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).
Mignon und der Harfner ["Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt"
("Only one who knows longing")] D.877 Op. 62 No. 1 is
one of three poems, set to music by Schubert, from
Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre ("Wilhelm
Meister's Apprenticeship"). Already set multiple times
by Beethoven and later by Schumann, Wolf and
Tchaikovsky, Schubert himself composed six different
versions of Goethe's poem. Two versions—a duet and a
solo song—were composed in January 1826 and published
as part of his 4 Gesänge aus 'Wilhelm Meister', op. 62
the following year.
The first two lines of Goethe's text are treated as a
single unit. These same lines, as well as the
accompanying music, will be recapitulated later at the
end of the song. The final four lines of the first
stanza wander from the starting tonality of A minor
into the remote key of C minor. However, in a brilliant
stroke, Schubert returns to the tonic by means of a
single chord to close the first stanza on a half
cadence in A minor. The opening lines of the second
stanza begin over a disturbing chord of the second on
the subdominant. At the words "I feel dizzy," the music
breaks off into a series of repeated chromatic
harmonies hovering inconclusively between the keys of D
minor, C minor and A minor. After finally settling on
the dominant harmony of A minor, the opening lines and
music are repeated. The piano introduction also
returns, bringing an end to one of Schubert's most
heartfelt Lieder. Schubert’s compositions based on
the songs from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre,
an extremely popular and influential novel in
nineteenth-century Germany, illustrate his treatment of
these complex issues. Several of the book’s
characters sing during the course of the story, and
Schubert was particularly attracted to their poems. He
wrote more than seventeen versions of Mignon’s and
the Harper’s songs, which is remarkable even
considering his large output. He used the poem “Nur
wer die Sehnsucht kennt” seven times throughout his
life in settings that offer a variety of readings of
Goethe’s text. In the novel, “Nun wer die Sehnsucht
kennt” is a duet between Mignon and the Harper, two
characters with ambiguous gender associations, and
although Schubert’s settings of this poem are
typically for a single voice, he also wrote a duet and
a male quintet. Because of their gendered voicing,
these songs have interpretive layers in addition to
that of the interaction between text and music.
Schubert’s duet and quintet settings of “Nur wer
die Sehnsucht kennt” present readings of Goethe’s
poetry that are colored by the composer’s attraction
to Goethe’s characters, the implications of those
characters’ gender identities, and the songs’
gendered performing forces.
“Mignon und der Harfner” is in B minor, a key often
associated with longing, anguish, and anxiety in
critical studies of Schubert’s music. Richard Kramer
writes, “Schubert in B minor is Schubert at the
depths of his soul.” Kramer demonstrates the
affective significance of B minor in Winterreise, Die
schöne Müllerin, and the Rellstab and Heine settings
published as part of Schwanengesang. If Schubert’s
original conception of Gesänge aus “Wilhelm
Meister” was only the first three songs, the keys
have a clear relationship (B minor, E minor, and B
major), which suggests Schubert used these tonalities
purposefully. Schubert does not use B minor with any
particular frequency in his song output, and unlike the
Harper’s songs which are almost entirely in A minor,
Mignon’s songs do not have a general key association,
so Schubert’s use of B minor for “Mignon und der
Harfner” highlights Mignon’s longing through its
tonal affect.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mignon_(Schubert))
Although originally composed for Voices & Piano, I
created this Interpretation of "Mignon und der Harfner"
(D.877 Op. 62 No. 1) for Flute, Oboe & Strings (2
Violins, Viola, Cello & Bass).
SHEET MUSIC