The number of 'stellar' performances available on YouTube is astonishing. As for the title (back to Pedants' Paradise), researches suggest that Müller's poems first appeared as Die Winterreise and the first published edition of Schubert's song cycle appeared as Winterreise. So a puzzle remains: did Schubert intend his work to be called Winterreise, and if so is there any significance to be read into it?
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It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world. -
". . . By removing the definite article from Mueller's poetic cycle, he [Schubert] did two things. First, he made the work his own, something distinct from it's originating material and owing no loyalty to it beyond the use he could make of it in moulding it to his own purposes. Secondly, he made it more abstract, less definite, more open - without its definite article - and, from our perspective, more modern. Winterreise has a starkness which is utterly true to its material in a way that Die Wointerreise would not be. Anyone can own this journey. . . " (Ian Bostridge: Schubert's Winter Journey, Anatomy of an Obsession)My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
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On a not entirely unrelated note, would a performance billed as Der Messias refer purely to Mozart's arrangement of Handel's Messiah?
What would appear in a German programme notice for a performance in English? Just Messiah, I suspect.Comment
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Thanks for this PIanorak: I was just wondering what Bostridge had to say, if anything, on this subject and your quote from him is illuminating. I must buy the book and also a CD of the work (with a tenor, I think) to complement my LP of DF-D.Originally posted by Pianorak View PostComment
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This has set me thinking. I distinctly recall references to 'The Elijah' (sic). And the work often referred to as 'A War Requiem' was actually called just 'War Requiem' by its composer. Vaughan Williams , having written 'A Sea Symphony ' and 'A London Symphony' then wrote just 'Pastoral Symphony' if the first edition of the score is to be believed. Despite this it is sometimes referred to as 'Symphony no.3 (Pastoral)' or even 'his third pastoral symphony'.
And The Madness of George III was re-titled The Madness of King George lest American audiences thought they'd missed The Madness of George , and The Madness of George two.Comment
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Bostridge makes the artistic point well. From a purely grammatical point of view, Elijah is the subject/title of Mendelssohn's work = the prophet Elijah. The Elijah would refer to the work itself (an unnecessary distinction, one might say, but if 'The' is included ...), rather than the prophet. One wouldn't expect a concert programme to list The Elijah, The Messiah, Die Winterreise, so context might be a factor.Originally posted by smittims View Post
PS Though I'm not sure that it would necessarily be Die Winterreise, in that case - but these are deep waters, Holmes.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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Indeed (and perhaps we've diverted this thread enough); but I wondered about Penderecki and his Polish Requiem, since as far as I'm aware the Polish language doesn't use articles. True enough, it's the English Naxos release that calls it 'A Polish Requiem' rather than just 'Polish Requiem'; I wonder why?Originally posted by french frank View Post
Polish Requiem (original Polish title: Polskie Requiem; German: Polnisches Requiem), also A Polish Requiem, is a large-scale requiem mass for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra by the PolishcomposerKrzysztof Penderecki. The Lacrimosa, dedicated to the trade union leader Lech Wałęsa, was written for the unveiling of a statue at the Gdańsk Shipyard to commemorate those killed in the Polish anti-government riots in 1970. He expanded the work into a requiem, writing other parts to honour different patriotic events over the next four years.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_RequiemComment
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Presumably, our wanderer, like Schubert, being near death, is not going forward with the Leiermann. He does ask: "Willst zu meinen Liedern deine Leier dreh’n?" (Do you want to accompany my songs?) But the songs are behind him. We've just heard them. Bostridge comments: "the hurdy-gurdy may have been there all along." If the old man is a reminder of death, he would be a constant presence ...like the ominous crow.Originally posted by kernelbogey View Post
Our wanderer comments in song fifteen that a crow has been accompanying him since he left the town: "Eine Krähe war mit mir aus der Stadt gezogen." He addresses the crow as "wunderliches Tier" (strange creature) and asks: "Willst mich nicht verlassen? (Aren't you ever going to to leave me?) Later he uses the same word to describe the Leiermann - wunderlicher Alter.
The sound with which both accompany him is not going to be pleasant or tuneful - the crow's cawing and the Leiermann doing the best he can with numb fingers.
His only other fellow travellers are snarling dogs. He doesn't even get to meet the charcoal burner, whose hut is deserted.Comment
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Who won this?Comment
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According to the website,Originally posted by Mandryka View Post
Recommended recording: Thomas Bauer (baritone) & Jos van Immerseel (pianoforte Walter) - Zigzag ZZT101102
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