This book can be an invaluable resource for voice teachers, coaches, and young singers in colleges, conservatories, and private studios. It is distinguished from other studies of this cycle by the breadth of the general discussion (Chapters II and III), and by the depth of the application of the data (Chapter IV). No other single work on the songs – Capell, Bell, Brown and Porter included, attempts so comprehensive a survey of forces contributory to the development of Schubert’s style, and of the elements of that style. It is equally true that general performance considerations in Schubert’s Lieder are not treated so comprehensively in any other work. As they appear in Chapter III, they have been extracted, bit by bit, from relevant literature, and synthesized into a meaningful whole.
The in-depth analysis of the complete Schwanengesang is also not available in any other work. In the studies of the songs mentioned above, the necessity for discussing a large number of songs results in analyses which are both quite general, and quite brief. Gerald Moore provides a first-rate analysis of Der Atlas and Der Doppelgänger in his book, but limits himself to these two songs. Helen Grossman’s study includes only the Heine Lieder, and the Massena-Merx study suffers from excessive brevity and superficiality. Thus, the voice teacher or coach, the voice major, and the student in the vocal literature class will all find varied and significant applications for this book. A portion of the analysis of Der Doppelgänger below will illustrate that analytical approach applied to all the songs. This is preceded by the full text of the poem in German with a parallel English translation made especially for this book.
Der Doppelgänger, the last of the Heine songs, and Schubert’s intended finale for the cycle, is almost universally considered to be the greatest achievement among his 634 songs. It qualifies first on the basis of the perfection with which it translates the poetry into music. “Nobody will deny,” says Hutchings, “that this song is without rival as musical clothing of its poem.” It also qualifies on the basis of Schubert’s superlative utilization of contrasting vocal techniques referred to by Greene as “the peculiar combination of bel canto, diction, and declamatory vocal styles.” No less stunning is Schubert’s use of a passacaglia-like ground as a unifying device throughout the work. .......
Schubert divided the three stanzas of the poem into five musical sections: A, A, B, B, C. The most striking quality of the A melody is that it goes nowhere for the first twenty-four bars. It intones on, or near, the dominant; sometimes below, but always returning. As in plain chant, much intoning has as its end the facilitation of clarity in the delivery of the text, and this is the first consideration of Schubert here. A single mood, or dazed semi-consciousness dominates these bars for the lover has been anesthetized by his tragic recollections and his surroundings. As the melody lies quite low here and the pianissimo marking in the accompaniment is appropriate to the vocal line, the problem of projecting the words clearly is compounded. The use of a bright legato tone is recommended here and throughout the A section. Within this dynamic level, certain important words might profitably be shaded as indicated: The second syllable of “Gassen” should be dropped. The second syllable of “Hause” should be sustained, thereby suggesting the mental connection with “wohnte.” The neighboring tone at “längst” should be stressed, and the last syllable of “verlassen” dropped. The second quarter note on “Haus” (bar 20) should be sustained, and the turn at “auf demselben” (bar21) executed on the second eighth of beat two.
In the B section, the voice must portray the awakening of the lover to full consciousness. Though the tempo does not increase in the next eighteen bars, the dynamics must change with each phrase, starting piano, with a true piano color, then mezzo forte, forte, and finally, fortississimo at the astounding climaxes on “vor Schmerzens Gewalt,” and “eigne Gestalt.” On both climaxes, Schubert effectively employs augmented sixth harmonies to underscore the drama of the text, using a French sixth at the first (“for grief”), and a German sixth at the second (‘my own form”). The second climax must be more telling than the first and Schubert aids this by supplying a higher note the second time. The opening phrase of this section, and its repeat, gain greatly by a certain, almost hissing enunciation.
In the C section, the mood is now that of fury and pain, and the voice should bark out its words, beginning mezzo forte (bar 43) to stay above the rapidly rising piano part. The accelerando lasts through bar 51. On the word “manche,” the original tempo is abruptly resumed. As the melodic line descends to “Nacht,” the volume in the voice should decrease. During the breath after “Nacht,” the mood should change completely, as must the vocal quality. With purest bel canto, and in a most pathetically colored piano voice, the final phrase must be sung – thus illustrating the lover’s futility as his head sinks into his hands.....