Here, the desolate traveler notices a lone hurdy-gurdy player in the distance, ignored and unable to procure any alms. Where there is a definite sense of closure in Die Schöne Müllerin through the death of the protagonist, Winterreise leaves us with the esoteric Die Leiermann (24). While Schubert’s piano textures most obviously mimic the galloping of the postman’s horse, the rhythmic certainty could also be a nod to the narrator’s elation and his own heart that he references at the end of each stanza. For all the song’s optimism, one cannot help but conceive of a stinging irony in his excitement. Hearing a posthorn, he yearns for news from his beloved. This song also bears the first mention of crows, which become a sinister symbol moving forward as we hear in the haunting Die Krähe (15).ĭie Poste (13) marks both the halfway point and, fittingly, the highest emotional moment for the protagonist. Conflict becomes most overtly evident in the music of Frülingstraum (11), where there is a stark and sudden danger that overtakes the beguilingly pastoral opening. Müller’s text, however, says otherwise: the linden tree represents joy and sorrow, rest and nostalgia. Sonically, it is one of the rarer songs that exudes a wholly contemplative warmth and calm. What makes this all the more poignant is how the vocal line is still filled with a gentleness when the narrator bids his former lover goodnight.ĭer Lindenbaum (5) exemplifies the irony of contrast. Schubert’s writing amplifies the poem’s meaning and then some–the descending right hand piano figures which begin each stanza seem to symbolize the fatality that will pervade the rest of the cycle. ![]() Now alone, he recognizes the need for a quest, a journey that might somehow yield personal revelations. Whereas the opening of Die Schöne Müllerin (Das Wandern) has a resolute optimism, Winterreise’s Gute Nacht (1) is wistful and somber, making clear the precedent: though once betrothed to his beloved, the traveler’s circumstances have changed. ![]() The songs below highlight several important moments during the course of the journey. Perhaps this was Schubert’s way of portraying irony and fate or even conflict: hope vs. ![]() Two recurring themes in the cycle are contrast and the unexpected: on more than one occasion, there appears to be divergence, sometimes so subtle, between the character of the words and the music.
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