel Stas, piano

Die Gefangenen Sänger, D 712     August Wilhelm von Schlegel
Versunken, D 715 (zweite Fassung)    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Ihr Grab, D 736     Karl August Engelhardt
Am See, D 746     Franz von Bruchmann
Herrn Josef Spaun, Assessor in Linz, D749     Matthäus von Collin
Nachtviolen, D 752     Johann Mayrhofer
Heliopolis II, D 754     Johann Mayrhofer
Schwestergruẞ, D 762     Franz von Bruchmann
An die Entfernte, D 765     Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Am Flusse, D 160 (erste Bearbeitung)     Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Am Flusse, D 766 (zweite Bearbeitung)     Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Die Wallfahrt, D 778 A     Friedrich Rückert
Der zürnende Barde, D 785     Franz von Bruchmann

For this thirty-third Schubertreise programme Michel Stas and Conor Biggs explore songs written in the years 1821-1823. In Die gefangenen Sänger Schlegel’s caged birds refer not to political prisoners, but to the longing of the artist for an ideal world beyond his reach, a central tenet of romanticism. The manipulation of major/minor juxtaposition is presented with a new subtlety in this beautiful song. Two slightly different versions exist of our next song, Versunken, and we have chosen the second one. John Reed refers to Goethe’s poem as a ‘sharply etched miniature of erotic love’, which for the life of me I can’t detect. Schubert’s exciting setting is more tongue-in-cheek than anything else, and a tour de force for the pianist. The source for the heartfelt lyrics of Ihr Grab was, curiously enough, Karl August Engelhardt‘s ‘The Pocket-book of Sociable Pleasures’. Of all Schubert’s graveside orations, this is the most beautiful. As for Am See, we see once again Schubert’s increasing devotion to the ‘one idea’ song, inspired as it is by the notion of a boat on a lake in summertime. On first hearing simplicity itself, the song in fact hides a multitude of subtleties.

Herrn Josef Spaun, Assessor in Linz is a clever skit on Italian operatic style à la Rossini. In tone mock-serious, its bravura style poses a challenge to any singer; suffice to say it is the joker in the Schubertreise pack. Nachtviolen (Dame’s Violets), a study in sweet melancholy, has surely the most beautiful of Schubert song introductions, matched only by the beauty of the third verse. By way of complete contrast, the granite-like determination of Heliopolis II, with its call to remain faithful to one’s artistic vision, cries out for an orchestral arrangement; indeed, it calls to mind passages in the 9th symphony.

Schwestergruẞ is a neglected masterpiece. More and more in these later songs one feels the influence of the piano sonatas. Here the depiction of the ghost and the comforting if sentimental message is the starting point for an extended reverie, the like of which we have not yet encountered in the songs. In mood and intensity of expression (though not in tempo) the nearest equivalent would be the transcendent Die Junge Nonne, written a year later. As to Die Entfernte, there can be no doubting the sincerity of Goethe’s sense of loss following the breach with Charlotte Stein. Schubert’s song perfectly matches this sense of heartfelt loss: perhaps the fact that the song is one extended arioso militates against its popularity. Two settings of Goethe’s Am Flusse follow, separated by seven years. Oddly enough, the first version is a much truer rendition of the young man’s heartbreak: the second version contents itself with depicting the movement of the water, a lovely example of Bewegung, but relatively wide of the mark compared to the first version.

Die Wallfahrt  was rediscovered as late as 1968, and  refers to a pilgrimage, but that of a Muslim, not a Christian. A moving, simple song about frustration in not reaching one’s goal. Finally Der zürnende Barde  a wonderful evocation of the artist’s fury at attempts to stem his creativity, delivered in brash, hectoring tones as befits a Viking bard.

Presented by NCH