Classical Music | Baritone

Recorded on 10/12/2004, uploaded on 01/24/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

The songs of Schwanengesang, published in two books by Tobias Haslinger after Schubert's death, contain his final Lieder. Unlike Schubert's other song cycles, the songs of Schwanengesang are not all by the same poet, but instead Schubert draws upon the works of Ludwig Rellstab, Heinrich Heine and Johann Gabriel Seidl. Since Schubert left no indication of his intentions for these songs, it is unclear whether he intended the songs to be collected as a cycle at all, even though in the autograph manuscript the first thirteen songs were copied at a single sitting on consecutive manuscript pages. The origin of the songs as a cycle originated with the publisher, Tobias Haslinger, who gave the collection its title. Today, Haslinger's ordering of the songs of Schwanengesang is regarded as the definitive version of the work.

In Heine's poem, the "Fischermädchen" ("The Fisher-maiden"), the poet stands on the shore and attempts to woo a young maiden in a fishing boat. He implores her to pull her boat to shore and compares his heart to the ebb and flow of the sea. Schubert begins the song with a lazy rhythm in 6/8 meter, possibly depicting the back and forth motion of the waves. The accompaniment is mostly chordal, breaking into only the slightest hint of a melodic line when the voice rests. The vocal melody is lyrical with passionate large upward leaps depicting the wooing of the poet.      Joseph DuBose

Du schönes Fischermädchen,

Treibe den Kahn ans Land;

Komm zu mir und setze dich nieder,

Wir kosen Hand in Hand.

Leg an mein Herz dein Köpfchen

Und fürchte dich nicht zu sehr;

Vertraust du dich doch sorglos

Täglich dem wilden Meer.

Mein Herz gleicht ganz dem Meere,

Hat Sturm und Ebb' und Flut,

Und manche schöne Perle

In seiner Tiefe ruht.

--Heinrich Heine

The Fisher-maiden

Lovely fisher-maiden,

row your boat ashore.

Come and sit by me,

hand in hand we'll murmur love-talk.

Lay your little head on my breast

and don't be too frightened;

every day you fearlessly

trust in the raging sea.

My heart is like the sea,

it storms and ebbs and flows,

and holds many beautiful pearls

within its depths.

--Heinrich Heine

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.