Chapter 18: Private Art: Schubert and Inwardness

I. Lieder A. Introduction 1. The previous chapters have focused on public music, but a significant contribution to the nineteenth-century repertory lies in private music, especially the works of Schubert. 2. Two important genres in this regard are Lieder (songs for voice and piano) and Charakterstücke (character pieces). 3. Private art encouraged new middle-class consumerism. Inexpensive books, including much lyric poetry, were purchased and read. Romantic composers frequently set such poems to music.

B. The Lied Grows Up 1. The type of Lied that dominated private music in the nineteenth century originated in Berlin with C. P. E. Bach. a. This type of piece was not only personally expressive (befitting Empfindsamstil), but also fit the growing fascination with Volkstümlichkeit (folklikeness), as we observed in the study of Der Freischütz. b. In its infancy, the Lieder was considered a lowly genre, and its composers (chief among them Reichardt and Zelter) were valued for their simplistic settings. c. Haydn and Mozart composed some (but not many, compared to Reichardt’s 1500) Lieder. 2. Beethoven composed almost 100 Lieder, mostly early in his career. He also did arrangements of popular folk songs. a. He has a set of songs, An die ferne Geliebte, that is the earliest song cycle to remain in the performed repertory today.

C. Herder, Language, and the Nation 1. Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) can be seen as an intellectual bridge between the Enlightenment and German Romanticism. 2. Herder argued that there was no universal human nature, nor universal human truth. a. He was not the first to say this, but his emphases were particularly German and influential. b. Paradoxically, his philosophy became universal for German-speaking people and contributed to ideas about nationhood for Germany (at the time a collection of distinct entities). c. He posited that language was only learned socially, that there was not thought without language, and that each language had unique values and ideas within it. 1) These ideas led to the possibility of comparing cultural values based on the languages people speak.

D. Folk Song, Folklore, and Folk Tales 1. Following Herder’s vision of human diversity and culture, folklore became the most authentic expression of a nation (those who spoke a common language). 2. He invented the word Volkslied (folk song) and published a large anthology of folk songs from different countries.

a. Achin von Arnim and Clemens Brentano subsequently published Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a substantial and influential anthology of German poetry, in the early nineteenth century. b. The Grimm brothers also partook of this fascination with German folk culture with their famous collection of folk tales.

E. Lyric and Ballad 1. The Lied became a principal medium by which to convey national identity. 2. The poetry divided into two types: Lyric and Ballad. 3. Lyrics were set as dance songs with stanzas and refrains. a. Goethe’s most famous lyric poem is “Heidenröslein.” b. He wanted these types of poems to be set strophically. 4. Goethe also wanted ballads to be set strophically so that the singer had the opportunity to shade the music as he or she saw fit. a. Early ballads were English or Scandinavian ballads translated into German. 5. Composers saw the strophic form as limited, often preferring through-composed or a combination of the two. 6. The most famous ballad was Goethe’s “Der Erlkönig” (1781). a. It is based on Herder’s translation of a Danish folk ballad. b. A mistranslation on Herder’s part remained part of the song (Ellerkonge—King of the Elves or Elfking to Erlkönig—King of the Alder Trees or Erlking). c. It consists of eight stanzas, with four characters. d. The first musical setting dates from 1782, by Corona Schröter, an actress. e. Reichardt and Carl Loewe set it, among others. Beethoven began a setting but did not complete it.

F. Schubert and Goethe 1. Schubert was the first composer to make the Lied a major genre. a. He is famous for his private pieces, although he wrote a substantial amount of music for public performance as well (sonatas, symphonies, etc.). 2. Although he never met the poet, Schubert most frequently chose poems by Goethe for his Lieder. 3. At age eighteen he composed both “Heidenröslein” and “Der Erlkönig.” a. “Heidenröslein” is a simple strophic song, natural and relatively easy to perform. b. “Der Erlkönig” is entirely different in that it completely ignores most aspects associated with the genre in intensity, drama, and technical difficulty. 1) Although Schubert had used operatic devices in earlier works (hard to imagine since he was only eighteen!), here the recitative serves only to bring the thundering and driving music to an extremely abrupt halt—mirroring the stoppage of the child’s life. 2) Each character has special characteristics that mark the part, so that even though only one singer is involved, the listener can follow who is speaking. 3) The tonal center shifts incessantly throughout “Erlkönig,” which contributes to the drama. 4) The terrifying outcries of the little boy bring increased tension.

5) The pounding of the horse’s hooves recede as the subjective elements take over.

II. Beyond the Songs A. Salon Culture and 1. Rossini, Beethoven, and Weber all had a public presence in Vienna, but Schubert did not. Rather, his performances were often for a musical society (Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde). 2. Schubert’s private sphere of music making was known as a “,” but is in essence the beginning of salon culture. 3. Salons were large rooms where invited guests gathered, usually run by a patron. 4. While salons were associated with aristocratic circles, Schubertiades involved a more bohemian group of civil servants. 5. Such small gatherings fit the Romantic ideal of the individual, private over public.

B. Schubert: A Life in Art 1. Schubert was not famous during his lifetime, but his reputation grew tremendously soon after his early death, thanks in large part to his friends. 2. Not too long before 1820, Schubert became friends with Johann Michael Vogl, a who sang many of the composer’s Lieder and other works. 3. In 1821, Schubert published some songs. The income from these allowed him to focus more on composition than teaching. 4. By the time he was twenty-four, Schubert was getting publicity, acclaim, performances, and publications.

C. Disaster 1. In 1822, Schubert became gravely ill (probably syphilis) and went to hospital. There he may have composed part of the song cycle Die schöne Müllerin. 2. He seemed to get better, although he lived the remainder of his life in fear of new symptoms. a. This is documented by a letter he wrote to a friend, Leopold Kupelwieser. b. He turned to instrumental music, writing chamber music and talking about a great symphony, although he had already written six. c. In this letter he reveals his view of Beethoven as a model. 3. In the 1820s Schubert appeared to his friends to be living only to compose. a. In this respect, he represented the Romantic artist, living for inner purpose, not outward success and drama.

D. What Contemporaries Knew of Schubert’s Music 1. In a composition career lasting only eighteen years, Schubert wrote just under 1000 works. 2. Putting the compositions in chronological order gives some indication of how his contemporaries saw him. 3. The earliest publications were Lieder and a set of brief dances: These suited Schubertiades. 4. In 1818 he published a large-scale piano work, dedicated to Beethoven, for piano duet. It represents domestic music. (He wrote piano duets throughout his life.)

5. The next publication was for vocal ensemble, reflecting a growing popularity for singing societies in German states. 6. The piano Fantasy in C Major, called the “Wanderer,” was Schubert’s first substantial instrumental publication (1823). 7. All of these show Schubert’s attempt at commercial success, working within markets for a buying public, for consumption at home.

E. Crossing the Edge 1. Schubert also composed character pieces, such as his Impromptus. 2. These pieces are good examples of his harmonic style, most notably the use of modal mixture, where a tonic relates both to major and minor modes. 3. His Moments musicaux are also smaller piano works where Schubert’s ability to capture intimacy abound. They are brief, fleeting works where propulsion is suspended.

F. The “Unfinished” Symphony 1. In his last years, Schubert turned to larger forms. Unfortunately, many of these were only heard for the first time after his death. 2. After some early attempts, Schubert attempted a more expansive symphony in 1822. It is now known as the “Unfinished Symphony” because there are only two movements. a. There is no proof, however, that is was indeed unfinished. b. It mirrors the composer’s “unfinished” life. c. He may have lost interest in the work, become too sick to complete it at the time and didn’t return to it, or other factors. d. The Unfinished Symphony premiered almost forty years after Schubert’s death and was immediately successful. 3. The mood of the symphony is introspection, intimate—in high contrast to those of Beethoven. 4. The formal outline is not clear and structured, as in the Beethovenian model, but resounds with lyricism.

G. After Beethoven 1. Schubert gave a concert of his own works on the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death. 2. Like others, it was in a room owned by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. a. He had several of Beethoven’s favorite musicians play. b. The concert was favorably received (although soon overshadowed by the arrival of Paganini in Vienna), and compared to a recent all-Beethoven concert. c. Chamber music was an important part of this concert. 1) Schubert honored Beethoven with these works by using techniques and/or motives of the older composer’s works. 2) He adapted the “farewell” motive which, when added to the date of the concert, suggests further homage to Beethoven.

H. Schubert’s Last Two Songs 1. Schubert died within eight months of this concert, and a memorial concert was given to raise money for a gravestone.

2. In less than two years after Beethoven’s death, Schubert composed some of his greatest works: , String Quintet in C, Violin Fantasy in C, Mass in E-flat, three piano sonatas, and others. 3. The last songs were published posthumously in 1828, under the title Schwanegesang (Swan Song). They are not a true song cycle, but a collection of the final ones. a. The last two songs are very different. b. Der Doppelgänger deals with the topic of mental disintegration into an abyss of despair. The middle of the song is set to a ground bass, representing obsession. c. Die Taubenpost is a lighthearted song in modified strophic form, typical of so many Schubert Lieder. It is filled with joy, yet it is the last piece the composer finished— completed two weeks before his death. 4. At his request, Schubert was buried near Beethoven.