Name the genres of Schubert's vocal works. In the history of vocal music, Schubert occupies the same position as Beethoven in the field of instrumental music.

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The ideological content of Schubert's art. Vocal lyrics: its origins and connections with national poetry. The leading value of the song in the work of Schubert. New expressive techniques. Early songs. Song cycles. Songs based on texts by Heine

The huge creative heritage of Schubert covers about one thousand five hundred works in various fields of music. Among the things he wrote before the 1920s, both in terms of images and artistic techniques, much gravitates towards the Viennese classicist school. However, already in his early years, Schubert gained creative independence, first in vocal lyrics, and then in other genres, and created a new, romantic style.

Romantic in ideological orientation, in favorite images and color, Schubert's work truthfully conveys the state of mind of a person. His music is characterized by a broadly generalized, socially significant character. B. V. Asafiev notes in Schubert "a rare ability to be a lyricist, but not to withdraw into one's personal world, but to feel and convey the joys and sorrows of life, as most people feel and would like to convey."

Schubert's art reflects the attitude of the best people of his generation. For all its subtlety, Schubert's lyrics are devoid of sophistication. There is no nervousness, mental breakdown or hypersensitive reflection in it. Drama, excitement, emotional depth are combined with a wonderful peace of mind, and a variety of shades of feelings - with amazing simplicity.

Song was the most important and favorite area of Schubert's creativity. The composer turned to the genre, which was most closely associated with the life, life and inner world of the "little man". The song was the flesh of the flesh of folk musical and poetic creativity. In his vocal miniatures, Schubert found a new lyric-romantic style that responded to the living artistic needs of many people of his time. “What Beethoven did in the field of symphony, enriching in his “nine” the ideas-feelings of human “tops” and the heroic aesthetics of his time, Schubert accomplished in the field of song-romance as

lyrics of "simple natural thoughts and deep humanity" (Asafiev). Schubert raised the everyday Austro-German song to the level of great art, giving this genre an extraordinary artistic significance. It was Schubert who made the song-romance equal in rights among other important genres of musical art.

In the art of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, song and instrumental miniature played an unquestionably secondary role. Neither the characteristic individuality of the authors, nor the peculiarities of their artistic style manifested themselves in any way in this area. Their art, generalized-typified, depicting images of the objective world, with strong theatrical and dramatic tendencies, gravitated toward the monumental, toward strict, delimited forms, toward the internal logic of development on a large scale. Symphony, opera and oratorio were the leading genres of classicist composers, ideal "conductors" of their ideas. "Even the clavier music (with all the indisputable importance of the clavier sonata for the formation of the classicist style) among the early Viennese classics had a side value, compared with the monumental symphonic and vocal dramatic works. Beethoven alone, for whom the sonata served as a creative laboratory and far ahead of the development of other, larger instrumental forms, gave piano literature the leading position that it occupied in the 19th century. But for Beethoven, piano music is first and foremost a sonata. Bagatelles, rondos, dances, small variations and other miniatures characterize very little what is called "Beethoven's style."

"Schubert" in music makes a radical reshuffling of forces in relation to the classicist genres. Leading in the work of the Viennese romantic are the song and the piano miniature, in particular the dance. They prevail not only quantitatively. In them, the author's individuality, the new theme of his work, his original innovative methods of expression manifested themselves first and in the most complete form.

Moreover, both the song and the piano dance penetrate Schubert into the realm of large instrumental works (symphony, chamber music in sonata form), which he formed later, under the direct influence of the style of miniatures. In the operatic or choral sphere, the composer never managed to completely overcome some intonational impersonality and stylistic diversity. Just as it is impossible to get even an approximate idea of Beethoven's creative image from the German Dances, so it is impossible to guess from Schubert's operas and cantatas about the scale and historical significance of their author, who brilliantly showed himself in a song miniature.

Schubert's vocal work is successively connected with the Austrian and German song, which has become widespread.

in a democratic environment since the 17th century. But Schubert introduced new features into this traditional art form that radically transformed the song culture of the past.

These new features, which primarily include both the romantic warehouse of lyrics and the more subtle development of images, are inextricably linked with the achievements of German literature in the second half of the 18th - early 19th centuries. On its best examples, the artistic taste of Schubert and his peers was formed. During the composer's youth, the poetic traditions of Klopstock and Hölti were still alive. His older contemporaries were Schiller and Goethe. Their work, which delighted the musician from a young age, had a huge impact on him. He composed more than seventy songs to texts by Goethe and more than fifty songs to texts by Schiller. But during the life of Schubert, the romantic literary school also asserted itself. He completed his path as a song composer with works on poems by Schlegel, Relshtab, and Heine. Finally, his attention was drawn to the translations of the works of Shakespeare, Petrarch, and Walter Scott, which were widely circulated in Germany and Austria.

The world is intimate and lyrical, images of nature and life, folk tales - these are the usual contents of the poetic texts chosen by Schubert. He was not at all attracted by the "rational", didactic, religious, pastoral themes that were so characteristic of the songwriting of the previous generation. He rejected poems that bore traces of the "gallant gallicisms" fashionable in German and Austrian poetry in the middle of the 18th century. The deliberate Peisan simplicity also did not resonate with him. Characteristically, of the poets of the past, he had a special sympathy for Klopstock and Hölti. The first proclaimed a sensitive beginning in German poetry, the second created poems and ballads, close in style to folk art.

The composer, who achieved the highest realization of the spirit of folk art in his song work, was not interested in folklore collections. He remained indifferent not only to Herder's collection of folk songs ("Voices of the Nations in Song"), but also to the famous collection "The Magic Horn of the Boy", which aroused the admiration of Goethe himself. Schubert was fascinated by poems distinguished by their simplicity, imbued with deep feeling and, at the same time, necessarily marked by the author's individuality.

The favorite theme of Schubert's songs is a "lyrical confession" typical of romantics, with all the variety of its emotional shades. Like most poets close to him in spirit, Schubert was especially attracted by love lyrics, in which one can most fully reveal the inner world of the hero. Here is the innocent innocence of the first love longing

(“Margarita at the Spinning Wheel” by Goethe), and the dreams of a happy lover (“Serenade” by Relshtab), and light humor (“Swiss Song” by Goethe), and drama (songs to texts by Heine).

The motive of loneliness, widely sung by romantic poets, was very close to Schubert and was reflected in his vocal lyrics (Müller's Winter Road, Relshtab's In a Foreign Land, and others).

I came here as a stranger.
Alien left the edge -

this is how Schubert begins his "Winter Journey" - a work that embodies the tragedy of spiritual loneliness.

Who wants to be alone
Will be left alone;
Everyone wants to live, they want to love,
Why are they unhappy? -

he says in the "Song of the Harper" (text by Goethe).

Folk-genre images, scenes, paintings (“The Field Rose” by Goethe, “The Complaint of a Girl” by Schiller, “Morning Serenade” by Shakespeare), chanting of art (“To the Music”, “To the Lute”, “To My Clavier”), philosophical themes (“The Borders of Humanity”, “To the Coachman Kronos”) - all these various topics are revealed by Schubert in an invariably lyrical refraction.

The perception of the objective world and nature is inseparable from the mood of romantic poets. The brook becomes an ambassador of love (“Ambassador of Love” by Relshtab), dew on flowers is identified with love tears (“Praise to Tears” by Schlegel), the silence of night nature - with a dream of rest (“The Night Song of the Wanderer” by Goethe), a trout sparkling in the sun, caught on the angler's bait, becomes a symbol of the fragility of happiness ("Trout" by Schubert).

In search of the most vivid and truthful transmission of the images of modern poetry, new expressive means of Schubert's songs have developed. They determined the features of Schubert's musical style as a whole.

If you can say about Beethoven that he thought "sonata", then Schubert thought "song". The sonata for Beethoven was not a scheme, but an expression of a living thought. He sought his symphonic style in piano sonatas. The characteristic features of the sonata permeated his non-sonata genres (for example: variations or rondo). Schubert, in almost all his music, relied on the totality of images and expressive means that underlie his vocal lyrics. None of the dominant classicist genres, with their inherent rationalistic and objective character to a large extent, corresponded to the lyrical emotional image of Schubert's music to the extent that a song or a piano miniature corresponded to it.

In his mature period, Schubert created outstanding works in major generalizing genres. But we should not forget that it was in miniature that Schubert's new lyrical style was developed and that the miniature accompanied him throughout his career (simultaneously with the G-dur "quartet, the Ninth Symphony and the string quintet, Schubert wrote his "Impromptu" and "Musical Moments" for piano and song miniatures included in "Winter Way" and "Swan Song").

Finally, it is highly significant that the symphonies and large chamber works of Schubert only reached artistic originality and innovative significance when the composer generalized in them the images and artistic techniques that he had previously found in the song.

After the sonata, which dominated the art of classicism, Schubert's songwriting introduced new images into European music, its own special intonation warehouse, new artistic and constructive techniques. Schubert repeatedly used his songs as themes for instrumental works. It was Schubert's predominance of artistic techniques of lyrical song miniature that made that revolution in the music of the 19th century, as a result of which the simultaneously created works of Beethoven and Schubert are perceived as belonging to two different eras.

Schubert's earliest creative experiences are still closely associated with the dramatized operatic style. The first songs of the young composer - "Agari's Complaint" (text by Schücking), "Funeral Fantasy" (text by Schiller), "Paricide" (text by Pfeffel) - gave every reason to assume that he had developed into an opera composer. And the elevated theatrical manner, and the ariose-declamatory warehouse of the melody, and the "orchestral" nature of the accompaniment, and the large scale brought these early compositions closer to opera and cantata scenes. However, the original style of the Schubert song took shape only when the composer freed himself from the influences of the dramatic opera aria. With the song "Young Man by the Stream" (1812) to a text by Schiller, Schubert firmly embarked on the path that led him to the immortal "Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel." Within the framework of the same style, all his subsequent songs were created - from the "Forest Tsar" and "Field Rose" to the tragic works of the last years of his life.

Miniature in scale, extremely simple in form, close to folk art in style of expression, the Schubert song, by all external signs, is the art of home music-making. Despite the fact that Schubert's songs are now heard everywhere on the stage, they can be fully appreciated only in chamber performance and in a small circle of listeners.

The composer least of all intended them for concert performance. But to this art of urban democratic circles, Schubert attached a high ideological significance, unknown to the song of the eighteenth century. He raised everyday romance to the level of the best poetry of his time.

The novelty and significance of each musical image, the richness, depth and subtlety of moods, amazing poetry - all this infinitely elevates Schubert's songs above the songwriting of their predecessors.

Schubert was the first to succeed in embodying new literary images in the gum genre, having found appropriate musical means of expression for this. Schubert's process of translating poetry into music was inextricably linked with the renewal of the intonational structure of musical speech. This is how the romance genre was born, embodying the highest and most characteristic in the vocal lyrics of the "romantic age".

The deep dependence of Schubert's romances on poetic works does not mean at all that Schubert set himself the task of accurately embodying the poetic intention. Schubert's song always turned out to be an independent work in which the individuality of the composer subordinated to itself the individuality of the author of the text. In accordance with his understanding, his mood, Schubert emphasized various aspects of the poetic image in music, often enhancing the artistic merits of the text. So, for example, Mayrhofer claimed that Schubert's songs to his texts revealed for the author himself the emotional depth of his poems. It is also undoubted that the poetic merit of Muller's poems is enhanced by their fusion with Schubert's music. Often minor poets (like Mayrhofer or Schober) satisfied Schubert more than brilliant ones like Schiller, in whose poetry abstract thoughts prevailed over richness of mood. “Death and the Maiden” by Claudius, “The Organ Grinder” by Müller, “To Music” by Schober in the interpretation of Schubert are not inferior to “The Forest King” by Goethe, “Double” by Heine, “Serenade” by Shakespeare. But still, the best songs were written by him on verses that are distinguished by indisputable artistic merit. And it was always the poetic text with its emotionality and concrete images that inspired the composer to create a musical work consonant with him.

Using new artistic techniques, Schubert achieved an unprecedented degree of fusion of the literary and musical image. Thus, his new original style was formed. Every innovative

Schubert's technique - a new circle of intonations, a bold harmonic language, a developed color sense, a "free" interpretation of form - was the first to be found by him in the song. The musical images of the Schubert romance made a revolution in the entire system of expressive means that dominated at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

“What an inexhaustible wealth of melodic invention was in this composer who ended his career untimely! What a luxury of fantasy and sharply defined originality,” Tchaikovsky wrote about Schubert.

Undoubtedly, the most outstanding feature of the Schubert song is its great melodic charm. In terms of beauty and inspiration, his melodies have few equals in world musical literature.

Schubert's songs (there are more than 600 of them in total) captivate the listener, first of all, with their directly flowing songliness, the ingenious simplicity of melodies. At the same time, they always reveal a remarkable comprehension of the timbre-expressive properties of the human voice. They always “sing”, they sound great.

At the same time, the expressiveness of Schubert's melodic style was associated not only with the composer's exceptional melodic gift. What is characteristically Schubertian, which is captured in all his romance melodies and which distinguishes their language from the professional Viennese music of the 18th century, is associated with the intonational renewal of the Austro-German song. Schubert, as it were, returned to those folk melodic sources, which for several generations were hidden under a layer of foreign operatic intonations. In The Magic Shooter, the choir of hunters and the choir of girlfriends radically changed the traditional circle of intonations of opera arias or choirs (compared not only to Gluck and Spontini, but also to Beethoven). Exactly the same intonational revolution took place in the melodic structure of Schubert's song. The melodic warehouse of everyday romance in his work came close to the intonations of the Viennese folk song.

One can easily point to cases of obvious intonational connections between Austrian or German folk songs and the melodies of Schubert's vocal works.

Let us compare, for example, the folk dance tune "grossvater" with the turns of the Schubert song "Song from afar" or

the folk song "Mind of Love" with Schubert's song "Don Gaizeros", The famous "Trout" has a lot in common with the melodic turns of the folk song "The Murdered Treacherous Lover":

Example 99a

Example 99b

Example 99v

Example 99g

Example 99d

Example 99e

Similar examples could be multiplied. But it is not at all like these explicit connections that determine the folk-national character of Schubert's melody. Schubert thought in the folk-song style, it was an organic element of his composer's appearance. And the melodic affinity of his music with the artistic and intonational structure of folk art is perceived by ear even more directly and deeply than with the help of analytical comparisons.

In Schubert's vocal work, another property appeared that elevated him above the level of modern everyday song and brought him closer in expressive power to the dramatic arias of Gluck, Mozart, and Beethoven. Preserving the romance as a miniature, lyrical genre associated with folk song and dance traditions, Schubert, to an immeasurably greater extent than his predecessors, brought the melodic expressiveness of the song closer to poetic speech.

Schubert had not just a highly developed poetic flair, but a certain sense of German poetic speech. A subtle sense of the word is manifested in Schubert's vocal miniatures - in the frequent coincidences of musical and poetic climaxes. Some songs (such as "Shelter" to the text of Relshtab) amaze with the complete unity of musical and poetic phrasing:

Example 100

In an effort to strengthen the details of the text, Schubert sharpens individual turns, expands the declamatory element. A. N. Serov called Schubert a "wonderful lyricist" "with his final dramatization of a separate melody in a song." Schubert has no melodic patterns. For each image, he finds a new unique characteristic. His vocal techniques are amazingly varied. Schubert's songs have everything - from the folk-song cantilena ("Lullaby by the Stream", "Linden") and dance melody ("Field Rose") to free or strict recitation ("Double", "Death and the Girl"). However, the desire to emphasize certain shades of the text never violated the integrity of the melodic pattern. Schubert repeatedly allowed, if his “melodic instinct” demanded it, violation of the strophic structure of the verse, free repetitions, dismemberment of phrases. In his songs, with all the expressiveness of speech, there is still no attention to the details of the text and that absolute equivalence of music and poetry, which later characterize romances.

Schumann or Wolf. Schubert's song prevailed over the text. Apparently, due to this melodic completeness, piano transcriptions of his songs are almost as popular as their vocal performances.

The penetration of Schubert's song-romantic style into his instrumental music is primarily noticeable in the intonational structure. On occasion, Schubert used the melodies of his songs in instrumental works, most often as material for variation.

But besides this, Schubert's sonata-symphonic themes are close to his vocal melodies not only in their intonation, but also in their presentation techniques. As examples, let us name the main theme of the first movement from the "Unfinished Symphony" (ex. 121), as well as the theme of the side part (ex. 122) or the themes of the main parts of the first movements of the a-moll quartet (ex. 129), the piano sonata A-dur:

Example 101

Even the instrumentation of symphonic works often resembles the sound of a voice. For example, in the “Unfinished Symphony”, the lingering melody of the main part, instead of the string group adopted by the classics, is “sung”, in imitation of the human voice, by oboe and clarinet. Another favorite "vocal" device in Schubert's instrumentation is the "dialogue" between two orchestral groups or instruments (for example, in the G-dur quartet trio). “..He achieved such a peculiar manner of handling instruments and orchestral mass that they often sound like human voices and a choir,” wrote Schumann, marveling at such a close and striking similarity.

Schubert endlessly expanded the figurative and expressive boundaries of the song, endowing it with a psychological and visual background. The song in his interpretation has turned into a multifaceted genre - song-instrumental. In the history of the genre itself, this was a leap,

comparable in its artistic meaning to the transition from planar drawing to perspective painting. With Schubert, the piano part acquired the meaning of an emotional and psychological "background" to the melody. In this interpretation of the accompaniment, the composer's connection not only with the piano, but also with the symphonic and operatic art of the Viennese classics affected. Schubert gave the accompaniment of the song a value equivalent to the orchestral part in the vocal and dramatic music of Gluck, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven.

The rich expressiveness of Schubert's accompaniments was prepared by the high level of contemporary pianism. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, piano music took a huge step forward. And in the field of virtuoso variety art, and in chamber intimate music-making, she took one of the leading places, reflecting, in particular, the most advanced and daring achievements of musical romanticism. In turn, Schubert's accompaniment to vocal works significantly advanced the development of piano literature. For Schubert himself, the instrumental part of the romance played the role of a kind of "creative laboratory". Here he found his harmonic techniques, his piano style.

Schubert's songs are both psychological pictures and dramatic scenes. They are based on mental states. But all this emotional atmosphere is usually shown against a certain plot-pictorial background. Schubert merges lyrics and external images-pictures through a subtle combination of vocal and instrumental planes.

The first opening bars of the accompaniment introduce the listener into the emotional sphere of the song. The piano conclusion is usually the final touches in the sketch of the image. Ritournello, that is, the function of simple acting out, disappeared from Schubert's piano part, except for those cases when the "ritornello" effect was needed to create a certain imagery (for example, in "Field Rose").

Usually, unless it's a ballad-type song (see below for more on this), the piano part is built around an invariably recurring motif. Such an architectonic technique - let's conditionally call it "ostinato repetition" - goes back to the dance rhythmic basis, which is characteristic of folk and everyday music in many European countries. It gives Schubert's songs a great emotional immediacy. But Schubert saturates this uniform pulsating basis with sharply expressive intonations. For each song, he finds his own unique motive, in which both the poetic mood and the pictorial canvas are expressed with laconic, characteristic strokes.

So, in “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, after two opening bars, the listener is captured not only by the mood of melancholy and sadness -

he seems to see and hear the spinning wheel with its buzzing. The song becomes almost a stage. In the "Forest King" - in the opening piano passage - agitation, fear and tension are connected with the pictorial background - the hasty clatter of hooves. In "Serenade" - love yearning and rattling of guitar or lute strings. In The Organ Grinder, the mood of tragic doom emerges against the backdrop of the tune of a street hurdy-gurdy. In "Trout" - joy, light and almost perceptible splash of water. In Lipa, trembling sounds convey both the rustling of leaves and a state of tranquility. "Departure", breathing playful self-satisfaction, is permeated with a movement that evokes associations with a rider coquettishly prancing on a horse:

Example 102a

Example 102b

Example 102c

Example 102g

Example 102d

Example 102e

Example 102g

But not only in those songs where, thanks to the plot, figurativeness suggests itself (for example, the murmur of a brook, the fanfare of a hunter, the buzzing of a spinning wheel), but also where an abstract mood prevails, accompanied by hidden techniques that evoke clear external images.

So, in the song "Death and the Maiden" the monotonous succession of choral harmonies reminds of the funeral church bells. In the jubilant "Morning Serenade" waltzing movements are palpable. In "Gray Hair" - one of Schubert's most laconic songs, which I would like to call "a silhouette in music", the mourning background is created by the rhythm of the sarabande. (Sarabande is an ancient dance that grew out of a mourning ritual.) In the tragic song "Atlas", the rhythm of the "aria of complaint" dominates (the so-called lemento, widespread in opera since the 17th century). The song "Dried Flowers", for all its apparent simplicity, contains elements of a funeral march:

Example 103a

Example 103b

Example 103c

Example 103g

Like a true magician, Schubert, touching simple chords, scale-like passages, arpeggiated sounds, transforms them into visible images of unprecedented brightness and beauty.

The emotional atmosphere of the Schubertian romance is to a large extent connected with the peculiarities of its harmony.

Schumann wrote about the Romantic composers that, "penetrating deeper into the secrets of harmony, they learned to express more subtle

shades of feeling. It is precisely the desire to truthfully reflect psychological images in music that can explain the colossal enrichment of the harmonic language in the 19th century. Schubert was one of the composers who revolutionized this field. In piano accompaniment to his songs, he discovered hitherto unknown expressive possibilities of chord sounds and modulations. Romantic harmony begins with Schubert's songs. Each new expressive device in this area was found by Schubert as a means of concretizing the psychological image. Here, even to a greater extent than in melodic variation, mood changes in the poetic text are reflected. The detailed, colorful, mobile harmony of Schubert's accompaniments expresses the changing emotional atmosphere, its subtle nuances. Schubert's colorful turns always characterize a certain poetic detail. Thus, the “programmatic” meaning of one of his most characteristic techniques - the oscillation between minor and major - is revealed in such songs as "Dried Flowers" or "You Don't Love Me", where the alternation of the mode corresponds to the spiritual oscillation between hope and darkness. In the song "Blanca" modal instability characterizes the changeable mood, passing from languor to carefree fun. Tense psychological moments are often accompanied by dissonances. For example, the bizarrely sinister flavor of the song "City" arises with the help of a dissonant harmonic background. The dramatic climax is often emphasized by unstable sounds (see "Atlas", "Margarita at the Spinning Wheel"):

Example 104a

Example 104b

Example 104v

Schubert's "exceptional sense of tonal connection and tonal-color expression" (Asafiev) also developed in search of a truthful embodiment of the poetic image. So, for example, "The Wanderer" begins in the main key, and with the help of this tonal-harmonic device, a feeling of wandering is conveyed; the song "Coachman Kronos", where the poet draws a stormy, impulsive life, is full of unusual modulations, etc. At the very end of his life, Heine's romantic poetry prompted Schubert to find special finds in this area.

The colorful expressiveness of Schubert's harmonies had no analogues in the art of its predecessors. Tchaikovsky wrote about the beauty of Schubert's harmonization. Cui admired the original turns of harmony in his works.

Schubert developed a new pianistic expressiveness in his songs. In the accompaniment, much earlier than in Schubert's piano music proper, expressive means of both the new pianism and the new musical style as a whole were formed. Schubert treats the piano as an instrument with the richest colorful and expressive resources. The embossed vocal melody is opposed to the piano "plan" - its diverse timbre effects, pedal sonorities. Vocal-cantilena and declamatory techniques, sound representation refracted through the characteristic "piano" - all this gives Schubert's accompaniments a genuine novelty. Finally,

It is with pianistic sound that the new colorful properties of Schubert's harmonies are also associated.

Schubert's accompaniments are pianistic from the first to the last note. They cannot be imagined in any other timbre sound. (Only in Schubert's earliest "cantata" songs does the accompaniment beg for an orchestral arrangement.) The piano nature of Schubert's accompaniments is most clearly evidenced by the fact that Mendelssohn, when creating his famous "Songs Without Words" for piano, frankly relied on their style. Nevertheless, many features of Schubert's symphonic and chamber-instrumental themes go back to the accompaniment part. So, in the "Unfinished Symphony" in the main and secondary themes (examples 121 and 122), in the secondary theme of the second movement, in the main theme of the a minor quartet, in the final theme of the d minor quartet, and in many others, the color background , like a piano introduction to a song, creates a certain mood, anticipating the appearance of the actual theme:

Example 105a

Example 105b

Example 105c

The timbre-colorful properties of the background, pictorial associations, "ostinato-periodic" structure are extremely close to the chamber accompaniments of romances. Moreover, some of the "introductions" to Schubert's instrumental themes were anticipated by certain songs by the composer.

The features of the form of Schubert's songs were also associated with the truthful and accurate embodiment of the poetic image. Starting with everyday couplet structure, with songs of the cantata type, with lengthy ballads (reminiscent of J. Zumsteig's ballads), Schubert created a new form of free "through" miniature by the end of his career.

However, the romantic freedom and "speech" expressiveness of his songs were combined with a strict, logical musical arrangement. In most songs, he adhered to the traditional couplet, characteristic of the Austrian and German everyday songs. The fascination with the ballad belongs almost exclusively to the early creative period of Schubert. Varying individual expressive elements of the song in connection with the development of the poetic image, Schubert achieved special flexibility, dynamics and artistic accuracy in the interpretation of the traditional couplet form.

He resorted to invariable couplet only in those cases when the song, according to the plan, was supposed to remain close to folk-everyday patterns and have a seasoned mood (“Rose”, “On the Road”, “Barcarolle”). As a rule, Schubert's songs are distinguished by an inexhaustible variety of form. The composer achieved this with subtle melodic modifications of the vocal part and harmonic variation, which colored the melodies of the verses in a new way. The timbre-color variation of the texture also meant a lot. In almost every romance, the problem of form is resolved in a peculiar way, depending on the content of the text.

As one of the means of concretizing and enhancing the drama of the poetic image, Schubert approved the three-part song form. So, in the song "The Miller and the Stream", the three-part is used as a technique for conveying the dialogue between the young man and the brook. In the songs “Stupor”, “Linden”, “By the River”, the tripartite character reflects the emergence in the text of motives of remembrance or dreams, which contrast sharply with reality. This image is expressed in a contrasting middle episode, and the reprise returns to the original mood.

New methods of shaping, developed by Schubert in vocal miniatures, he transferred to instrumental music. This was reflected primarily in the passion for the variational development of instrumental themes. In "themes with variations" Schubert usually remained within the classical tradition. But in other genres

in particular in the sonata, it became typical for Schubert to repeat the theme twice or multiple times, reminiscent of the variation of verses in a song. This technique of variational transformation, peculiarly intertwined with the sonata principles of development, gave the Schubert sonata romantic features.

The three-part form is also found in his piano "Impromptu", "Musical Moments" and even - which seemed especially unusual at that time - in the themes of sonata-symphony cycles.

Among the songs created by Schubert at the age of seventeen or eighteen, there are already masterpieces of vocal lyrics. In this early creative period, Goethe's poetry had a particularly fruitful effect on him.

Margaret at the Spinning Wheel (1814) opens up a gallery of new musical and romantic images. The theme of "lyrical confession" is revealed in this romance with great artistic power. It achieved a complete balance of the two most characteristic aspects of Schubert's romance creativity: proximity to folk-genre traditions and the desire for subtle psychologism. Typically romantic devices - a renewed structure of intonations, an increase in the role of colorfulness, a flexible and dynamic couplet form - are given here with the utmost completeness. Due to its spontaneity and poetic mood, "Margarita at the Spinning Wheel" is perceived as a free emotional outpouring.

The ballad "The Forest King" (1815) is remarkable for its romantic excitement, sharpness of situations, and vivid characterization of images. Schubert found here new "dissonant" intonations that serve to express a sense of horror, to convey images of gloomy fantasy.

In the same year, "Rose" was created, which is distinguished by its simplicity and closeness to folk songs.

Among the romances of the early period, the Wanderer (1816) to the text of G. F. Schmidt is especially dramatic. It is written in a through "ballad" form, but is devoid of the fantasy elements inherent in a romantic ballad. The theme of the poem, expressing the tragedy of spiritual loneliness and yearning for unrealizable happiness, intertwined with the theme of wandering, became one of the dominant ones in Schubert's work towards the end of his life.

In "The Wanderer" the change of moods is reflected with great relief. The variety of thematic episodes and vocal techniques is combined with the unity of the whole. Music that conveys feelings

loneliness, is one of the most expressive and tragic Schubert themes.

Six years later, the composer used this theme in his piano fantasy:

Example 106

"Death and the Maiden" (1817) to the text of M. Claudius is an example of philosophical lyrics. In this song, built in the form of a dialogue, a kind of romantic refraction of the traditional operatic images of rock and complaint is given. The quivering sounds of prayer are dramatically contrasted with the harsh, choral-psalmodic intonations of death.

The romance based on the text of F. Schober "To Music" (1817) stands out for its majestic "Handelian" elation.

Schubert's song art received its most complete expression in the 1920s in two cycles to the words of the contemporary poet Wilhelm Müller. Müller's poems, dedicated to the eternal romantic theme of rejected love, were distinguished by artistic features akin to Schubert's lyrical gift. The first cycle - "The Beautiful Miller" (1823), - consisting of twenty songs, is called a musical "novel in letters." Each song expresses a separate lyrical moment, but together they form a single storyline with certain stages of development and climax.

The theme of love is intertwined with the romance of wandering, sung by many poets of the Schubert generation (most vividly in the poems of Eichendorff). A large place in the cycle is occupied by romanticized pictures of nature, colored by the emotional experiences of the narrator.

Undoubtedly, the dominant mood in Schubert's music is lyrical. Nevertheless, the composer reflected in his work the original, theatrical intention of Müller's poems. It clearly outlines the dramatic plan. A wide range of moods distinguishes this cycle and finds expression in a dramatic storyline: cheerful naivety at the beginning, awakening love, hope, jubilation, anxiety and suspicion, jealousy with its suffering and quiet sadness. Many songs evoke stage associations: a wanderer walking along a stream, a beauty awakened from a dream (“Morning

hello"), a holiday at the mill ("Festive Evening"), a galloping hunter. But the following circumstance is especially noteworthy. Of the twenty-five verses in the poetic cycle, Schubert used only twenty. At the same time, the most striking theatrical device - the appearance of a new "actor", which causes a sharp turning point in the development of events - coincided in the musical cycle with the golden section point.

The composer also felt the folk character of Muller's poetry, not knowing that the poet wrote "The Beautiful Miller's Woman" according to a certain model, namely, according to the famous collection of folk poems "The Wonderful Horn of a Boy", published by the poets Arnim and Brentano in 1808. In the Schubert cycle, most of the songs are written in simple couplet form, typical of German and Austrian folk songs. Even in his early years, Schubert rarely addressed such simple strophicity. In the 1920s, he moved away from couplet as a whole, preferring the form of a free miniature created by him. The folk character of the poems was clearly reflected in the melodic structure of the songs. In general, "The Beautiful Miller's Woman" is one of Schubert's most striking embodiments of the images of folk poetry in music.

The mill apprentice, a young man in the prime of his life, sets out on his journey. The beauty of nature and life uncontrollably beckons him. The image of a brook passes through the whole cycle. He is, as it were, a double of the narrator - his friend, adviser, teacher. The image of seething water, calling for movement and wandering, opens the cycle (“On the way”), and the young man, following the course of the stream, wanders to no one knows where (“Where”). The even murmur of a brook, which forms the constant sound-visual background of these songs, is accompanied by a joyful, spring mood. The view of the mill attracts the attention of the traveler (“Stop”). The outbreak of love for the beautiful daughter of the miller makes him linger. In expressing gratitude to the brook for bringing the hero to her (“Gratitude to the brook”), the thoughtlessly happy mood is replaced by a more restrained and concentrated one. In the song "Festive Evening" lyrical outpourings are combined with genre-descriptive moments. The subsequent group of songs ("Wish to Know", "Impatience", "Morning Greetings", "Miller's Flowers", "Rain of Tears") expresses different shades of naive cheerfulness and awakening love. All of them are very simple.

The dramatic pinnacle of this part of the cycle - the romance "My" - is full of jubilation and happiness of mutual love. Its sparkling D-dur "tonality, the heroic contours of the melody, the marching elements in the rhythm stand out against the background of the soft sound of the previous songs:

Example 107

The subsequent episodes ("Pause" and "With a Green Lute Ribbon"), depicting a lover overflowing with happiness, serve as an interlude between the two "acts" of the cycle. The turning point occurs when an opponent suddenly appears (“Hunter”). There is already a threat in the musical characterization of the galloping rider. The pictorial moment of the piano accompaniment - the sound of hooves, the hunting fanfare - evokes a feeling of anxiety:

Example 108

The song "Jealousy and Pride" is full of confusion and suffering. These feelings are conveyed both in the stormy melody, and in the impetuous movement of the piano part, and even in the mournful key of g-moll. In the songs “Favorite Color”, “Evil Color”, “Dried Flowers”, mental anguish is intensifying more and more. The musical image of the narrator loses its former naivete and becomes dramatic. In the final numbers of the cycle, the acute intensity of feelings turns into quiet sadness and doom. The rejected lover seeks and finds consolation at the brook ("The Miller and the Stream"). In the last song (“Lullaby of the Stream”), the image of sad peace and oblivion is created with laconic techniques.

Schubert created here a special type of lyrical musical drama that did not fit into the framework of the operatic genre. He did not follow Beethoven, who, as early as 1816, composed a song

Cycle "To a Distant Beloved" Unlike Beethoven's cycle, built according to the suite principle (that is, separate numbers were compared without internal connections), the songs of the "Beautiful Miller's Woman" are combined with each other. Schubert achieves inner musical-dramatic unity with new techniques. While not always obvious, these techniques are nonetheless felt by the musically sensitive listener. So, a great unifying role is played by the through image of the cycle - the pictorial background of the brook. There are cross tonal links between individual songs. And, finally, the sequence of images-pictures creates an integral musical and dramatic line.

If "The Beautiful Miller's Woman" is imbued with the poetry of youth, then the second cycle of twenty-four songs - "Winter Way", written four years later, is colored with a tragic mood. The spring youthful world gives way to melancholy, hopelessness and darkness, which so often fills the soul of the composer in the last years of his life.

A young man, rejected by a rich bride, leaves the city. On a dark autumn night, he begins his lonely and aimless journey. The song "Sleep well", which is the prologue of the cycle, belongs to the most tragic works of Schubert. The rhythm of an even step penetrating the music evokes associations with the image of a departing person:

Example 109

Hidden marching is also present in a number of other songs of the "Winter Way" to feel the same background - the tread of a lonely traveler.

The composer introduces the subtlest variational changes into the verses of the romance "Sleep in Peace", which is ingeniously simple and full of deep feelings. In the last verse, at the moment of spiritual enlightenment, when the suffering young man wishes his beloved happiness, the minor mode is replaced by the major one. Pictures of dead winter nature merge with the heavy state of mind of the hero. Even the weather vane over the house of his beloved seems to him a symbol of a soulless world (“Weather Vane”). Winter numbness intensifies his melancholy (“Frozen Tears”, “Stupor”).

The expression of suffering reaches extraordinary sharpness. In the song "Stupor" Beethoven's tragedy is felt. A tree standing at the entrance to the city, fiercely tormented by a gust of autumn wind,

reminds of irrevocably disappeared happiness ("Linden"). The image of nature is saturated with more and more gloomy, sinister colors. The image of the stream here acquires a different meaning than in “The Beautiful Miller’s Girl”: melted snow is associated with a stream of tears (“Water Stream”), a frozen stream reflects the spiritual petrification of the hero (“By the Stream”), the winter cold brings back memories of past joy (“ Memories").

In the song "Wandering Light" Schubert plunges into the realm of fantastic, eerie images.

The turning point in the cycle is the song "Spring Dream". Its contrasting episodes personify the collision of dreams and reality. The terrible truth of life dispels a beautiful dream.

From now on, the impressions of the entire journey are imbued with hopelessness. They acquire a generalized tragic character. The sight of a lonely pine tree, a lonely cloud enhances the feeling of one's own alienation (“Loneliness”). The joyful feeling that arose involuntarily from the sound of the mail horn instantly fades away: “There will be no letter for me” (“Mail”). Morning hoarfrost, silvering the traveler's hair, resembles gray hair and evokes hope for an imminent death (“Greys”). The black raven seems to him the only manifestation of loyalty in this world ("Raven"). In the final songs (before the "epilogue") - "Cheerfulness" and "False Suns" - bitter irony sounds. The last illusions are gone.

The lyrics of "Winter Way" are immeasurably wider than the love theme. It is interpreted in a more general philosophical terms - as a tragedy of the artist's spiritual loneliness in the world of the philistines and merchants. In the last song - "The Organ Grinder", which forms the epilogue of the cycle, the appearance of a poor old man, hopelessly turning the handle of a barrel organ, personified his own fate for Schubert. In this cycle, there are fewer outwardly plot moments, less sound representation than in The Beautiful Miller's Woman. His music has a deep inner drama. As the cycle develops, feelings of loneliness and longing become more and more dense. Schubert managed to find a unique musical expression for each of the many shades of these moods - from lyrical sadness to a feeling of complete hopelessness.

The cycle reveals a new principle of musical drama based on the development and collision of psychological images. The repeated "invasion" of motifs of dreams, hope, or memories of happiness (for example, "Linden", "Spring Dream", "Mail", "Last Hope") contrasts dramatically with the darkness of the winter road. These moments of false enlightenment, invariably emphasized by the tonal contrast, create the impression of a stepwise through development.

The commonality of the melodic warehouse is manifested in songs that are especially close to each other in terms of poetic imagery. Similar

intonational "roll calls" unite episodes that are far apart from each other, in particular the prologue and epilogue.

The repetitive marching rhythm, the crucial role of the song "Spring Dream" (which was mentioned above) and a number of other techniques also contribute to the impression of the integrity of the dramatic composition.

To express the tragic images of The Winter Road, Schubert found a number of new expressive devices. This primarily affects the interpretation of the form. Schubert gave here a free song composition, the structure of which, which does not fit into the framework of couplet, is due to following the semantic details of the poetic text (“Frozen Tears”, “Wandering Light”, “Loneliness”, “Last Hope”). Both the tripartite and couplet forms are interpreted with the same freedom, which gives them an organic unity. The edges of the internal sections are hardly noticeable ("Raven", "Gray hair", "Organ grinder"). Each verse in the song "Water Stream" is in development.

Schubert's harmonic language was noticeably enriched in The Winter Journey. Through unexpected modulations in thirds and seconds, dissonant delays, chromatic harmonies, the composer achieves heightened expressiveness.

The melodic-intonational sphere has also become more diverse. Each romance of The Winter Way has its own unique range of intonations and at the same time strikes with the utmost brevity of melodic development, which is formed due to the variation of one dominant group of intonations (“The Organ Grinder”, “Water Stream”, “Stormy Morning”).

Schubert's song cycles had a significant impact on the formation of not only vocal, but piano music in the middle and end of the 19th century. Their characteristic images, principles of composition, structural features were further developed in Schumann's song and piano cycles ("The Poet's Love", "The Love and Life of a Woman", "Carnival", "Kreisleriana", "Fantastic Pieces"), Chopin (Preludes), Brahms ("Magelon") and others.

The tragic images and new musical devices of The Winter Road reached even greater expressiveness in five songs based on texts by Heine, composed by Schubert in the year of his death: "Atlas", "Her Portrait", "City", "By the Sea" and "Double". They were included in the posthumous collection The Swan Song. As in The Winter Journey, in Heine's romances the theme of suffering acquires the meaning of a universal

tragedy. A philosophical generalization is given in the "Atlas", where the image of a mythological hero, doomed to carry the globe, becomes the personification of the sad fate of mankind. In these songs, Schubert discovers the inexhaustible power of the imagination. Especially dramatic sharpness is achieved through unexpected and distant modulations. Declamation is manifested, associated with the subtle implementation of poetic intonations.

Motive variation emphasizes the integrity and laconism of the melody.

A wonderful example of the refraction of Heine's lyrics by Schubert is the song "Double". The extremely rich declamatory melody varies in each poetic line, conveying all the nuances of the tragic mood. The couplet that underlies the form of the "Double" is obscured partly due to declamatory devices, but mainly due to the originality of the accompaniment. A brief, constrained and gloomy motive of the piano part on the principle of "ostinato bass" runs through the entire musical fabric of the romance:

Example 110

As the spiritual confusion grows in the text, it is overcome with accompaniment, the constant repetition and completeness of the bass figure is violated. And the most dramatic moment, expressing boundless suffering, is conveyed by a chain of unexpected bold modulating chords. Coinciding with the intonations of the exclamation in the melody, they create the impression of almost delusional horror. This musical climax falls on the golden ratio point:

Example 111

But not in all the songs of recent years, Schubert embodied tragic images. The balance of nature, optimism and vitality, which brought the composer so close to the people, did not leave him even in the darkest periods. Along with tragic romances to Heine's verses, Schubert created in the last year of his life a number of his brightest, most cheerful songs. The collection "Swan Song" begins with the song "Ambassador of Love", in which the rainbow-colored spring images of the "Beautiful Miller's Woman" come to life:

Example 112

This collection also includes the famous "Serenade" by L. Relshtab and full of youthful freshness and unconstrained fun "The Fisherwoman" by Heine and "Pigeon Mail" by J. G. Seidl.

The meaning of Schubert's romances extends far beyond the song genre. The history of German romantic vocal lyrics (Schumann, Brahms, Franz, Wolf) begins with them. Their influence also affected the development of chamber piano music (plays by Schubert himself, Schumann, Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words"), and new romantic pianism. The images of the Schubertian song, its new intonation warehouse, the synthesis of poetry and music carried out in it, found their continuation in the German national opera (Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Schumann's Genoveva). The inclination towards freedom of form, towards harmonic and timbre brilliance has been greatly developed in romantic music as a whole. And, finally, the characteristic lyrical images of Schubert's vocal miniatures became typical for many representatives of the musical romanticism of subsequent generations.

Only a year before his death, Schubert used one text from Herder's collection - the ballad "Edward".

10 The miniature is specially emphasized, since the solo song of the cantata type did not meet the aesthetic quest of romantic composers.

Schubert wrote songs to the verses of the following poets: Goethe (more than 70), Schiller (more than 50), Mayrhofer (more than 45), Müller (45), Shakespeare (6), Heine (6), Relshtab, Walter Scott, Ossian, Klopstock, Schlegel, Mattison, Kozegarten, Kerner, Claudius, Schober, Salis, Pfeffel, Schücking, Collin, Rückert, Uhland, Jacobi, Kreiger, Seidl, Pirker, Hölti, Platen and others.

Recall, in particular, that the first German song collection, The Muse Resting on the River Pleisse, by Sperontes, which received the widest distribution in everyday life in the middle of the 18th century, consisted of tunes borrowed from French and Italian operas. The author only adapted the German texts to them.

"Trout" - in the fourth part of the piano quintet, "Death and the Maiden" - in the second part of the d-moll quartet, "The Wanderer" - in the C-dur piano fantasy, "Dried Flowers" - in variations for flute and piano op. 160.

That is, a song based on a poetic narrative text, often with elements of fantasy, where the music depicted pictures changing in the text.

In the first part, the young man complains about the stream. In the middle episode, the stream comforts the man. The reprise, expressing peace of mind, no longer ends in a minor, but in a major. The piano background also changes. It is borrowed from the "monologue" of the stream and depicts the flow of water.

Such are the main parts of the second part of the "Unfinished" or the first part of the Ninth Symphony, the piano sonatas B-dur, A-dur.

The point of the golden section is one of the classical proportions of architecture, in which the whole is related to the larger, as the larger is to the smaller.

TO Schubert's cycles can, with certain reservations, include seven songs from Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake" (1825), four songs from Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister" (1826), five songs to Heine's texts included in the "Swan Song" collection: the unity of their plot, mood and poetic style create the integrity characteristic of the cyclical genre.

The collection "Swan Song" includes seven songs on the texts of Relshtab, one - on the text of Seidl, six - on the text of Heine.

Created in the penultimate year of life, full of sad events. The composer lost all hope of publishing his works in Germany and Switzerland. In January, he learned that another attempt to get a permanent place in order to have a solid income and create freely was not successful: he was preferred to another in the position of court vice-kapellmeister of the Vienna Opera. Deciding to participate in the competition for the much less prestigious position of second vice-capella master of the theater of the Viennese suburb "At the Carinthian Gate", he could not get it either - either because the aria he composed turned out to be too difficult for the singer participating in the competition, and Schubert refused that -either change, or because of theatrical intrigues.

A consolation was the recall of Beethoven, who in February 1827 got acquainted with more than fifty Schubert songs. Here is how Beethoven's first biographer Anton Schindler spoke about it: “The great master, who had not known even five Schubert songs before, was amazed at their number and did not want to believe that Schubert had already created more than five hundred songs by that time ... with joyful enthusiasm, he repeatedly repeated: “Indeed, God's spark lives in Schubert!” However, the relationship between the two great contemporaries did not develop: a month later, Schubert stood at Beethoven's tomb.

All this time, according to the memoirs of one of the composer's friends, Schubert “was gloomy and seemed tired. When I asked what was wrong with him, he only answered: "You will soon hear and understand." One day he told me: “Come today to Schober (Schubert's closest friend. - A.K.). I'll sing you some awful songs. They bored me more than any other song." And he sang the whole "Winter Way" to us in a touching voice. Until the end, we were completely puzzled by the dark mood of these songs, and Schober said that he liked only one song - "Linden". Schubert only objected to this: "I like these songs the most."

Like The Beautiful Miller's Woman, The Winter Road was written to the verses of the famous German romantic poet Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827). The son of a tailor, he discovered his poetic gift so early that by the age of 14 he compiled the first collection of poems. His freedom-loving views also appeared early: at the age of 19, interrupting his studies at the University of Berlin, he volunteered to participate in the war of liberation against Napoleon. Glory to Muller was brought by "Greek Songs", in which he sang the struggle of the Greeks against Turkish oppression. Muller's poems, often called songs, are distinguished by their great melodiousness. The poet himself often represented them with music, and his "Drinking Songs" were sung throughout Germany. Müller usually combined poems into cycles connected by the image of a heroine (a beautiful waiter, a beautiful miller's woman), a certain area, or a favorite theme of wanderings by romantics. He himself loved to travel - he visited Vienna, Italy, Greece, every summer he made hiking trips to different parts of Germany, imitating medieval wandering apprentices.

The original plan for the "Winter Way" came from the poet, probably as early as 1815-1816. At the end of 1822, Wilhelm Müller's Wandering Songs were published in Leipzig. Winter path. 12 songs. Another 10 poems were published in the Breslau newspaper on March 13 and 14 of the following year. And finally, in the second book of “Poems from Papers Left by a Wandering Horn Player” published in Dessau in 1824 (the first, 1821, included “The Beautiful Miller’s Girl”), “The Winter Road” consisted of 24 songs, arranged in a different sequence than before ; the last two written became #15 and #6.

Schubert used all the songs of the cycle, but their order is different: the first 12 exactly follow the first publication of the poems, although the composer wrote them much later than the last publication - they are marked in the Schubert manuscript in February 1827. Having become acquainted with the complete edition of the poems, Schubert continued to work on the cycle in October. He still had time to see the published 1st part, published by the Vienna publishing house in January of the following year; the announcement announcing the release of the songs said: “Every poet can wish himself the happiness of being so understood by his composer, to be conveyed with such a warm feeling and bold imagination ...” Schubert worked on proofreading the 2nd part in the last days of his life, using , according to the memoirs of his brother, "short gaps of consciousness" during a fatal illness. Part 2 of The Winter Road was published a month after the composer's death.

Even during Schubert's lifetime, the songs of The Winter Road were heard in the homes of music lovers, where, like his other songs, they were popular. The public performance took place only once, a few days before publication, on January 10, 1828 (Vienna, Society of Music Lovers, song No. 1, “Sleep in Peace”). It is significant that the performer was not a professional singer, but a university professor.

Music

"Winter Way" is one of the largest cycles, it consists of 24 songs. Both its construction and its emotional warehouse are sharply different from the "Beautiful Miller's Woman". There is no plot development, the hero's wanderings have neither beginning nor end. Gloomy moods are already established in No. 1 and dominate to the last. Only occasionally they are illuminated by bright memories, false hopes, and in contrast, life becomes even gloomier. The nature surrounding the hero is also gloomy: snow that covered the whole earth, a frozen stream, a wandering light that lures into deaf rocks, a raven awaiting the death of a wanderer. In the sleeping village, the hero is met only by the barking of watchdogs, the waypost points to where there is no return: the road leads to the cemetery. The simplicity of the melody and form brings the songs of the cycle closer to folk songs.

No. 1, “Sleep well,” is full of restrained grief, underlined by the measured rhythm of the step, the procession. Only the last verse is painted in major tones, like a smile through tears. Restlessly sounds No. 2, "Weather Vane", where disturbing exclamations stand out. No. 5, “Linden”, with a light, unpretentious melody, forms the first contrast; but the light is deceptive - it's just a dream. Similar in mood to No. 10, "Spring Dream", built on an internal contrast: a light, melodious melody in major is opposed by harsh, jerky minor phrases. One of the most cheerful songs is No. 13, "Mail", with an energetic rhythm and sonorous fanfare turns, imitating the playing of a mail horn; but this is only the beginning of each verse: after a pause, mournful exclamations arise. The declamatory beginning dominates the sadly concentrated No. 14, "Greys", where the piano and voice echo each other like an echo. An inescapable sadness emanates from #15, The Raven. The final No. 24, "The Organ Grinder", is one of Schubert's most shockingly hopeless songs, solved with extremely stingy means: the depressingly repeating primitive sounds of the hurdy-gurdy interrupt the soul-grabbing, dreary, surprisingly simple melody, which ends with a sorrowful question.

A. Koenigsberg

The cycle of songs "Winter Way" (1827) is separated from "The Beautiful Miller's Woman" by only four years, but it seems that a whole life lay between them. Grief, adversity and disappointment beyond recognition changed the face of the once joyful and cheerful young man. Now he is a lonely wanderer abandoned by everyone, desperate to find sympathy and understanding in people. He is forced to leave his beloved because he is poor. Without hope for love and friendship, he leaves the places dear to him and embarks on a long journey. Everything is in his past, only a long way to the grave lies ahead. The theme of loneliness, suffering is presented in many shades: lyrical outpourings in some songs acquire the character of philosophical reflections on the essence of life, about people.

To a certain extent, "Winter Way" is in contact with "The Beautiful Miller's Girl" and serves as a continuation of it. But the differences in the dramaturgy of the cycles are very significant. There is no plot development in The Winter Way, and the songs are united by the most tragic theme of the cycle, the moods determined by it.

The more complex nature of the poetic images was reflected in the heightened drama of the music, in the emphasis on the inner, psychological side of life. This explains the significant complication of the musical language, the desire to dramatize the form. Simple song forms are being dynamized; the predominance of different types of three-part construction is noticeable - with an expanded middle part, with a dynamic reprise, variational changes in each part. The melodious melody is enriched with declamatory and recitative turns, harmony - with bold juxtapositions, sudden modulations, involving more complex chord combinations. The vast majority of the songs are written in a minor key, which is quite consistent with the general mood of the cycle. Schubert resorts to visual techniques only to emphasize the drama of contrasts, for example, dream and reality, memories and reality in the songs “Spring Dream” and “Linden”; or in order to give a specific image a symbolic meaning ("Raven"), the Illustrativeness of the song "Mail" is an exception.

"Winter Way" consists of twenty-four songs and is divided into two parts, twelve in each. The very first song Sleep well"- a kind of introduction, a sad story about past hopes and love, about what awaits a traveler who is forced to leave his native land. The melody of the song is spread over a wide range. From the initial intonation of detention, its downward movement originates. This intonation, together with the fullness of the use of the diatonic minor mode, gives the melody depth, breadth, some special multidimensionality;

The rhythmically aligned movement of the accompaniment is only occasionally (in the introduction, in the interludes) interrupted by sharply accentuated, hard chords. The underlining of the last beat of the measure forms a kind of syncopation; at this moment, the “leitingtonation” of the detention acquires an acutely dramatic character:

The injection of a joyless feeling is also caused by the form itself, repeatedly repeated couplets. Only in the fourth, last, verse there is an unexpected shift to the major of the same name. But temporary enlightenment makes one feel even more mournfully of the whole song.

« Linden". Sweet memories of the linden standing at the entrance to the city. In its cool shade, the traveler once dreamed, but now these dreams are dispelled by the cold night wind in the steppe, in a foreign land. "Lipa" is one of the most famous songs of the cycle. Embodying the romantic contrast of dreams and reality, past and present, Schubert finds in this song many new techniques and means of musical expression.

(The interpretation of the strophic form is peculiar here: a three-part construction appears, in which not only the middle section is contrasted in relation to the extreme sections, but also inside the extreme sections there are contrasts caused by continuous variational renewal. The first part consists of two stanzas, and the second is a variant of the first; then the material of the piano introduction breaks in, on which the middle section is built, and a varied reprise follows.)

Like most songs, Lipa is framed by a piano introduction and conclusion. The usual purpose of the introduction - an introduction to the emotional atmosphere of the work - is supplemented here with other functions. Built on independent thematic material, the introduction is subjected to great development, during which its duality is revealed: expressiveness and figurativeness. The light whirling of the sixteenth notes and similar echoes can evoke many associative representations: the quiet rustle of leaves and the breath of a breeze blowing away, or perhaps the unsteadiness of a dream, dreamed visions, etc.:

With the introduction of a voice calmly leading its story, the texture of the accompaniment changes, its sound becomes, as it were, more material. In the unhurried pace of the accompaniment, in the movement in parallel thirds, in the barely reaching light echoes, elements of landscape, pastorality are felt:

The second stanza of the song begins on the material of the piano introduction. The change of mood is set off by a minor scale, which then again gives way to the major of the same name: these modal fluctuations are caused by a series of light and sad images. At the same time, the varied presentation of the piano part masks repetition, makes the form mobile, and the return to the main fret-tonality closes the first part of the song, clearly separating it from the middle part. The piano accompaniment becomes more illustrative. Chromatization, harmonic instability, texture features serve as visual means that enhance the reality of the described picture. At the same time, changes occur in the vocal part, saturated with recitative elements:

In the reprise, prepared by a dynamic decline, a gradual fading, the warm coloring of the first movement is restored; but the process of varying the piano part in accordance with the movement of the poetic image continues.

« spring dream”is one of the interesting examples of the dramatization of the song. Music, freely following the poetic text, sets off all its details.

The overall composition consists of three contrasting episodes, then literally repeated, but with a different text. A spring meadow, a cheerful choir of birds - the poetic content of the first musical construction. A graceful, “fluttering” melody with short trills, grace notes, smooth figuration in accompaniment, ease of movement, hidden danceability convey the enchanting charm of this idyllic picture:

The following episode sounds in sharp dissonance: “The rooster suddenly crowed. He drove away the sweet dream, there was darkness and cold all around, and the raven on the roof was screaming. The cruel world of life bursts into a beautiful dream. The drama of this contrast is emphasized by a variety of musical expressiveness techniques. The clarity of the color of the major mode, the simplicity of the harmonic structure, the rounded phrases of the melody of the first episode are replaced by the minor mode, harmonic instability, dissonant delays and sharp throws of altered chords. The melodic smoothness disappears, it is replaced by intonations close to those of declamation, sometimes closely conjugated, sometimes separated by octave intervals, nones:

The third episode is the result (output) of the comparison. The lyrical meditation of this section expresses the central idea of the work, which is characteristic of Schubert's mindset of recent years - "It is ridiculous who sees a summer day in winter in all its glory":

Such is the sad philosophical concept of the song, which is hidden behind its poetic metaphors. The beautiful exists only as a dream, a dream that collapses at the slightest contact with cold, gloomy reality. So definitely this view is expressed for the first time, but in subsequent songs Schubert returns to the same thought, varying it in different ways.

In the second part of the cycle, the tragedy is steadily growing. The theme of loneliness is replaced by the theme of death, which is asserted more and more insistently. This happens in the gloomy and gloomy song "The Raven" (the raven is a harbinger of death, its emblem), in the tragically naked song "The Waypost". "Raven" and "Waypost" are the most important milestones on the way to the sad outcome of the cycle - the song "organ grinder".

« Organ grinder". The image of an organ grinder - a homeless beggar tramp - is deeply symbolic. He personifies the fate of the artist, the artist, Schubert himself. It is no coincidence that at the end of the song, in a direct author's speech, a question is addressed to a beggar musician: "If you want, we will endure grief together, if you want, we will sing songs to the hurdy-gurdy."

In the simplicity and laconism of sparingly selected techniques - the strength of their expressiveness and the impression they make, the sustained tonic fifth in the bass - the harmony of a primitive folk instrument: bagpipes, lyres, barrel organ - fetters the entire movement of the song. Harmonic astringency, formed by the imposition of dominant harmonies, is characteristic of specifically hurdy-gurdy sound formations. The viscous monotony of bass beats serves as a backdrop for sorting through a short instrumental chant:

The vocal melody originates from this chant, which is built on singing the tonic sounds of the minor scale. Barely perceptible changes in the pattern of the melody do not affect its essence. A poignant melancholy emanates from that lifelessness, mechanicalness with which the phrases of the mournful melody of the voice and the instrumental tune alternate. Only when the description of the fate of the destitute musician turns into a direct author's speech: "If you want, we will endure grief together", the true dramatic meaning of the song is revealed. With the expression of a tragic recitation, the last phrases of the Organ Grinder sound.

Hidden marching is present in a number of other songs of the "Winter Way", forcing one to feel the invariable background - the tread of a lonely traveler *.

* For example: "Loneliness", "Trackpost", "Cheerfulness".

Pictures of dead winter nature merge with the heavy state of mind of the hero. Even the weather vane over the house of his beloved seems to him a symbol of a soulless world (“Weather Vane”). Winter numbness intensifies his melancholy (“Frozen Tears”, “Stupor”). The expression of suffering reaches extraordinary sharpness. In the song "Stupor" Beethoven's tragedy is felt. The tree standing at the entrance to the city, fiercely tormented by a gust of autumn wind, reminds of the irretrievably disappeared happiness ("Linden"). The image of nature is saturated with more and more gloomy, sinister colors. The image of the stream here acquires a different meaning than in “The Beautiful Miller’s Girl”: melted snow is associated with a stream of tears (“Water Stream”), a frozen stream reflects the spiritual petrification of the hero (“By the Stream”), the winter cold brings back memories of past joy (“ Memories").

In the song "Wandering Light" Schubert plunges into the realm of fantastic, eerie images.

The turning point in the cycle is the song "Spring Dream". Its contrasting episodes personify the collision of dreams and reality. The terrible truth of life dispels a beautiful dream.

The cycle reveals a new principle of musical drama based on the development and collision of psychological images. The repeated "invasion" of motifs of dreams, hope or memories of happiness (for example, "Linden", "Spring Dream", "Mail", "Last Hope") contrasts dramatically with the darkness of the winter road. These moments of false enlightenment, invariably emphasized by the tonal contrast, create the impression of a stepwise through development.

The commonality of the melodic warehouse is manifested in songs that are especially close to each other in terms of poetic imagery. Such intonational "roll calls" unite episodes that are far apart from each other, in particular the prologue and epilogue.

Schubert song cycles *

* With certain reservations, seven songs from Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake" (1825), four songs from Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister" (1826), five songs to Heine's texts included in the collection "Swan Song" can be attributed to the Schubert cycles with certain reservations: their unity plot, mood and poetic style create the integrity characteristic of the cyclical genre.

had a significant impact on the formation of not only vocal, but piano music of the middle and end of the 19th century. Their characteristic images, principles of composition, structural features were further developed in Schumann's song and piano cycles ("The Poet's Love", "The Love and Life of a Woman", "Carnival", "Kreisleriana", "Fantastic Pieces"), Chopin (Preludes), Brahms ("Magelon") and others.

The cycle of vocal miniatures with piano accompaniment "Winter Way" is a tragic pinnacle in creativity Franz Schubert . Hopelessness, gloom and cold correspond to the mood of the music. Time seems to be frozen in ice, there is nothing else but the path alone.

History of creation "Winter Way" Schubert, the content of the work and many interesting facts, read on our page.

History of creation

The idea of composing the cycle came to the composer in 1827 after reading the collection of poems of the same name by the famous German author Wilhelm Müller. During this life period, fate played a cruel joke on the romantic composer. He was on the verge of a life of poverty, actively looking for a permanent job, his works were not published either in Germany or in Switzerland. Franz was rejected for the position of court bandmaster of the Vienna Opera. He was also denied other jobs. finally lost faith in himself and was in a depressed state.

He couldn't compose until he read a recently published collection of poems by his favorite author, Müller. Having penetrated to the depths of the soul the content of the poems, Schubert began to actively work on the selection of poems. For a long time he tried to choose the most significant works of the author, but could not, therefore, all 24 verses are included in the cycle. But Franz changed their order. At first, the 1st part was composed, which included only 12 songs.

At the time of writing, Schubert was in a pronounced depressive state. People close to him recalled that he was deeply upset by something, morally depressed. His whole appearance spoke of fatigue. He answered all questions that soon you will be able to hear new works. When you hear them, my condition will become clear to you.

After that, he invited close friends to Schober to listen to "terrible" songs. There he performed the first part of the cycle. The listeners were burdened by the hopelessness of the music. All unanimously admitted that they only liked the song "Lipa". Schubert was offended and said that all these songs are a thousand times better than the ones he had previously written. Nevertheless, the songs were heard in many noble houses during the composer's lifetime.

Schubert edited the second part of the cycle when he was already sick. The composer died without seeing the premiere of the cycle. A month after Franz's death, one of the publishers agreed to accept the collection for publication. The songs became popular. In January 1828, the entire cycle of miniatures was performed without interruption at the Vienna Society of Music Lovers. Its performer was a university professor with outstanding vocal abilities.

Interesting Facts

In December 2001, a ballet of the same name was staged to the music and plot of The Winter Road. The creation of the ballet version belongs to John Neumeier. The rather expressive orchestration was created especially for the ballet interpretation by Hans Zehnder. The premiere left mixed reviews from critics.
The cycle was written for the tenor, but there are a huge number of interpretations for other voices, both male and female.
In Europe, the collection of works is the most performed and popular cycle; in Russia, The Winter Road is rarely performed on the big stage.
Franz was seriously interested in vocal work, he wanted to help the young and talented composer get on his feet. Unfortunately, Beethoven died soon after.

The best performers are Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore. So far their
Throughout his life he wrote more than six hundred songs, which include two cycles.
Wilhelm Müller wrote The Winter Journey when he was only 19 years old.
Schubert's only concerto was given in 1828, it is noteworthy that it was dedicated to the presentation of the 1st part of the cycle, and also included many piano miniatures. The speech was a success, but it was quickly forgotten.

Content

"is a musical collection of 24 vocal miniatures. The main distinguishing feature is a pronounced storyline that connects all the numbers.

The poverty of the lyrical hero makes him give up the idea of marrying his beloved, because he cannot give her confidence in the future. He has nothing more to lose, he is broken by the situation. The hero does not seek compassion, because he knows that everyone cares only about their own future, and no one cares about him. He sets off on a journey all alone. Along the way, he will meet other characters, but they pass by. Loneliness in this world has become an unbearable burden for the romantic. But what is he looking for in a cold winter night? A wanderer in search of eternal rest for his soul, tormented by suffering and adversity. Escape from problems, and not their solution, ruined him, turning him from a cheerful and cheerful person into a doomed traveler. He found what he was looking for. His tragedy is over.

It should be noted that Schubert showed innovation in The Winter Road and gave a large role not to the vocal part, but to the piano. The accompaniment allows you to express the huge emotional amplitude of the lyrical hero.

In many ways, it can be considered that the cycle became a tragic denouement " beautiful miller ". But the dramatic difference can be seen with the naked eye. Schubert tried to dramatize the composition, so it is built on many contrasting images. At the same time, contrasts are built both between the numbers and within them. A single thematic canvas can be considered the theme of loneliness of the lyrical hero, which can be traced in many numbers.

The composer is trying to compare two worlds: this is the world of dreams and a bright past, filled with memories of his beloved, of their cloudless happiness, and another world in which a deafening emptiness has settled. These two worlds divide the cycle into 12 numbers.

In the first part The most vividly arranged numbers from the point of view of dramaturgy are “Sleep well”, “Weather vane”, “Stupor”, “Linden” and “Spring dream”:

No. 1 "Sleep well" plays the opening role. Here the listener is introduced to the listener about past love, about unfulfilled dreams and hopes. The melodic pattern starts from the top of the source, which speaks of the serenity and tranquility of the music. The tonality is replaced by a bright major when the lyrical hero remembers his beloved.
No. 2 "Weather Vane". The variability of the direction of the wind symbolizes the variability of life. Today a warm south wind is blowing, and life seems like a fairy tale, but soon it will change to a cold winter one. Each phrase is built on contrast. Sound-visual accompaniment plays a special role.
No. 4 "Stupor" returns the theme of the stream from the cycle "The Beautiful Miller's Girl", this is evidenced by the uniform triplet rhythms. The key in C minor reminds that the stream has begun to freeze. The gloomy melody will become a counterpoint in the further implementation of the theme.
No. 5 "Linden" In the accompaniment, everyone can hear the rustle of leaves, which is associated with anxiety. Soon all dreams will shatter, and there will be nothing left but pain and disappointment. Form: couplet-variation allows you to express the sincerity and faith of the lyrical hero that everything could be really good. Linden is a reminder of a past life.
No. 11 "Spring Dream" is a vivid example of the dramatization of the work. Idyll, dreams, dreams crumble into small fragments of reality. Instead of a sweet dream, the lyrical hero found himself in a world where everything is filled with a minor key.

There was a final breakdown, if in the first part there was hope for a positive outcome, then the development of the second part fully confirms the tragic concept.

Second part becomes the embodiment of darkness. The theme of loneliness in music is replaced by the image of imminent, inevitable death. The brightest numbers can be called:

No. 15 "Raven". The name of the room no longer bode well. The raven is a symbol of brokenness. He accompanies the weary traveler. In the key of C minor, you can hear drooping intonations. The path is almost over, and there is no more room for love and light. He chose this path himself, because he did not want to change the situation.
No. 24 "The Organ Grinder" is the final number of the cycle, built on monotonous intonations. A street musician in this context is a reflection of art that is ruthless to geniuses. The means of expressiveness of music make you hear the intonations of the barrel organ, which include a pure fifth in the bass, as well as the monotony of the melody in the refrain.

"Winter Journey" is a real tragedy of human life, a small musical novel in which Happy Enda did not happen. But not a fictional lyrical hero, but Schubert. He had to go through a difficult and thorny path. But he left great wealth for mankind - his music.

The use of music in cinema

The music of the cycle "Winter Way" is not popular enough for cinema. Nevertheless, some filmmakers were inspired by the theme of loneliness, which can be seen in the numbers of the film cycle. In the films below, Schubert's music is not just a background, it helps to reveal the director's intention.

The Pianist is a French film about the personal drama of Eric Kohut, a professor at the Vienna Conservatory. Her favorite composer is Franz Schubert, the music of The Winter Road has a formative role in the film and helps to better understand the content of the plot. The film was shot in 2001 in France and received several awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
Winter Journey is a domestic drama that tells the story of vocalist Eric. The name of the hero refers the viewer to the film "Pianist", emphasizing the proximity of the themes. The vocalist is actively rehearsing Schubert's songs, he is tired of the falsity of the world of classical art. Fate confronts him with Lekha, a desperate thief. Two different worlds - the same problems.

The films have a tragic ending and show the other side of the life of artists. The world of beauty is deceptive, it does not guarantee fame and recognition. The path of a genius is loneliness and misunderstanding. Schubert's biography is a vivid example of the life outcome of a creative person. He managed to express his own disappointment through music and through the lyrical hero of the cycle.

The vocal cycle "" is the final chord in creativity. The miniatures are filled with deep meaning, which the musical language helps to understand. The cold and darkness of music is a reflection of the inner world of a musician who has lost hope and faith in a happy future.

Video: listen to Schubert's "Winter Journey"