Camba, Andrea Melisa R.

Winterreisemusic by Franz Schubertpoetry by Wilhelm Muller

Gute Nacht (Good Night)

It’s very wise for Schubert to start with this poem. The very first line of the text, “I came here a stranger, As a stranger I depart”, already hooks the listeners’ interest. Why start with a good night? Why start with goodbye? My curiosity as a listener is already heightened in these two simple phrases. The music drifts from minor (describing his present unhappy state) to major mode (illustrating his happy thoughts with the love of his life). The last three lines make a perfect conclusion to the first song in the cycle, closing the music, as well as the wanderer’s monologue of his languish.

Die Wetterfahne (The weather-vane)

The introduction of the accompaniment paints an atmosphere where the wind blows and plays with the weather-vane. The strong wind is a clear parallelism to the wanderer’s conflict in regards to how and what he feels for the girl that he is in-love with. The unison passages of piano and voice are very effective in evoking the chill of the wind together with the wanderer’s “never-still” and ever changing affections.

Gefrorne Tränen (Frozen tears)

The third song starts with drip-drops of water (or probably the tears of the wanderer)—the accompaniment less in legato passages but is dominant with staccato passages that paint the text perfectly. Also, I really love how the poetry describes the wanderer’s languish indirectly. The fact that the tears are already frozen, and that he almost didn’t notice that he is already weeping show how his deep affections had turned him numb…frozen like winter’s ice.

Erstarrung (Numbness)

Erstarrung, I think is an extension of the emotional content of the previous song in the cycle. He describes the world around him as dead, like his frozen heart. The troubled mind and heart of the wanderer is reflected in the tensed and disconnected piano accompaniment.

Der Lindenbaum (The linden tree)

This particular song actually confuses me a bit. I am not too sure if this is a song that pulls out a bit of hope from the wanderer’s heart since the calming, almost-like-a-lullaby character of the music is dominating. But then Schubert introduces passages of conflict—which is very contradicting. Though, I think that the fifth song is like a big reminiscence of the protagonist under the tree where he had sweet memories of his love.

Wasserflut (Flood)

The song describes sadness of the protagonist, together with his forever longing to the love of his life. What is beautiful here is that the text used nature—the brook, ice, wind, grass, etc—to reflect the emotions that fuels this particular piece. The accompaniment gives off an eerie feeling that adds to the delicate pain in the wanderer’s heart.

Auf Dem Flusse (On the river)

The song opens with a “tip-toing” feel which gives off a very sneaky, mysterious character. Very much the same with the text of the previous songs, the river covered in ice describes the turmoil that cloaks his entirety. The song is in minor, drifts to major, then returns to the minor mode—again, using these tonalities to paint the wanderer’s troubled heart.

Rückblick (A backward glance)

The music—both accompaniment and vocal line—paints a rush of nostalgia as the wanderer leaves the town. I really liked that the piece ended with a small ritardando as it suggests the longing of the protagonist to turn back time, go back and relive his memories with the girl he so longs for.

Irrlicht (Will-o’-the-wisp)

The shadowy atmosphere is illustrated in the dark musical lines. The ascending contour of the melody that is constantly echoed by the piano represent the flickering light of the will-o’-the-wisp that directs his miseries to the “grave”; as written in the text.

Rast (Rest)

The word painting in this particular song is very direct. The dragging feeling of the music obviously shows the tiredness of the wanderer in different aspects—physically, emotionally and mentally—and his longing for rest.

Frühlingstraum (Dream of Spring)

This is one of my favorite songs from the cycle probably because it is an intermission from the dark, depressing character of the previous ones. Although the mode alternates from major to minor, the opening theme gave a strong impression which definitely gave a different flavor. The battle of reality and the wanderer’s dream-state is cleared depicted by the music through the changing of colors in tonality and the weight of musical tension. It definitely triggered my interest as a listener.

Einsamkeit (Loneliness)

The depressing character of the wanderer once again appears and is emphasized in the song’s slow tempo. There is really no major difference in terms of context in the text—basically it still describes the agony and pain that he is in.

Die Post (The mail-coach)

The upbeat tone of Die Post describes the racing heartbeat of the wanderer as he reminisce once again of his sweetheart. I somehow felt a sense of hope in this song but since the last line of the song is a question (“My heart?”), the emotional flow of the protagonist is still very much uncertain.

Der Greise Kopf (The hoary head)

This song gave me a feel of a funeral procession. The long, draggy passages correlate with the text describing the wanderer’s thoughts on his youth, aging and the reality that he still has a long way to go before he reach his end.

Die Krähe (The crow)

It seems that in this song, the wanderer has accepted his miserable fate and is just waiting for his death. The piano accompaniment in the high register is a haunting contrast to the vocal line in the low register. The circular motion of the piano movement gives the picture of the crow that flies high in the sky parallel to the wanderer who is cradled by the earth.

Letzte Hoffnung (Last hope)

The wanderer’s hope is like the hanging leaf that is about to fall. There is a very clear picture of the falling leaves in the piano accompaniment of the piece.

Im Dorfe (In the village)

Again, the “barking” of the dogs is very evident in the piano accompaniment. Here, the emotional tension of the wanderer continues to rise, all hopes gone. “I am finished with all my dreams. Why should I linger among the sleepers?”

Der Stürmische Morgen (The stormy morning)

The piano intro immediately sets the stormy atmosphere. The vocal lines in fortissimo together with the accompaniment suggest the angry heavens are in unison with his raging heart.

Täuschung (Delusion)

A spark of hope is again introduced in this song through the illusions of the lights. It is refreshing to hear the music in a major key again—definitely a good breather after a series of heavy emotions.

Der Wegweiser (The signpost)

Of course, as I have guessed, the flow of the storyline returns to the hurt and misery of the protagonist. Although there were passages in major, the context is still pretty much the same with the previous songs—he already gave up and is ready to walk towards his death. The consistent chordal accompaniment (in quarter notes if I’m not mistaken) illustrates the footsteps of the wanderer as he travels to a road from which no one ever returned.

Das Wirtshaus (The inn)

The wanderer reaches a graveyard that signals him to a nearby inn which is unfortunately it full already. He just walked away with a heavy heart and decided to not pursue his journey anymore. His depression is illustrated in the music very clearly—the slow tempo and long legato lines were great devices that contributed to the effectiveness of this particular song.

Mut (Courage!)

The wanderer faces a personal conflict. A part of him gains courage that wants to overtake the miserable feeling that dominates him. A consistent change in minor and major tonalities takes place to illustrate the battle of his sentiments.

Die Nebensonnen (The False suns)

The melancholic melody of the piano introduction sets the mood of the wanderer’s longing for his love. According to the poetry, he sees three suns, two of them (the girl’s eyes) have set already. He ended with a depressing note. “I will feel better in the dark.”

Der Leiermann (The organ grinder)

The last song introduces a new character: the organ grinder. The drone in the piano marks the emptiness that embodies the man and his music. A question whether the wanderer will go with the organ grinder or not ends the entire cycle.