Program Notes Schubert Schubert\'s Wanderer

Program Notes Schubert

Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy

The composer Franz Schubert is credited making the German lied or 'art song' one of the most important new musical forms of the 19th century. Although songs which set poems to music were not 'new' and have their roots as far back as the ancient ballads of folk music, Schubert elevated them to a level of artistry never seen previously These songs were linked to the literary movement of Romanticism, and often involved 'painting' with different tones to illustrate a text. Although these works are what Schubert was best known for while he was alive, it is important to remember that many of his more expansive orchestral works are now considered great although they did not gain in repute until later in the 19th century. Many of Schubert's major works, including operas and symphonies were never completed, another reason for the slow evolution of his musical reputation (Sadie 1996).

The Wanderer Fantasy for piano was written during a dark period of Schubert's life, when many of his important personal relationships were undergoing great strain. Schubert was born poor, the son of a schoolmaster (he taught school for a time, until his musical aptitude was discovered) and he was also was suffering financial difficulties and health problems as well. Schubert's early death is widely attributed to the syphilis he contracted in late 1822 (Sadie 1996). The Wanderer Fantasy is called a 'scena' type of lied and is based upon the poem by Schmidt von Lubeck of the same title. The poem speaks of the composer's alienation from the world, his lack of a sense of 'place' and his fundamental disconnection from the rest of humanity. Its discussion of place is also somewhat nationalistic in quality, also reinforcing certain strains of the Romantic Movement.

The Wanderer Fantasy is often called "virtuoso" in terms of its use of structure and cyclic form, "rich sonorities, its intensity and its lyricism" (Sadie 1996). The first movement, Allegro con fuoco ma non-troppo is a stormy kaleidoscope of notes, swift yet ominous, cascading in a burst of sound, then lulling to brief stops. There are periods of piece and respite, then of motion, much like a person wandering. The second movement, the Adagio that contains the original song is stormy, much like the poem that inspired Schubert to write. Quintessentially Romantic, brooding, and in a minor key, it is a true 'tone painting' of the Romance of a loss of national place of the poem. It may be defined as the heart of the work. The Presto section incorporates many of the themes of the original section, but in a faster and frenzied fashion, as if the loneliness of the wanderer has finally affected the man. The final Allegro movement is more pacific and brings the work to a surprisingly upbeat closure. Originally, Schubert had intended the work to be a part of a symphony (one reason it is classified as a 'scene' or scene lied). However, the work clearly stands on its own.