Have you heard
the musical term “lied”? Similar to how we have popular songs in our culture
today, “lied” is a word used in reference to German 19th-century
popular song. Of course, popular songs were in countries besides Germany, but
we’ll talk about those later this month.
During the 19th
century, there was a strong public interest in amateur music making. People
often held performances in their homes as forms of entertainment among friends.
The lied therefore was typically simple, containing an easy-to-sing melody and
a keyboard accompaniment suitable for most amateur musicians. Early on, this
accompaniment was subordinate to the melody, however by mid-century, keyboard
lines held equal significance as the vocal part. Composers often chose strophic
poetic texts that they would then set to music, giving each syllable a note. The
Romantic era focused on feelings and emotions and we can see these traits in
many texts.
The 19th
century saw a significant increase in lied publication. While on average one
collection was published per month during the 18th century, this
increased to more than one hundred per month during the 19th
century! Composers sought to write lieder like never before, knowing that the
result could be quite lucrative.
Now you may be
wondering which German composers produced a significant lied output. Franz
Schubert (1797–1828) wrote over 600 lieder, many performed in his home as part
of concerts known as Schubertiads. Goethe poems seem to be a favorite for
Schubert to set to music. Today we’ll look at one of these, “Gretchen at the
Spinning Wheel” from Goethe’s Faust.
Schubert sought to fully convey the text through the musical accompaniment and
he successfully accomplished this as you can hear the wheel spinning along in
the piano line. As Gretchen reflects on her lover’s kiss, the wheel stops. It
is not long before it picks right back up again. Listen below and follow along
with the English text translation. Can you hear the wheel?
My peace is gone,
My heart is
heavy,
I will find it
never
and never more.
Where I do not
have him,
That is the
grave,
The whole world
Is bitter to me.
My poor head
Is crazy to me,
My poor mind
Is torn apart.
For him only, I
look
Out the window
Only for him do I
go
Out of the house.
His tall walk,
His noble figure,
His mouth's
smile,
His eyes' power,
And his mouth's
Magic flow,
His handclasp,
and ah! his kiss!
My peace is gone,
My heart is
heavy,
I will find it
never
and never more.
My bosom urges
itself
toward him.
Ah, might I grasp
And hold him!
And kiss him,
As I would wish,
At his kisses
I should die!
