FRANZ SCHUBERT:

KING OF LIEDER
PRESENTATION BY JENELLE MAGBUTAY
 A SHORT, BUT
FRUITFUL LIFE
EARLY YEARS
• Born in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria (near Vienna) in 1797

• Studied with fellow composer Antonio Salieri after dropping out of

college (1812-1815)

• Continued as a schoolmaster until 1818 because of writer’s block, went

on as music master to two daughters of Count Esterházy in Hungary

• At 17, wrote his first masterpiece called “Gretchen und Spinnrande”

(Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) setting music to a poem by popular
German writer Goethe, and creating the standard for the German lied
(art song)

• Songs became so popular, Schubertiaden parties were thrown to

appreciate his music in the homes of the wealthy
 A SHORT, BUT
FRUITFUL LIFE
“LATER” YEARS
• In 1822, Schubert contracted a venereal disease (probably syphilis) and had to
retire from his work as a music master.

• Spent his retirement unsuccessfully trying to break into the opera world,
eventually wrote his famous arrangement of the Ave Maria

• Final years, composed his famous song cycles Winterreise (Winter Journey) and
Schwanengesang (Swan Song)

• Died of typhoid fever after drinking tainted water in 1828 at just 31 years old
WHAT IS A
GERMAN LIED?
• Literally “German Song”, used to refer to
German voice/piano songs of the 19th century
(Romantic Period)
• Standalone pieces that contain a story within
themselves
• Piano does not just accompany, but also helps in
storytelling (Gretchen am Spinnrade)
• Composers would take pre-existing poetry (most
famously Goethe) and set music to it, the text
usually chosen for emotional tone rather than
eloquence
• Schubert created the standard of lieder and is the
most well known composer of it, totaling 600
ERLKÖNIG - THE
ELF KING (1815)
• About a boy and his father traveling home on
horseback, the boy begins to see and hear the Elf
King but the father does not believe him. The Elf
King tries to entice the boy to come with him and
ends up attacking him. The boy exclaims that
he’s been attacked and the father stops his horse
and the boy dies in his father’s arms.
• Four characters played by one vocalist: narrator,
father, son, and the Elf King
• Each character has own “voice”
•

• Narrator = middle range/minor

•
PAINTINGFather = Low range/major and minor
- THE ERLKING BY ALBERT STERNER, CA 1910
ERLKÖNIG - THE
ELF KING (1815)
What To Listen For:
• Piano rapidly playing triplets to simulate a horse
galloping
• Each plea of the son character becomes louder
and higher in pitch
• Towards the end of the piece, music slows down
at the end to simulate the horse being stopped
and arriving
• Piano stops symbolize the father realizing his son
is dead
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS91p-vmSf0