Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art song "Erlkönig" , the Piano Trout Quintet in A
major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the
"Great" Symphony No. 9 in...(+)
Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art song "Erlkönig" , the Piano Trout Quintet in A
major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the
"Great" Symphony No. 9 in C major, a String Quintet,
the three last piano sonatas, the opera Fierrabras, the
incidental music to the play Rosamunde, and the song
cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. He was
remarkably prolific, writing over 1,500 works in his
short career. His compositional style progressed
rapidly throughout his short life. The largest number
of his compositions are songs for solo voice and piano
(roughly 630). Schubert also composed a considerable
number of secular works for two or more voices, namely
part songs, choruses and cantatas. He completed eight
orchestral overtures and seven complete symphonies, in
addition to fragments of six others. While he composed
no concertos, he did write three concertante works for
violin and orchestra. Schubert wrote a large body of
music for solo piano, including eleven incontrovertibly
completed sonatas and at least eleven more in varying
states of completion, numerous miscellaneous works and
many short dances, in addition to producing a large set
of works for piano four hands. He also wrote over fifty
chamber works, including some fragmentary works.
Schubert's sacred output includes seven masses, one
oratorio and one requiem, among other mass movements
and numerous smaller compositions. He completed only
eleven of his twenty stage works.
"Gretchen am Spinnrade" (Gretchen at the Spinning
Wheel), Op. 2, D 118, is a Lied composed by Franz
Schubert using the text from Part One, scene 15 of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust. With "Gretchen am
Spinnrade" and some 600 other songs for voice and
piano, Schubert contributed transformatively to the
genre of Lied. "Gretchen am Spinnrade" was composed for
soprano voice but has been transposed to accommodate
other voice types. Schubert composed "Gretchen am
Spinnrade" on 19 October 1814, three months before his
eighteenth birthday.
The song is in three sections, exactly reflecting the
form of Goethe's poem. On the other hand, Schubert
contradicts Gretchen's return to composure in the last
three stanzas by obsessively repeating her words to
create a second climax on the highest note of the song.
The song opens with Gretchen at her spinning wheel,
thinking of Faust and all that he had promised. The
accompaniment in the right hand mimics the perpetual
movement of the spinning-wheel and the left hand
imitates the foot treadle. The initial key of D minor
sets a longing tone as Gretchen begins to sing of her
heartache ("Meine Ruh' ist hin/Mein herz ist schwer").
The first section progresses from D minor to C major, A
minor, E minor, F major, and then returns to D minor.
This, plus the crescendo, builds tension which releases
only to be brought back to the beginning, much like the
ever-circling spinning wheel. The song modulates to F
major as Gretchen starts talking of Faust ("Sein hoher
Gang/Sein' edle Gestalt"). The left-hand imitation of
the treadle disappears and changes to block chords.
Additionally, the absence of the rhythmic, consistent
treadle allows Gretchen to lose her sense of stability
and reality as she swoons over Faust. This section
increases tension with a faster tempo, louder dynamics,
and higher pitch in the soprano and peaks at Gretchen's
remembrance of Faust's kiss ("Und ach, sein Kuß!").
Similar to the previous section, the music returns to
the home key of D minor as Gretchen resumes reality and
begins her spinning once more. The third part begins
again with "Meine Ruh' ist hin/Mein herz ist schwer,"
but this time Gretchen escalates in intensity much
faster than the previous sections. However, the
treadle-like left hand is present, keeping her rooted
in reality. Gretchen comes down from this fantasy
quicker than before, as she realizes she and Faust will
never be together. With a heavy heart, Gretchen comes
to terms with this hard truth. The song ends as it
began: in D minor, alluding to the monotony of the
spinning wheel, and how reality is always present.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_am_Spinnrade)
Although originally composed for Voice and Piano, I
created this Interpretation of the "Gretchen am
Spinnrade" (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel D.118 Op. 2)
for Flute & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).