An anxious young boy is being carried home at night by his father on horseback. The vocal line evokes the galloping effect by repeated figures of crotchet and quaver, or sometimes three quavers, overlying the binary tremolo of the semiquavers in the piano. LISTENING AND HARMONIC ANALYSIS. Franz Schubert composed his Lied, “Erlkönig“, for solo voice and piano in 1815, setting text from the Goethe poem. “Schubert and the Lied”. Wie deutet man Musik? “Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?”, Songwriter Josh Ritter performs his translation of the poem, titled “The Oak King”, “Erlkönig” at Emily Ezust’s Lied and Art Song Texts Page, Full score and MIDI file of Schubert’s setting of “Erlkönig”. Hans Werner Henze created an Orchesterfantasie über Goethes Gedicht und Schuberts Opus 1 aus dem Ballett “Le fils de l’air”. These two themes also evoke the rising and moaning of the wind. Friedlaender, Max; Moser, Hans Joachim, eds. The story of the Erlkönig derives from the traditional Danish ballad Elveskud: Goethe’s poem was inspired by Johann Gottfried Herder’s translation of a variant of the ballad (Danmarks gamle Folkeviser 47B, from Peter Syv’s 1695 edition) into German as “Erlkönigs Tochter” (“The Erl-king’s Daughter”) in his collection of folk songs, Stimmen der Völker in Liedern (published 1778). Beethoven attempted to set it to music but abandoned the effort; his sketch however was complete enough to be published in a completion by Reinhold Becker (1897). There is also a transcription for solo violin by the violin virtuoso Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, considered one of the most technically difficult pieces to play for the instrument. Meanwhile the bass adds a horror theme to the piece. Die Musikanalyse ähnelt der Interpretation eines Gedichts: Ziel ist es immerhin, den kompositorischen Aufbau eines musikalischen Werkes nachvollziehen zu können und zu verstehen. 1, No. Near the very end of the piece the music quickens, as the father desperately tries to spur his horse to go faster, and then slows down, as he arrives. It was originally composed by Goethe as part of a 1782 Singspiel entitled Die Fischerin. 1, Edward (1818; a translation of the Scottish ballad), and No. The Ballad. The name translates literally from the German as “Alder King” rather than its common English translation, “Elf King” (which would be rendered as Elfenkönig in German). Each of the son’s pleas become louder and higher-pitched than the previous ones. A few other nineteenth-century versions are those by Václav Tomášek (1815), Carl Loewe (1818) and Ludwig Spohr (1856, with obbligato violin) and Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (Polyphonic Studies for Solo Violin). Schubert and Loewe were both composing music that would enhance the text and convey the story, although they came up with different ways to express the text musically. Die Analyse lässt außerdem die Entscheidungen v… Another unique aspect of Schubert's use of the Neapolitan chord in these measures is his voice leading. [citation needed] Schubert placed each character largely in a different vocal range, and each has his own rhythmic nuances; in addition, most singers endeavor to use a different vocal coloration for each part. “Erlkönig” (also called “Der Erlkönig“) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Orchesterfantasie über Goethes Gedicht und Schuberts Opus 1 aus dem Ballett. The poem has often been set to music with Franz Schubert’s rendition, his Opus 1 (D. 328), being the best known. The piano stops before the final line, “In seinen Armen das Kind war tot” before ending with a perfect authentic cadence. As the piece progresses, the first in the groups of three quavers are dotted to create a breathless pace, which then forms a bass figure in the piano driving through to the final crisis. 1 are concerned with untimely death, in this set only the “Erlkönig” has the supernatural element. Goethe’s poem then took on a life of its own, inspiring the Romantic concept of the Erlking. The poem has been used as the text for Lieder (art songs for voice and piano) by many classical composers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Erlk%C3%B6nig. To what sort of home is not spelled out; German Hof has a rather broad meaning of “yard,” “courtyard,” “farm,” or (royal) “court.” The lack of specificity of the father’s social position allows the reader to imagine the details. The Narrator lies in the middle range and is in minor. Loewe, Carl. Throughout the song the narration goes between the father, the son and the Erlking. Collected with it were Op. Typically le is in the bass of Neapolitan chord and it leads to sol. The text comes originally from Danish mythology, which was translated to German in 1778 by Johann Gottfried von Herder for a collection of songs. 2, Der Wirthin Töchterlein (1823; The Innkeeper’s Daughter), a poem of Ludwig Uhland. Niels Gade’s cantata Elverskud opus 30 (1854, text by Chr. Paul Haverstock reads Goethe’s “Erlkönig” with background music. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. April 2020 A linguistic and musical analysis of “Erlkönig” by Franz Schubert as interpretation guide for singers „Der Erlkönig” is a famous ballad by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, written in 1778 as part of a singspiel. The song was first performed in concert on December 1, 1820, at a private gathering in Vienna, and received its public premiere on March 7, 1821, at Vienna’s Theater am Kärntnertor. Schubert revised the song three times before publishing his fourth version in 1821 as his Opus 1; it was cataloged by Otto Erich Deutsch as D. 328 in his 1951 catalog of Schubert’s works. Carl Loewe’s setting was published as Op. [citation needed]. Loewe’s accompaniment is in semiquaver groups of six in nine-eight time and marked Geschwind (fast). A 21st century example is pianist Marc-André Hamelin’s “Etude No. K. F. Molbech) was published in translation as Erlkönigs Tochter. It has often been suggested that Erlkönig is a mistranslation from the original Danish elverkonge, which does mean “king of the elves.”.