Scribd
Upload
137 views9 pages

Art Song or Lied

1. Art song, also known as lied, was a distinctive musical form that emerged during the Romantic period. Lied featured solo vocal performance accompanied by piano. 2. Franz Schubert was a leading composer of lied. One of his early and famous examples is "Gretchen am Spinnrade", setting a poem by Goethe about Margaret pining for her lover Faust. 3. In "Gretchen am Spinnrade", the constant piano figuration represents Margaret's restless spinning, as she dwells on memories of Faust's kiss, touch and smile. The music gradually builds intensity before resolving in the major key, as Margaret dreams of reuniting

Uploaded by

Nicky Harre
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
137 views9 pages

Art Song or Lied

1. Art song, also known as lied, was a distinctive musical form that emerged during the Romantic period. Lied featured solo vocal performance accompanied by piano. 2. Franz Schubert was a leading composer of lied. One of his early and famous examples is "Gretchen am Spinnrade", setting a poem by Goethe about Margaret pining for her lover Faust. 3. In "Gretchen am Spinnrade", the constant piano figuration represents Margaret's restless spinning, as she dwells on memories of Faust's kiss, touch and smile. The music gradually builds intensity before resolving in the major key, as Margaret dreams of reuniting

Uploaded by

Nicky Harre
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 9

Art Song or Lied

Music for Love

One of the distinctive forms of music from the Romantic period was the ART SONG. These were also known as LIED
(pronounced ‘leet’) when German text was used. The plural is LIEDER (pronounced ‘leader’). The lied differed from
earlier song types because of the importance given to the piano accompaniment. The relationship between the
voice and piano is often referred to as a marriage, in which both partners are equal.

Love was a common theme in lied as well as the beauty of nature, longing, and supernatural
happenings. Often the theme was unrequited love – the type of love where one person loves
another but the other person doesn’t feel the same.

The popularity of lied throughout Europe during the nineteenth century


was due in part to the mass production of the piano. The piano
became the universal domestic instrument, to be found in the
homes of most upper and middle class families. Music
making, by small groups of families and friends in salons and
drawing rooms, was an important part of life in the
Romantic period. The lied, including only two people and
able to be performed by amateurs was tailor-made for such
intimate surroundings. Equally, they could be sung in large
concert halls as they still are today.

‘Gretchen Am Spinnrade’ – Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

SCHUBERT was one of the leading composers of this type of solo song. He wrote over 600 lieder, many of which are
grouped in sets called SONG CYCLES. The texts used by Schubert for his lieder were mainly lyric poems by the
German Romantic poets, notably Goethe (1749-1856).

Schubert’s first great song was Gretchen Am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the


Spinning Wheel). Inflamed by the poetry and passion of Goethe’s Faust, the 17
year old Schubert composed this song. Gretchen Am Spinnrade is typical of that
lieder expressing unrequited love. It portrays Margaret (Gretchen) sitting at
her spinning wheel, dreaming disconsolately of her lover Faust who has
forsaken her. The emotional Goethe’s poem is given on the next page with a
literal English translation.

Listen to Gretchen Am Spinnrade while following the lyrics:

Meine Ruh ist hin My rest is gone,


Mein Herz ist schwer; My heart is heavy,
Ich finde sie nimmer, I’ll find peace no more,
Und nimmermehr. No never more.

Wo ich ihn nicht hab, Not to have him,


Ist mir das Grab, Is like being in a grace,
Die ganze Welt, The whole world
Ist mir vergällt. For me has turned sour.

Mein armer Kopf My poor head


Ist mir Verruckt, Has lost its senses,
Mein armer Sinn My poor mind
Ist mir zerstückt Is shattered.

Meine Ruh ist hin My rest is gone,


Mein Herz ist schwer; My heart is heavy,
Ich finde sie nimmer, I’ll find peace no more,
Und nimmermehr. No never more.

Nach ihm nur schau ich I gaze after him only,


Zum Fenster hinaus, Through the window,
Nach ihm nur geh ich For him alone,
Aus dem Haus. I leave the house.

Sein hoher Gang, His proud walk,


Sein’ edle Gestalt, His noble figure,
Seines Mundes Lächein, The smile on his mouth,
Seiner Augen Gewalt, The power of his eyes,

Und seiner Rede, And his speech’s


Zauberfluss, Magic flow,
Sein Händedrück, The touch of his hand,
Und ach, sein Kuss! And ah, his kiss!

Meine Ruh ist hin My rest is gone,


Mein Herz ist schwer; My heart is heavy,
Ich finde sie nimmer, I’ll find peace no more,
Und nimmermehr. No never more.

Mein Busen drängt My bosom is yearning,


Sich nach ihm hin: Yearning for him,
Ach dürft ich fassen Ah, could I but grasp him
Und halten ihn And hold on to him

Und küssen ihn, And kiss him,


So wie ich wollt, The way I would like,
An seinen Küssen And on his kisses
Vergehen sollt’! Pass away.

Listen to Gretchen Am Spinnrade again, this time following the music.


Answer the following questions:

1. What is the tonality of the piece at the beginning? Major? Minor?


2. What would be the significance of using this tonality in relation to the story being told?
3. What is the significance of the constant semi-quaver movement in the right hand of the piano
accompaniment? Again, think of the story being told. State two reasons.
4. Describe the dynamics at the beginning of the piece.
5. Explain the following terms.
 sempre legato
 sempre staccato
 dim.
 descresc
 acceler.
 sf
 ff
 descresc. e ritard
6. Explain the time signature
7. What type of voice is this written for? Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass?
8. Listen to what happens in the accompaniment and the tonality at bar 58 to 65. State what is happening and
how this relates to the story being told.
9. What happens to the accompaniment in piano at bars 66-68? Relate this to what Gretchen is thinking of at
this time.
10. What is the significance of the note sung in bar 68?
11. How does the return of the piano accompaniment in bar 69 differ from that at the beginning. Relate this to
the story.
12. What is the tonality from bar 69 onwards? Relate this to the story.
13. What is the significance of the first note sung in bar 111?
14. What name could be given to this point of the piece?

You might also like