Classical Music | Baritone

Franz Schubert

An die Laute  Play

Thomas Meglioranza Baritone
Reiko Uchida Piano

Recorded on 10/12/2004, uploaded on 01/23/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Schubert's remarkable output of songs was the turning point of the German Lied tradition. With its roots in the songs of Mozart and Beethoven, the Lied came to maturity with Schubert's careful crafting and delicate balance between words and music. Instead of simply providing an accompaniment to the voice, the piano took on its own unique role in portraying the essence of the words, sometimes reaching a greater clarity than words themselves could achieve.

In Friedrich Rochlitz's poem An die Laute ("To the Lute"), the poet implores his lute to softly convey his thoughts of his beloved to her window. The piano accompaniment of Schubert's setting mimics the sound of the lute with arpeggios in the bass and "strummed" chords in the right hand. The lilting 6/8 meter of the song delightfully enhances the poems happy tone.     Joseph DuBose

An die Laute, by Friedrich Rochlitz    

Leiser, leiser, kleine Laute,

Flüstre was ich dir vertraute,

Dort zu jenem Fenster hin!

Wie die Wellen sanfter Lüfte,

Mondenglanz und Blumendüfte,

Send es der Gebieterin!

Neidisch sind des Nachbars Söhne,

Und im Fenster jener Schöne

Flimmert noch ein einsam Licht.

Drum noch leiser, kleine Laute;

Dich vernehme die Vertraute,

Nachbarn aber, Nachbarn nicht!

--Johann Friedrich Rochlitz

To the Lute

More softly, more softly, little lute,

whisper what I have confided

to that window there!

Like a gentle billow of air,

like moonlight, or the scent of flowers,

send it to my mistress!   

The sons of the neighbours are jealous

and in the window of my fair one

a solitary light still gleams.

So play still softer, little lute,

so that my beloved may hear you

but the neighbours - not the neighbours!