Viola (Violet)- D786 Schober (1830)

[haydnguy]

"For Schubert, 1823 was a year of big projects. The opera Frierrabras and Die schöne Müllerin were the two big vocal works: twenty five ensembles and arias gathered together to make one opera, twenty songs to make song cycle. But Schubert was also always experimenting with other means of joining strands together to make a satisfying musical sequence. Goodness knows he had done his apprenticeship in the composition of long ballads, and the flower ballad Viola was one of the pieces where all this earlier work paid handsome dividends. Here is a piece of vocal chamber music where the unified feeling of an instrumental sonata finale is brought to the Lied Written by Graham Johnson, linear notes, Hyperion Schubert Series #3.

Snowdrop, snowdrop,
You ring through the meadows,
You ring in the silent grove.
Ring on, ring on forever!

For you herald a time of joy,
Spring approaches, the bridegroom,
Victorious from his struggle with winter,
From whom he wrested his icy weapon.

So your golden rod swings
That your silver bell shall resound,
And your sweet fragrance wafts gently away,
Like an enticing call:

So that the flowers in the earth
Rise from their gloomy nests,
And to prove worthy of the bridegroom
Adorn themselves for the wedding feast.

Snowdrop, snowdrop,
You ring through the meadows,
You ring in the silent grove,
Ring the flowers from their sleep!

Violet, tender child,
Is the first to hear the joyful sound;
She rises quickly,
And adorns herself carefully as a bride.

She wraps herself in a green gown,
Takes a velvety blue mantle,
Her golden jewels
And her dewy diamonds.

Then she hastens forth with powerful gait,
With thoughts only of her beloved in her faithful heart,
Inflamed with ardent love,
Looking neither this way nor that.

But a feeling of apprehension
Troubles her tiny breast,
For all around is still so quiet,
And the winds blow so cold.

She checks her rapid course.
Already the sun shines on her,
But she looks up in terror,
For she is quite alone.

No sisters! No bridegroom!
She has been too pressing! She has been rejected!
Then she shudders with shame
And flees, as if swept away by the storm.

She flees to the remotest spot,
Where grass and shade conceal her;
She constantly peers and listens
To see if anything rustles or stirs.

Hurt and disappointed
She sits sobbing and weeping,
Tormented by the profound fear
That no one will appear.

Snowdrop, snowdrop,
You ring through the meadows,
You ring in the silent grove;
Call her sisters to her.

The rose approaches, the lily sways,
The tulip and hyacinth swell;
The bindweed trails along,
And the narcissus joins them.

And now, as spring appears
And the happy festival begins,
He sees them all united,
But misses his dearest child.

He sends them all off to search
For the one he cherishes,
And they come to the place
Where she languishes alone.

But the sweet creature sits there
Dumb and pale, her head bowed;
Alas, the pain of love and longing
Has crushed the tender one.

Snowdrop, snowdrop,
You ring through the meadows,
You ring in the silent grove;
Ring for Violet's sweet repose!