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Banks 1 Terry Banks 4/30/12 Music Theory Dr.

Johnson

Franz Shuberts Im Dorfe and Die Wetterfahne During the Romantic period composers started writing solo art songs called lieder and chansons. These pieces were based off of poetry. Solo songs were intimate and personal works whose form was suggested by the shape of the poetry. Som were strophic, or modified strophic. Other texts dictated a through-composed treatment to capture the progressive quality of the poetry. (Pen 228) Two pieces that were written during this time by Franz Schubert are called Die Wetterfahne and Im Dorfe. These pieces are a part of something bigger called a song cycle. Die Wetterfahne and Im Dorfe were written in a song cycle called the Winterreise or the Winters Journey. The importance of this piece is that the music is composed around the text. So the biggest part of these two pieces of the song cycle is the poetry. Then relating that back to the music and then unfold and discover what Schubert has brought together. Franz Schubert wrote these pieces in 1827, a year before his death. The song cycle as a whole tells us a story. A story of a love affair that turns from buoyant happiness to tragedy; the second is the sequence of reflections on nostalgia, old age, and resignation. Both contain music of that greater simplicity as well as the

Banks 2 greater sophistication. Whether expressing joys of youthful love or the resignation of old age, Shuberts music goes straight to the heart. (Yudkin 238) The text to Die Wetterfahne is The wind plays with the weathervane Atop my beautiful beloved's house. In my delusion I thought It was whistling at the poor fugitive. If he had seen it before, The crest above the house, Then he never would have looked for A woman's fidelity in that house. The wind plays with hearts within As on the roof, but not so loudly. What is my suffering to them? Their child is a rich bride. The piece starts out in A minor with this pick up of a i6/4 arpeggio. This is an interesting trait of the piece because it does not immediately start out on a root position A minor chord. When the vocalist starts at the end of measure five, it comes in on a dominant chord. The first phrase of the poetry is The wind plays with the weathervane, Atop my beautiful beloveds house. Each measure, starting at measure six, plays this chromatic-like line through measure nine. It is not completely chromatic but gives this idea of chromaticism. When listening to this phrase within the piece the vocalist seems to almost put a fromata on the word schonen on beat two of measure eight. It is a just an interesting spot to hang onto a note and soon after it does go to a fromata at the end of the phrase and poetic line. After the first line of poetry we go into the key of C Major at measure eleven. Through measure twelve we stay on a C Major harmony and then in measure thirteen it changes to an e minor harmony. The most important part of this music is the correlation between the musical lines and the poetic text. When Schubert talks about the weathervane and how it is on top of his beloveds house, he is using that chromatic like line through the whole poetic line. It is very dark so far and then in

Banks 3 the second line of poetry we get to this C major harmony when he talks about the weathervane whistling to the fugitive. Is this something good? Is it something that should be represented by a C Major harmony? Schuberts use of this C major harmony tells me that he maybe he is describing this person that is delusional that maybe his lover did not cheat on him. The C major represents a sign of hope, until the character comes out of this disillusionment. The character says that he shouldnt have put a womans fidelity in that house. During this poetic line, the music is getting a little crazier. The right had in the piano goes up to a very high A and the left hand is playing a D major harmony. Right after this the piano plays a similar line to what it played in the beginning. So it gets this dark feeling right after talking about his lovers fidelity. This whole piece concerns this weathervane but what is a weathervane? A weathervane is a tool that is used to tell which way the wind is coming from. So maybe Schubert is talking about the hardships in his life, maybe he is asking himself where is all of this wind or hardship coming from. I believe that we see the answer in the poetic line about his lovers fidelity. The fact that his lover cheats on him is heart breaking. So the use of the weathervane points out what or who causes his pain.

The hounds are barking, their chains are rattling; Men are asleep in their beds, They dream of the things they do not have, Find refreshment in good and bad things. And tomorrow morning everything is vanished. Yet still, they have enjoyed their share, And hope that what remains to them, Might still be found on their pillows.

Banks 4 Bark me away, you waking dogs! Let me not find rest in the hours of slumber! I am finished with all dreaming Why should I linger among sleepers?

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