To What Extent Do Schubert's Songs Serve the Meaning of the Poetry
Introduction
The word Lied has a long history going back as far as the 12th Century, and is connected with folk songs and Lutheran church hymns. The great age of German Lieder, however, came with the Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement developed in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, and was particularly influential in Germany. It was more of an intellectual than directly political movement,. With the poets and authors who led the movement came the composers who eternalised much of the literature.
The basic idea of Romanticism was a reaction against the Enlightenment era; unlike this cult of rationality, the Romantic Movement sought to prove that reason couldn’t explain everything. The early Romantics attempted to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy and science, leading to a difference in perspective from the Enlightenment thinkers. For example, whereas the Enlightenment thinkers had condemned the Middle Ages as ‘Dark Ages’ of ignorance, the Romantics looked to the Middle Ages as a simpler, more integrated period. As far as music was concerned, this historicism allowed (vast) areas of early music to be opened up; Brahms would go on to use medieval ecclesiastical modes in his music.
Music of the period was highly emotional and expressive, with strong lyrical melodies and rich harmony. Composers, authors and poets were inspired not only by medieval, but also traditional folk music. Goethe published the first collection of Volkslieder after travelling around the German countryside. Strong connections developed between Romantic literature and music, with composers finding inspiration in the poetry that flowered during this time.
The beginnings of the great song tradition can be seen in the songs of Mozart and Beethoven. Schubert’s revolutionary style and vision allowed the tradition to continue into the Romantic period- with Schumann, Brahms and Wolf- and well into the 20th Century with Strauss, Mahler and Pfitzner. When studying the
The word Lied has a long history going back as far as the 12th Century, and is connected with folk songs and Lutheran church hymns. The great age of German Lieder, however, came with the Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement developed in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, and was particularly influential in Germany. It was more of an intellectual than directly political movement,. With the poets and authors who led the movement came the composers who eternalised much of the literature.
The basic idea of Romanticism was a reaction against the Enlightenment era; unlike this cult of rationality, the Romantic Movement sought to prove that reason couldn’t explain everything. The early Romantics attempted to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy and science, leading to a difference in perspective from the Enlightenment thinkers. For example, whereas the Enlightenment thinkers had condemned the Middle Ages as ‘Dark Ages’ of ignorance, the Romantics looked to the Middle Ages as a simpler, more integrated period. As far as music was concerned, this historicism allowed (vast) areas of early music to be opened up; Brahms would go on to use medieval ecclesiastical modes in his music.
Music of the period was highly emotional and expressive, with strong lyrical melodies and rich harmony. Composers, authors and poets were inspired not only by medieval, but also traditional folk music. Goethe published the first collection of Volkslieder after travelling around the German countryside. Strong connections developed between Romantic literature and music, with composers finding inspiration in the poetry that flowered during this time.
The beginnings of the great song tradition can be seen in the songs of Mozart and Beethoven. Schubert’s revolutionary style and vision allowed the tradition to continue into the Romantic period- with Schumann, Brahms and Wolf- and well into the 20th Century with Strauss, Mahler and Pfitzner. When studying the