F. Schubert "Swan Song": history, content, interesting facts

F. Schubert "Swan Song"

"In his songs, poetry sounds, and the music talks," - so contemporaries expressed themselves about the chamber-vocal work of the outstanding Austrian composer Franz Schubert. Indeed, the song was his element, and the maestro brought this genre, considered insignificant, to incredible heights. The latest works composed by Schubert were also songs. Friends after the composer's death combined them into a collection, which was given the beautiful symbolic name "Swan Song".

History of creation

Last thirty first year in life Franz Schubert was quite rich in creative events. First, the vocal cycle was completed in early 1828.Winter road"and the publishing house released its first part. Secondly, through the diligent efforts of Franz's friends, the first concert was organized in the spring, the program of which consisted only of works by the composer. It was clear to the listeners that the crowns loved Schubert's music. Indeed, his songs were popular , since they were constantly transferred from one performer to another, gradually finding new admirers. Nevertheless, constant lack of money and lack of life led to a deplorable result. Despite and the fact that in recent years Franz reconciled with his father and settled down in his life, the first signs of a dangerous disease made themselves felt. The composer’s health deteriorated every day, but he couldn’t live without writing music, although this occupation took him a lot It was precisely at this time that Schubert wrote six songs to the poems of Heinrich Heine, which were then included in the cycle later called "Swan Song".

The history of other vocal miniatures included in the collection is simply amazing and is associated with the name Ludwig van beethoven, the composer whom Schubert idolized. The bottom line is that Anton Felix Schindler, a violinist, conductor and musical writer who was Beethoven’s secretary and then biographer, after the death of the great maestro, sorted out the papers, discovered verses by Ludwig Relstab that the composer did not have time to put on music. The mere fact that these poetic lines were in the hands of Beethoven, who left his notes on them, inspired Schubert to compose music. He was proud to finish the work, the unfinished brilliant musician.

Songs created in the last year, Franz did not intend to combine into a cycle. A month before his death, the composer appealed to one of the Leipzig publishing houses to publish his collection based on poems by Heinrich Heine. The songs with the lyrics of Relshtab had a different story. The head of the Vienna Music Publishing House, Robert Tobias Haslinger, turning to his brother Schubert, bought him the last works of the composer. Having dealt with the works, he combined songs with poems by Heine and Relshtab, and in addition he arbitrarily added another song to the text of Johann Zaydl. There was no connecting storyline between the compositions, the editor simply grouped them into poets and gave the cycle a name - Swan Song.

Interesting Facts

• The vocal cycle "Swan Song" unwittingly united two outstanding composers: Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. It's amazing that two people living in the same city, at the same time, and, moreover, engaged in music, have never met each other.
• It is thanks to the beautiful comparison with the moonlight over Lake Firvaldshtetsky, uttered by the poet Ludwig Relshtab, on the verses of which Franz Schubert wrote the songs included in the cycle "Swan Song", the fourteenth sonata of great Beethoven received the name "Lunnaya".
• Ludwig Relshtab was very indignant when he learned that his poems were transmitted to Schubert, because he believed that his poetic texts would be spoiled by the music of this composer.
• The most popular song included in the cycle "Swan Song", at the present time is the "Serenade". This work was not only the emblem of Schubert's creativity, but a symbol of a romantic song.
• And yet Franz Schubert had a song called "Swan Song". He wrote it on the poems of his friend Johanna Senna. But it is not related to the collection.
• Outstanding Hungarian composer Franz Lisztwho was very fond of Franz Schubert's work, made fifty transcriptions on the themes of his songs, including the songs included in the Swan Song cycle.

Content

The vocal cycle "Swan Song" includes 14 rooms of different style. Eight of them, written by Schubert on poems by Ludwig Relshtab and Johann Seidl, are very different from the six in which the composer used the great poems of Heine in their light and carefree melodies and sounding accompaniment. Here the composer singing melodies was substituted for musical declamation, and the tragic color was reinforced by stingy accompaniment with rich dissonant harmonies.

1. "Messenger of Love", Liebesbotschaft (L. Relshtab). The young man refers to the stream as a messenger, so that he would say hello to his girlfriend.
2. "Warrior Premonition", Kriegers Ahnung / (L. Relshtab). The soldier, on the night halt, misses his beloved. He reflects on the fact that he will have many battles in which to die.
3. "Springtime languor", Frühlingssehnsuch (L. Relstamp). Spring has come, a light breeze blows, which carries the delicate scent of flowers, but in the soul of the hero is sad, he longs for his beloved.
4. "Serenade", Ständchen (L. Relshtab) A young man performs a serenade at night for his beloved. He appeals to her and asks for a meeting.
5. "Shelter", Aufenthalt (L.Relstab) A character tormented by mental anguish finds shelter in a forest near a stormy river and a fixed rock.
6. "Away from Home", In der Ferne (L. Relshtab). The character has left his homeland and travels with a broken heart, since he has no friends and no home. He asks the breeze and the sun's rays to say hello to the one who broke his heart and condemned to suffering.
7. "Farewell", Abschied (L. Relshtab). The young man happily, but decisively, says goodbye to the city in which he was happy, but now he must leave.
8. "Atlas", Der Atlas (G. Heine). The hero wants to be happy, but he, as the mythological hero Atlas, doomed to hold the firmament, carries sorrow in his heart that would be enough for the whole world.
9. "Her Portrait", Ihr Bild (G. Heine). The young man tells how in a dream he sadly looked at the portrait of his beloved, with whom he had to part.
10. "Fisherwoman", Das Fischermädchen (G. Heine) A young man, enchanted by a beautiful fisherwoman, asks her about a romantic meeting. He tells the girl about his heart, which is as big as the sea and there are beautiful pearls in it too.
11. "City", Die Stadt (G. Heine) The hero on the boat swims to the city, with which he has heavy memories: here he lost his beloved.
12. "By the Sea", Am Meer (G. Heine). A young man talks about how he met his lover by the sea. The girl was very sad and crying. Since then, the young man has been constantly yearning, as if she had poisoned him with her tears.
13. "Double", Der Doppelgänger (G. Heine). The character looks at the house where his beloved once lived, and suddenly notices that someone is also standing near the house and that is himself.
14. Pigeon Mail, Die Taubenpost (IG Zeidl). The young man says that he has a carrier pigeon, which he sends every day to his beloved.

"A swan song". Friends Franz Schubert It was not by chance that the composer’s collection of farewell songs was so called. With this they wanted to emphasize that this is not only the latest works, but also a musical testament, which the outstanding maestro left to future generations.