3/15/2019 Music History Selection - Grove - Google Docs

Emily Barger
Music History II
February 25, 2019

Grove:

Brown, M., Sams, E., & Winter, R. (2001, January 01). Schubert, Franz. Grove Music Online.
Ed. Retrieved 25 Feb. 2019.

● By this point in Franz Schubert’s life, the composer’s Lieder was being
performed all around Vienna. In 1821, Schubert was a professional
composer, and his works were becoming of public demand.
● Around the time that this work was published, Schubert may have been
dealing with the onset of syphilis, a disease common at the time and
transmitted through sex. It has been recorded that Schubert went through a
depressive state during this point; Schubert was never married but had an
unrequited love for s singer, Therese Grob, however “Schubert's failure to
marry her is explained by Metternich's Marriage Consent Law, which
forbade marriages by males in Schubert's class unless they could verify
their ability to support a family.” (Brown and Winter)
● Nearing the end of his life, it became clear that Schubert had a deep
connection with the accompaniment and melody lines of his Lieder. The
powerful resonance of the piano part, along with the vocalist’s libretto, are
the elements that make Schubert’s music so unique to his style and to the
poignancy of his Lieder.
Score:

Schubert, F., & Scott, W. (1825). Sieben Gesänge aus Walter Scott’s
“Fräulein am See.” (Vol. 2, Master Song Series). Melbourne: Allan &. Co.

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3/15/2019 Music History Selection - Grove - Google Docs

Emily Barger
March 14 2019
Music History II
WAC No. 3 and 4

Composition:
Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Sieben Gesänge aus Walter Scott’s “Fräulein am See.” (Walter Scott), D.839 (1825)
● Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria was certainly not written for use in the
Catholic church, as the words are derived from Walter Scott’s poem, Lady
of the Lake. This poem was published by Walter Scott in 1810, where
many copies were sold and read in a short amount of time; this most likely
reached Schubert and inspired him to correlate the literary work with
music.
● The composition chosen is the sixth out of seven parts of the Liederkreis,
but is the third (and last) of the central character, Ellen’s, songs. This work
is idiosyncratic in the notion that not all of the songs are instrumented for
one voice and one piano, but rather a few of the pieces require a choir or
certain instrument. This selection however is meant to be performed with
one voice and piano only.
● Sieben Gesänge aus Walter Scott’s “Fräulein am See” seems to have a
less melancholic tone than some of his other Liederkreis, such as his
Winterreise and other Muller set lieder. Perhaps this may serve as an
insight to Schubert and his society’s outlook on women and love at the
time, for it coincides with Scott’s poetry.
● The main motive of this piece lies in the running sextuplets that keep the
piece flowing. It appears both in the bass line of the piano, but also makes
an appearance within the vocal line as well, at some times in the form of
two triplet phrases depending on the words being sung.

Book:

Fischer-Dieskau, D., 1925-2012. (1977). Schubert's Songs: A Biographical Study; translated

from German by Kenneth S. Whitton (1st American ed.). New York: Knopf, 1977, c1976.

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3/15/2019 Music History Selection - Grove - Google Docs

Article:
Hubbard, Tom. ""Bright Uncertainty": The Poetry Of Walter Scott, Landscape, and Europe."
Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS) 13, no. 1/2 (2007): 49-64.
● This article focuses on Walter Scott’s use of word painting in his poetry. It is claimed that
Scott favors the abstract over the concrete, and his descriptions of nature encapsulate this
idea. Schubert translates this word painting into his music, as the mood of the poem and
music match nicely.
● Both this poem and Schubert’s music adaptation thereof were written in the Romantic
era; though the article suggests that Scott may have been a Neoclassicist, but Schubert is
certainly a member of the Romantic community. This project will delve into the solidity
of nature (Scott’s Neoclassicism) and the sensibility of emotion (Schubert’s
Romanticism,) and perhaps shine some light on the view of women posed by both
creators.
● At this point in history, the Battle of Aspern-Essling took place. Napoleon of France
tried to take the Danube river near Vienna; this was the first time Napoleon had been
personally defeated in over a decade. Perhaps this serves as a historical context for the
piece, as war and bloodshed are among the topics of Scott’s poem.

I intend to use both Schubert’s biography and the score of his song cycle, Seven Songs from
Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake, in order to analyze the role of women in poetry and
music at the time in which this was written. The specific piece, Ellens Gesang III (Ave
Maria,) brings about the idea that women can beseech of a God that is also a woman,
rather than ask to a man for assistance.

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