Der Erlkönig
Music: Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Words: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Der Erlkönig is the best known of Schubert’s vast output of lieder. The Goethe poem is based on the Danish tale of the Erlkönig (Elf-king) in which a father rides swiftly with his sickly son under his arm, seeking shelter and care for his child. While racing through a forest, the boy repeatedly has visions of the terrible and frightening Erlkönig chasing them. The poor boy is deathly ill, in fact, and upon reaching their destination, the father finds his son has died.
This song requires musicianship of the highest order from both the singer and the pianist. The singer (who can be male or female) must sing words spoken from all three characters in the story - the father, the boy, and the Erlkönig. The different characters of the story are portrayed musically by different ranges, dynamics, and vocal timbre! The pianist is faced with the daunting and possibly painful (literally) task of playing repeated octave and chordal triplets at blinding speed for long stretches. For any pianist less that one with superb technique and stamina, it is in fact virtually impossible to perform this song with accuracy, unless taken at a tempo too slow to convey the emergency and fright that makes this song succeed.
Franz Peter Schubert (Austrian) was an extremely prolific composer given he only lived to be 31 years of age. He wrote over 600 lieder, ten symphonies (including the “Unfinished”), liturgical music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of chamber music and solo piano music. Schubert was one of the great early Romantic era composers, and the cornerstone of German lieder.
Key of F Minor
Range : Octave plus 5th : Bb up to F
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Sample MP3, Piano & Melody,
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Sample MP3, Piano Only,
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F Minor Sheet Music Sample |
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Key of G Minor
Range : Octave plus 5th : C up to G
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Sample MP3, Piano & Melody
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Sample MP3, Piano Only,
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G Minor Sheet Music Sample |
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