The Romantic Art Song
The romantic art song is a type of vocal music that was in wide use from the late 18th to the early 20th Centuries. Its intimacy and directness made it a widely-used genre by many composers. Although not a form of popular music, some examples of it became almost as well-known as popular ballads.
CHARACTERISTICS AND FEATURES: for solo voice and piano. the composer chooses poetry (either contemporary or from the past) to set to music. the piano is more than just accompaniment: it sets the mood of the song and can be used to mimic a character, thing or an aspect of nature. Songs can be individual or in collections called cycles, which are related by a theme or a narrative.
Forms: The art song is generally one three types: Strophic: verse form (verse 1, verse 2 etc.) Modified Strophic: verses with additional material. Through-composed: unique material throughout the song.
The German form of the art-song is the Lied (plural: Lieder) literally song(s). Example: The Erlking. Music written in 1815 by Franz Schubert (1797-1828), setting a poem written in 1782 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Based on the legend of the Erlking, a troll-like creature who would lure children into the forest- if he touched you, you would die.
Form: through-composed. Story: a father is riding home with his young son through a dark, stormy night. The Erlking tries to lure the son away. When the father and son arrive at their house, the child is dead in his arms. The triplets in the piano right hand represent the galloping horse, the left-hand scale theme represents the wind. The song is in a minor key, but the Erlking is represented in a major one, to trick the child by pretending to be sweet and cajoling.
FRANZ SCHUBERT -born near Vienna in 1797 His Father was a school master (not then considered a high level occupation) Schubert’s musical abilities presented early, he was taught violin by his father and piano by his brother. At age 11 he was accepted to the Imperial Seminary in Vienna. He sang in the choir there, played in the orchestra and received a good general education. Many of his early compositions were written there.
At 17. he left the school and trained (unhappily) to be a teacher in his father’s school. This ended when Schubert was 20, he then devoted most of his time and energy to composing. he earned a living by publishing some of his songs, occasional teaching and the help of his friends. His circle of friends was very important for him, gatherings were held called “Schubertiads”, where many of his compositions were first heard. he died at age 31 in 1828, almost completely unknown and unappreciated.
SCHUBERT’S INFLUENCE OF THE ROMANTIC ART SONG Schubert took what a simple and straight forward genre and expanded it greatly. He added more dramatic forms of song (modified strophic and through-composed) to the simple strophic form He thought of the song-cycle in broader terms in both size and narrative depth. He used more advanced chords than previously, and his piano accompaniments were more involved.
EXAMPLE: DIE SHOENE MUELLRIN (the beautiful miller’s daughter) A song-cycle written in 1823 to poetry of Wilhelm Mueller, a contemporary of Schubert, but they did not collaborate. Consists of 20 poems set to music with a narrative: a wandering miller finds a brook, follows it to a mill. There he meets the mill-owner’s beautiful daughter and falls in love with her.
She does not return his love, and the Miller feels (wrongly) betrayed by a hunter. His despair leads him to drown in the same brook that lead him there. The cycle is a combination of Strophic and other song forms. - example: Das Wandern (wandering) The Miller expresses his joy at his free life. The piano’s heavy, rhythmic accompaniment mimics the turning of a mill-wheel.