As opposed to "concluding" my work on this blog, I would rather use this space to afford other thoughts, interpretations, and ideas about this piece and music in general. After spending so much time with this piece, listening and analyzing, I have come to question how it is we come to know music. In order to look at this piece, or any piece of music, we need to have some knowledge about the function of the musical language. However, if we think we can come to any conclusion on a song such as this, we are only closing ourselves to future, further interpretation.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Neapolitan Chord in Der Erlkonig
Part II - Analysis
The piece begins in g minor with open octaves in the right had of the piano part. The triplet movement in the bass, along with the falling staccato quarter notes give the introduction a sense of urgency and conjure the image of the horse quickly cutting through the night. The tempo marking, schnell, directly translates to fast informing the performers of the sense of urgency. "The first bar of "Erlkonig" with its bare octaves sets the scene and stirs the mind: and although enjoyment of the song grows with acquaintance it is at first hearing that such an initial phrase rouses most interest, for the mind of the listener, even unconsciously, must be attempting to fix a tonality" (Porter 39-40). The chromatic passing and neighbor notes in measures 6 and 7 both symbolize the struggle between the Son and the Erlkonig and set up the cadential movement in measure 7.
The Narrator lies in the middle range and is in minor mode.
The Father lies in the low range and sings both in minor mode and major mode
The Son lies in a high range, also in minor mode, representing the fright of the child.
The Erlking's vocal line undulates up and down to arpeggiated accompaniment resulting in striking contrast and is in the major mode. The Erlking lines are typically sung pianissimo, portraying a sneaky persuasiveness". (wikipedia)
The Narrator is responsible for giving the background and helping to unfold the story. Schubert's use of g minor for the Narrator foreshadows the ominous happenings to come. Because the narrator of a story is often omniscient, the listener trusts the narrator to warn them about or hint at what is to come. The opening narration ends at m. 32 with the return of the original theme.
At m. 36, the father enters with his familiar interval (P4) closes his line with upward chromatic motion to textually paint his inquiry of his son's grief. The interval of the P4 makes many returns when the father sings to calm and quiet the son.
The son responds to the father's question with a question of his own. He is frightened and asks his father if he too sees the Erlkonig. The marking (pp) in conjunction with the minor mode accentuates the fear of the child. The father returns in m. 51, this time, more firmly with the m3. With his dismissal of his son's fear, the Erlkonig makes his first entrance in m 57 ("Du liebes Kind...).
The Erlkonig is playful and wily, conjuring the image of a stranger luring a child away with candy or a fancy toy. The sound is almost hypnotic. Unlike the other characters (for the most part) the Erlkonig sings in B flat major, as opposed to the ominous minor modes of the rest of the piece. The son outbursts again in m. 72, frantically calling for his father. Again the chromaticism and minor key accentuate his fright. The P4 returns as the father assures his son that it is just the wind he hears. Again, the Erlkonig returns with his tantalizing words, playful eighth note - eighth rest base line, and welcoming major key. He invites the boy to come play, dance, and sing. The son again cries out for help, using the same chromatic technique as the father to pose his question. Sure enough, the father replies with his P4 and resolutely ends ff. Very quietly, the Erlkonig makes his last attempt to steal away the child's being. The end of the Erlkonig's final effort culminates in a PAC in d minor, foreshadowing the son's impending doom. The son makes a final call for help and is cut off by a return to the main theme from the introduction of the piece. From here, the narrator takes over and concludes the story. It is in this conclusion that we find Schubert's unusual use of the Neapolitan Chord.
Musical Motives in Erlkonig
"Schubert's piano introduction to Erlkonig prefigures with two important surface motives - the arpeggiation and the neighbor-note figure - the song'e large-scale tonal design: G-Bflat-D-Eflat-D-G" (Stein 145). At the right is a reduction of the triplet motif that occurs numerous times throughout the piece, which is followed by a descending arpeggio. The triplets create an image of the rushing wind as the father and son travel through the night. In the second measure above, the rise and fall of the piece as a whole is depicted.
Rammstein Dalai Lama
Take a look at this video and lyrics...
What does this have to say about modern societal views on artistic integrity? I really take issue with the way this site refers to this interpretation as an "updated version of the classic... poem". This assumption proposes that somehow Schubert's Erlkonig is out of date. Do you think music can be dated? or is it a timeless entity?
Monday, December 8, 2008
Direct Translation:
Who rides, so late, through night and wind?
It is the father with his child
He holds the boy in the crook of his arm
He holds him safe, he keeps him warm.
"My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?"
"Father, do you not seee the Erlking?
"The ErlKing with the crown and cloak?"
"My son, it is a wisp of fog."
"You lovely chid, come, go with me!
Many a beautiful game I'll play with you;
Some colorful flowers are on the shore,
My mother has many golden robes."
"My father, my father, can't you hear,
What the Erlking quietly promised me?"
"Be calm, stay calm my child;
The wind rustles through dry leaves."
"Do you want to come with me, fine lad?
My daughters should be waiting for you;
My daughters lead the nightly dances
And will rock and dance and sing you to sleep."
"My father, my father, can't you se there,
The Erlking's daughters in the gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it well;
The old willows seem so gray"
"I love you, your beautiful form entices me;
And if you're not willing, I shall use force."
"My father, my father, he's grabbing me now!
The Erlking has wounded me!"
The father shudders; he rides swiftly,
He holds in his arms the moaning child.
Barely he arrives at the yard in urgency;
In his arms, the child was dead.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Erlkonig)
Part I - Content
"Schubert wrote Erlkonig in 1815, at the age of eighteen. Since he was not a child prodigy, he was still unknown to his native city. This was the year of the Congress of Vienna, a time when Schubert was studying with Salieri, obliquely castigating Beethoven, and writing more music than he would ever do again" (Gibbs 41) To think that Schubert composed this masterpiece at an age many of us struggled with simple counterpoint and the phrase model in theory I is simply incomprehensible. The complexity of the music and narrated story seem almost impossible to attribute to such a young composer. Around the time he composed Der Erlkonig, Schubert reportedly composed "over 20,000 bars of music".
The text of the piece is that of Der Erlkonig, a poem written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Schubert's choice of text is not surprising as he is said to have immersed himself in the poetry of Goethe the prior year, around 1814 (Gibbs 43). The poem tells the story of a father and son riding on horseback through a windy night and their bleak encounter with the elf king.
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