With over 600 Lieder to his name, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) is a prolific and seminal figure in the universe of art song. 

Many singers’ first exposure to singing solo song in German is some selection by Schubert. Lachen und Weinen, An die Musik, An Sylvia and of course Ellens dritter Gesang – better known as “Ave Maria” – are heard regularly in recitals, juries, masterclasses, competitions. Die Forelle has even made its way into the chimes and alerts of some home appliances, including my mother-in-law’s dishwasher! 

Schubert was born at the height of the Classical era which explains the transparency found in much of his musical output. The values of elegance, technical excellence and an overall congenial aesthetic certainly pervade much of his work and link him to those who came before him, namely Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Josef Haydn. 

But there is a quality of self-exploration which differentiates Schubert from the giants of the Classical era and pave the way for composers like Robert and Clara Schumann to continue innovating upon the Lied as a genre. 

This quality of inwardness – or “Innigkeit” – is what continues to distinguish Schubert as a unique composer amongst a crowd of early 19th-century composers, some of whom have unfortunately fallen to obscurity. 

While this quality of “inwardness” is most readily felt in Lieder such as the bittersweet Du bist die Ruh’ or the rustic Nachtviolen, I surmise that without “Innigkeit” we would not feel the fear of the young boy in Erlkönig nor would we feel the rapture and ecstasy of love in Rastlose Liebe.

Schubert, the inward poet

Like his contemporary Carl Loewe, Schubert likely came to Lieder, at least in part, for practical reasons. 

Starting in the late 1700s, collections of art songs were being published with greater regularity, making art song a lucrative endeavor. 

In his search to write great Lieder, Schubert encountered the poem from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust which opens with the heartbreaking line, “Meine Ruh’ ist hin" (“My rest/peace is gone.”) 

Indeed, the resulting Gretchen am Spinnrade brought together the beauty of 18th-century Classicism with the Romantic pursuit of self-discovery through a new kind of unification of voice and piano, thus changing the trajectory of art song as a genre. 

Some even regard the composition date of Gretchen am Spinnrade – October 14, 1814 – as the “birthday” of the Lied, or even of art song altogether. 

Schubert’s fateful encounter with Goethe’s poetry changed his own values and perspective towards poetry and, like Beethoven, he sought to identify the highest achievements in poetry for the purposes of music-making.

Throughout his entire output of Lieder, Schubert used a wide variety of musical forms and structures. Each Lied has a distinguishable form, be it strophic, binary, ternary, or bar form, leaving him tethered to the classical tradition. 

However, like Loewe, he encountered some longer poems which told an exciting story: the Ballad. Schubert took what Loewe had started in his Balladen (such as his op. 1 no. 1 Edward) and expounded upon it with not as many section breaks, leading to something more through-composed, or “durchkomponiert.” 

Schubert was also among the first to use recitative in his art songs, again contributing to his reputation as an important musical innovator. Schubert’s fluency and flexibility in musical form results in a catalogue of distinct, individual musical moments. 

The through-line in Schubert’s Lieder can be found in the subject matter of the poetry he chooses to set. 

Although the scholarly preference of cataloging Schubert’s Lieder is by the Deutsche Catalogue number, it is interesting to also examine the opus numbers assigned to Schubert. 

The opus numbers reveal topics of interest to Schubert as he was writing Lieder and reveal a composer who is at once philosophical but human; he both thought deeply and felt deeply. Perhaps this synthesis of heart and mind is why many of Schubert’s Lieder remain among the most popular art songs amongst classical singers and music enthusiasts to this day.

Schubert, the innovator

One wonders how Schubert would have continued to grow and transform after his three major song cycles had he lived longer and been able to experience the bloom and rise of the Romantic era. 

I hold the position that, beyond the musical reasons outlined above, his death in 1828 keeps him tied to the Classical era. That is not to say he was one of the most important influences on many Romantic composers. 

His most important innovation became, through the Schumanns, a defining feature of art song: the unification and equalization of the voice and piano. 

The piano was no longer the backdrop, but rather it was a leading player alongside the voice in the drama and story of the text and its song. This was a significant and relatively quick development, considering that until the songs of Haydn, it was common for songs with keyboard accompaniment to be written in a 2-stave format instead of with 3 (the third staff being devoted to the voice). 

As someone who played piano (and continues to play piano and even accompanies recitals a couple of times per year) long before ever taking a voice lesson, I am perplexed as to why art song took so long to catch up to its instrumental counterpart: the sonata. 

Indeed, in the instrumental sonatas of those who came before Schubert, there are moments where the piano serves an accompanying role, but they quickly trade off with the other instrumentalist. 

Beethoven’s beloved “Spring” Sonata in F major for Violin and Piano is a prime example of this, yet Beethoven’s Lieder leave the voice in the spotlight and the piano only shines when the voice is resting and it is playing a solo interlude, prelude or postlude. 

If art song is truly chamber music, then why should the piano not trade the lead with the voice? 

This is even seen in some classical era concerti with orchestra, which is far from chamber music. I surmise that thinking of how a non-speaking instrument such as the fortepiano can portray text was too abstract of a concept, which is what makes Gretchen am Spinnrade such an important and monumental work.

A few thoughts on performing Schubert’s art songs

Although Schubert’s Lieder are often given to young singers or those who are relatively early in their musical or vocal training, performing these Lieder still poses challenges which need to be faced to achieve a successful performance.

I decided to take the opportunity of writing this article to record one of my favourite Lieder by Schubert:

A few things I thought of, in general and both specific to this piece:

1. Understanding the text

When dealing with Schubert's art songs, It is important that both the pianist and singer have a clear and thorough understanding of the text. 

Some questions to consider: 

What is the form of the poetry? Is there repeated imagery? Are there characters or is it an abstract speaker? 

And my personal favorite question: How would you summarize the entire poem in one succinct yet complete statement that doesn’t start with “I am singing about...”?

2. Applying the poetry to the music

Once the text is understood, the music needs to be analyzed from the perspective of the poetry. Know and understand what Schubert was achieving with his compositional choices in the piano part and then examine how the piano interacts with the voice. 

Something I noticed in this piece is that the left hand is almost constantly in duet with the voice and not always functioning as the harmonic foundation. 

Additionally, the interludes alluding to the harmonic minor scale are perhaps the speaker’s audience expressing unrest. Hence, this Ab-Gb-F phrase disappearing at the end of the song.

3. Use of pedal in accompaniment

As these Lieder were composed to be performed on a fortepiano, I suggest that the pianist finds ways to articulate the accompaniment with minimal use of pedal and a touch which exudes lightness and clarity. 

I admit to using a bit more pedal than I would have liked in this recording! But I did my best to clear the pedal often to not allow the piano to blur too much.

4. Moderate dynamics

I hold the position that Schubert Lieder do not need to use dynamic extremes, as seen in the late-romantic Lieder of Richard Strauss or Gustav Mahler. 

My reasoning for this circles back to the idea of “Innigkeit” and the need to illuminate this as a distinctive characteristic in the art songs of Schubert. The dynamic choices of the pianist and singer need to come from the heart’s understanding of the text, understanding that these Lieder are expressions of mere moments experienced in the human condition. 

Conclusion

From fantastical elf-kings to laughter and the power of music, the Lieder of Schubert have certainly earned their position in the canon of art song. 

What started as a strategic attempt to make money has resulted in a centuries-long influence on the way composers and musicians conceptualize art song for composition and performance. 

So long as we don’t lose the desire to look inwardly at what we are performing, this influence will certainly live on for years to come.

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