#Liederture;)

[andrewtheconqueror-blog]

Blog No. 7

(2) German Lieder:

Erlkönig (The Earl King) by Franz Schubert Short Description:

This German Leider is based on the poem that speaks of the journey of a father and child hurrying through the night in a dark, misty forest. Not within the father’s sight was the Earl King wanting to take the child for his own just so that his daughter could have a playmate in his own kingdom. The poem details the struggle of the child and the Earl King until the tragic end comes at the end of the journey. In the father’s arms was his child... Dead!

Analysis: The song revolves around three themes. It is not necessarily strophic, but these are themes that recur in different modulations in the development before returning to the home key. From G Minor, to C Minor, to B-Flat Major, to C Major, to D Minor and finally back to G Minor.

(2) Widmung (Liebeslied) by Robert Schumann Short Description:

Schumann dedicated his life’s work to his beloved wife, Clara Schumann. This music is a profession of the love from the whole self to his beloved. It is a confession and a celebration of victory in love. The lyrics are aided by one of the most beautiful melodies written for German Lieder.

                                   “Text and Pronounciation Video”

Performance of Widmung by a German Baritone, Hermann Prey

Analysis: Explicitly ABA, the song is situated in A-Flat Major whose B section makes a silent and lifted transition to E Major. The B section is characterized by transcendence of love and perfection which lead to a “holy” transition to a series of E Flat seventh chords, the dominant of the home key. The return to A ends with the borrowing of the melody of Ave Maria to signify the bonding of eternal love to one another.

(1) Miniature Piano Piece 

 Chopin Etude No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 10 Short Description:

Frederic Chopin published his 12 Etudes, Op. 10 when he was just 18 years old. Included in the set is the nicknamed “Revolutionary Etude” (Etude No. 12 in C Minor, Op. 10). This particular etude tackles the double-note piano technique, and in this etude, the double-sixths are the tackled technique. 

Analysis: The same theme is used over two modulations before returning with the same theme in home key. Written in A-Flat Major, to E Major, to A Major to a small development in the dominant (E-Flat Major) and back to A-Flat Major.