Winterreise (The Winter Journey) - D911 (Muller)

[micrologus]

Originally Posted by Despina41

Wow, the Brendel-DFD is so driven. Already in Moore-Hotter it sounds like the main character is suicidal. heh, at least we might hope to get somewhere in the Reise in the B-DFD version...

Do you have the B-DFD version?

[haydnguy]

I have DFD/Jorg Demus and DFD/Gerald Moore.

[micrologus]

Is it this one you mean, Despina?

[haydnguy]

Erstarrung is unique in its emotional intensity and unity of mood and theme. No other song in the cycle has quite the same sense of disorientated passion and headlong flight. It's 109 bars are characterized by a single mood and a single pulse.

The unrequited passion is in the text, certainly, but the fugitive despair has an antecedent in the Schulze songs. Schulze's Im Walde, which Schubert set in March 1825, is also about a man who travels the world in a vain endeavor to leave the anguish in his heart behind, and it too is dominated by an obsessive pulse and by non-stop triplets. Schubert's creative imagination here seems to have triggered by the resemblance between the two poems

Lyrics

In vain I scan the snow for traces of her steps, where once we walked arm in arm over the green meadows.

I will kiss the ground, pierce through the ice and snow with my heart tears until I see the bare earth.

Where shall I find a flower? Where shall I find green grass? The flowers are dead, the grass looks so pale.

Am I to take no keepsake with me then, as I go? Nothing to speak to me of her, when my grief is stilled?

My heart is dead; within it her image stands stiff and cold. If ever my heart should thaw again, her image will melt away.

[Despina41]

EDIT: BEGIN mirologus' POST:


In Deutsch:

Erstarrung

Ich such' im Schnee vergebens
Nach ihrer Tritte Spur,
Hier, wo wir oft gewandelt
Selbander durch die Flur.

Ich will den Boden küssen,
Durchdringen Eis und Schnee
Mit meinen heißen Thränen,
Bis ich die Erde seh'.

Wo find' ich eine Blüthe,
Wo sind' ich grünes Gras?
Die Blumen sind erstorben,
Der Rasen sieht so blaß.

Soll denn kein Angedenken
Ich nehmen mit von hier?
Wenn meine Schmerzen schweigen,
Wer sagt mir dann von ihr?

Mein Herz ist wie erfroren,
Kalt starrt ihr Bild darin:
Schmilzt je das Herz mir wieder,
Fließt auch das Bild dahin.

EDIT: BEGIN Despina41's POST

This song (Erstarrung) is so great - the despair is so much it demands different text setting. Not to mention all the different key areas. He can't contain himself to the phrase structure of the text, which he sets with four-square bar phrases in the first verse, but in the 2 and 5 - the words dont line up.

For example, the second verse. I dont mean to get all poetry-analytic on you guys, but check out the meter here:

It's ... iambic... tetrameter:

Ich WILL den BO-den KÜ---SSEN
DurchDRINGen EIS und SCHNEE (silent foot)
Mit MEIN-en HEIß-en TRÄ---NEN,
Bis ICH die ERD-e SEH' (silent foot)

Perfect for four-bar phrase settings. In a simple setting, one accented syllable can go on each downbeat. And this is about how the first verse goes. It's easy to count along the big beats 1-2-3-4 and see where the words and accents land.


But the PATHOS becomes so much the words just spill over --
Schubert sets verses 2 and 5 more like, in the space of 20 bars (five phrases), not 16:

Ich will den Boden küssen,
Durchdringen Eis und Schnee mit mein--
en heißen Tränen,
bis ich die Erde
die Erde seh' (deceptive ! repeat!)

That's pretty great. Schumann, eat your heart out.


Ok, here's the whole thing:

Erstarrung (no. 4)

Ich such' im Schnee vergebens
Nach ihrer Tritte Spur,
Wo sie an meinem Arme
Durchstrich die grüne Flur.

Ich will den Boden küssen,
Durchdringen Eis und Schnee
Mit meinen heißen Tränen,
Bis ich die Erde seh'.

Wo find' ich eine Blüte,
Wo find' ich grünes Gras?
Die Blumen sind erstorben
Der Rasen sieht so blaß.

Soll denn kein Angedenken
Ich nehmen mit von hier?
Wenn meine Schmerzen schweigen,
Wer sagt mir dann von ihr?

Mein Herz ist wie erstorben,
Kalt starrt ihr Bild darin;
Schmilzt je das Herz mir wieder,
Fließt auch ihr Bild dahin!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyKc95avdLI


Numbness

I search in the snow in vain
For a trace of her footsteps
When she, on my arm,
Wandered about the green field.

I want to kiss the ground,
Piercing the ice and snow
With my hot tears,
Until I see the earth below.

Where will I find a blossom?
Where will I find green grass?
The flowers are dead,
The turf is so pale.

Is there then no souvenir
To carry with me from here?
When my pain is stilled,
What will speak to me of her?

My heart is as if dead,
Her image is cold within,
If my heart should one day thaw,
So too would her image melt away!

[Despina41]

Originally Posted by micrologus

Is it this one you mean, Despina?

Attachment 2039

No, Im talking about whatever is on youtube posted here.

[Mischa]

Little commercial break:

Maybe interesting for Lied lovers living not that far away from Berlin (like Belgium or Berlin itself): there's an upcoming Lied competition with the jury consisting of Thomas Quasthoff, Peter Schreier, Martin Engstroem, Brigitte Fassbaender, Christa Ludwig et. al.. from Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - Sunday, February 22, 2009. Admission is free, though it's smart to make sure to be early there, given the jury and the prices the level of the singers will be top.

More informations here: http://www.das-lied.com/en/das-lied/

End of commercial.

[Despina41]

Originally Posted by Mischa

Little commercial break:

Maybe interesting for Lied lovers living not that far away from Berlin (like Belgium or Berlin itself): there's an upcoming Lied competition with the jury consisting of Thomas Quasthoff, Peter Schreier, Martin Engstroem, Brigitte Fassbaender, Christa Ludwig et. al.. from Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - Sunday, February 22, 2009. Admission is free, though it's smart to make sure to be early there, given the jury and the prices the level of the singers will be top.

More informations here: http://www.das-lied.com/en/das-lied/

End of commercial.

That was more of a "Public Service Announcement," Misch.
Thanks

[Herzeleide]

I entreat people to check out some of Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert songs - I recently listened to his version of Der Lindenbaum, from Winterreise.

[ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBzC0vvFn-Q[/ame]

[Despina41]

Hey, look who I found on youtube singing Gute Nacht!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWztS6orv7U"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWztS6orv7U[/ame]



I havent had a chance to check out this CD yet..
[ame="http://www.amazon.de/Die-Winterreise/dp/B00000DFKL"]http://www.amazon.de/Die-Winterreise/dp/B00000DFKL[/ame]