O C R G C S E M U S I C A R E A O F S T U D Y 2 S H A R E D M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

S U B - A R E A 1 A R O M A N T I C S O N G ( L I E D E R ) - S T U D Y S E S S I O N 1 T A K I N G T H E L I E D

TAKING THE
LIED
STARTER ACTIVITY LISTENING FOR ACCOMPANIMENTS
Franz Shubert (shown right) is widely regarded as the greatest songwriter of the early
nineteenth century and you are going to listen to the opening of one of his songs called
Gretchen am Spinnrade (or Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel). The words are taken
from Faust by German poet Goethe (1749-1832), where it is sung by the girl Gretchen
as she sits at her spinning wheel. She has been seduced by
Faust and then abandoned by him. Here are Gretchens opening
words given in the original German with an English translation

Meine Ruh ist hin My peace is gone

Mein Herz ist schwer My heart is heavy
Ich finde, ich finde sie nimmer I shall never find peace
und nimmermehr never again

As you listen to the opening of the song, see if you can answer the questions below. The opening
score of this song is shown at the bottom of the page.

1. What instrument is playing the accompaniment to the song?

2. What TYPE of female voice do you think this song is written for?

3. How would you describe the RIGHT HAND part of the piano accompaniment? (the highest
pitched part)

4. What do you think this is describing within the song?

Next, listen again to this extract but this time focusing on the LEFT HAND part of the piano
accompaniment (the bass line) and answer the following questions.

5. How does the LEFT HAND part of the piano accompaniment differ from the right hand part?

6. What do you think this is describing within the song?

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S U B - A R E A 1 A R O M A N T I C S O N G ( L I E D E R ) - S T U D Y S E S S I O N 1 T A K I N G T H E L I E D

Learning Objectives
Learn about the Lied as a type of song for solo voice with accompaniment and the
importance of the relationship between the voice and accompaniment
Learn about features of Lieder such as word painting, motifs and strophic and through-
composed structures

LEARNING ABOUT LIEDER

The Romantic Period in music, lasted from roughly 1820-1900. The Romantic
period wasnt simply about love (as the name might imply), although a lot of
composers did use this theme in their music. In fact, Romantic composers strove to
add a wide range of emotions and expression into their music. Aside from love and
desire, feelings of despair, hope, anger, anxiety, loss and even death were popular
with Romantic composers.

Song writing allowed Romantic composers to reflect and indulge in a huge range of
emotions found in poetry. Art Songs, written by Schubert, such as Gretchen at the
Spinning Wheel which you listened to in the starter activity, Schumann (pictured
above left), Brahms (pictured right) and Hugo Wolf, for solo voice and
accompaniment are known as LIEDER. The word LIED is German for song
(plural LIEDER songs). The instrument normally chosen to accompany the
voice in almost all Lieder is the piano and Lieder are usually set to German
poetry. They aim to bring to life the events, emotions, people and places in the
poetry. Many of them tell a story and some can be quite dramatic, while others
are calmer and more reflective. MOTIFS are often used (short musical ideas) to
represent an idea, character, place or object (e.g. a spinning wheel)

An important aspect of Lieder is that the piano is far more than a mere accompaniment for the voice.
Instead, voice and piano are brought together in equal partnership where the accompaniment adds to the
story telling of the song.

Originally Lieder were performed in an intimate setting - commonly in the drawing rooms of the middle
class, who could afford to have pianos in their homes. Today Lieder are usually heard in the concert hall.
For the first-time listeners the large, bare stage with only a couple of musicians on it and formality of the
performance can make Lieder seem quite remote and inaccessible. It may be surprising to learn that Lieder
were intended to be performed at home in more informal circumstances.

1. When was the Romantic Period in musical history?

2. What type of emotions did Romantic composers strive to capture in their music?

3. How would you define the word Lieder?

4. Name 4 composers of Lieder?

5. What language are Lieder commonly sung in?

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S U B - A R E A 1 A R O M A N T I C S O N G ( L I E D E R ) - S T U D Y S E S S I O N 1 T A K I N G T H E L I E D

6. What instrument normally accompanies Lieder?

7. What is a MOTIF?

8. What is meant by equal partnership?

9. Where were Lieder originally performed?

10. Where are Lieder commonly performed now?

LISTENING TO A
SCHUBERT LIED
Schubert composed over 600 Lieder, most of them written
for piano and voice. He used another of Goethes poems,
"Erlknig (or The Erlking) for a Lied written in 1815. The story
of the poem revolves around a young boy, being carried home
at night by his father on horseback. During the journey, the son seems to see and hear beings his father
does not, the father asserts reasuring reasons for what the boy sees and hears: a wisp of fog, rustling
leaves, shimmering willows. Finally, the boy shrieks that he has been attacked, the father makes for home
and realises the boy is dead. There are four characters in the song, all performed by the same singer. See
if you can hear these different characters as you watch and listen to a performance of The Erlking on Video
1. The Narrator lies in the middle range and is in minor tonality
2. The Father lies in the low range and sings in both major and minor tonalities
3. The son lies in a high range (you can hear his shouts to his father on the words Mein Vater)
4. The Erlkings vocal line is in a major key to an undulating arpeggio piano accompaniment.

Listen again to the introduction of The Erlking. The score above shows the opening from the piano
accompaniment part, features of which are heard again throughout the piece. How has Schubert
immediately created a dramatic effect from the opening? Think about TONALITY, RHYTHMS and MOTIFS
and make some notes below.

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S U B - A R E A 1 A R O M A N T I C S O N G ( L I E D E R ) - S T U D Y S E S S I O N 1 T A K I N G T H E L I E D

LEARNING ABOUT
WORD PAINTING
WORD PAINTING is the musical technique of writing music that
reflects the literal meaning of a song and is a common musical
feature of many LIEDER. For example, ascending scales could be
used to accompany lyrics about going up; slow, dark music could
accompany lyrics about death. Both The Erlking and Gretchen at
the Spinning Wheel use word painting to bring out the meaning of
the song repeated accompaniment patterns and arpeggios,
representations of horses hooves etc.

1. Look at the following example of word painting taken from a Tenor aria from Handels Messiah. The
words used are:

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight, and the
rough places plain (Isaiah 40:4)

a) What technique does Handel use on the word mountain?

b) What happens on the words made low?

c) The word plain is extended over several bars in a series of long notes. What is the musical
term for this?

2. Listen to another example of word painting, again from Handels Messiah in

which the choir is accompanied by an orchestra and follow the text below
(Glory to God is repeated twice).

Glory to God in the highest

And Peace on Earth

a) How does Handel use word painting in the music to reflect the
contrasting meanings of the words in each line?

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S U B - A R E A 1 A R O M A N T I C S O N G ( L I E D E R ) - S T U D Y S E S S I O N 1 T A K I N G T H E L I E D

3. Word painting is a device not only used by earlier composers and composer of Lieder. Many popular
songs make use of this feature of bringing out the meaning of the words. Listen to four short examples
taken from popular songs and see if you can pick on the examples of word painting.

1. Extract 1 - Friends in Low Places by Country & Western singer Garth

Brooks listen out for how Brooks sings the word low on a very low note.
2. Extract 2 Smash the Mirror by The Who listen out for each repetition
of the word rise being a semitone higher than the last
3. Extract 3 What Goes Around by Justin Timberlake The lyrics What
goes around, goes around, goes around, Comes all the way back around
descends an octave and then returns back to the upper octave, as though it
was going in around in a circle.
4. Extract 4 Up Where we Belong Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
listen out for the melody rising in pitch during the words Love lift us up
where we belong.

4. Lets look again at Schuberts word painting in his Lied Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel. Listen to
another extract from this Lied, taken from the middle of the song, following the words below:

Sein hoher Gang, His fine gait,

Sein edle Gestalt, His noble form,
Seines Mundes Lcheln, The smile of his lips
Seiner Augen Gewalt, The power of his eyes

Und seiner Rede And the magic flow

Zauberfluss, Of his words,
Sein Hndedruck, The pressure of his hand,
Und ach, sein Kuss! And, ah, his kiss!

How does Schubert use word painting here, both in the voice part and piano accompaniment?

LEARNING ABOUT
SONG STRUCTURES
Composers of Lieder, such as Schubert, often chose poems to set to
music as a basis for their songs. There were an abundance of poems by poets such as Goethe which dealt
with subject matter popular in the Romantic period in which Schubert and other Lieder composers were
writing music. Matters such as love, death, horror and terror and images of nature were all popular
subjects on which to write poetry and, in turn, to set to music as a Lied. One of the decisions a Lieder
composer had to think of was how to STRUCTURE their song. There were two main structures of Lieder:

STROPHIC using the same melody for successive stanzas or verses, a method also used in hymns, folk
songs and the blues

THROUGH-COMPOSED different music is composed and used for each verse or section throughout the
song.

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S U B - A R E A 1 A R O M A N T I C S O N G ( L I E D E R ) - S T U D Y S E S S I O N 1 T A K I N G T H E L I E D

1. Listen to Heidenrslein, yet another Lied by Schubert based on

another of Goethes poems. The poem tells a story of a young boy
who goes to pick a rose in the heather. The rose objects, threatening
to prick the boy, but he picks it anyway. This poem is allegorical in
the fact that the rose is his female love, who rejects him. Follow the
score of this song below as you listen and then decide whether you
think the structure of this song is STROPHIC or THROUGH-
COMPOSED and why.

Heidenrslein (Wild Rose) - Schubert

I think the structure of Heidenrslein is

Because

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2. Next, listen to Rastlose Liebe, another Lied by Schubert following the lyrics below as you listen and
then decide whether you think the structure of this song is STROPHIC or THROUGH-COMPOSED and
why. (Also listen out for excellent examples of WORD PAINTING in this Lied!)

I think the structure of Rastlose Liebe is

Because

Rastlose Liebe (Restless Love) - Schubert

3. Schubert didnt just compose single songs and Lieder, he also created SONG CYCLES. A
Song Cycle is a series of songs or Lieder based on one theme. Die Schone Mullerin (The Fair
Miller Maid) is an example of this. The 20-song cycle tells the story of a young miller who falls in
love with a mill owners daughter. However, the daughter ignored the millers affections and
instead becomes infatuated with a hunter. In despair and longing for peace, the miller ends up
drowning himself in the brook a typical Romantic storyline and themes!! Listening to a
complete song cycle can take a long time, considerably more time than there is available in this
study session, but you may like to set time aside to listen to one of Schuberts song cycles,
listening out for the equal partnership relationship between voice and piano, word painting
(having an English translation of the lyrics helps here!) and identifying any strophic and through-
composed structures in the different lieder which make up
the song cycle.

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