Classical Music | Piano Music

Franz Schubert

Frühlingsglaube (arr. Liszt)  Play

Daniil Trifonov Piano

Recorded on 03/04/2009, uploaded on 05/29/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Franz Schubert set only one poem by Johann Ludwig Uhland: Frühlingsglaube ("Spring Faith"). Four versions of the song exist—one from 1822 in A-flat major, which was the first to be published and remains more or less the definitive version, and three earlier versions from 1820 (one of which was only recently discovered). In essence, the earlier versions show the compositional process of the song, in which Schubert reworked several passages, culminating in the 1822 version.

The subject of Uhland's poem is the change from winter and spring and the "recreation," so to speak, that accompanies it. This is brought out in Schubert's setting with the subtle mode mixture used in the piano's prelude and towards the end of each stanza. The setting, overall, is calm and reflective. Much of the accompaniment features a murmuring sextuplet figure, which gracefully clashes with the duple rhythms of the vocal line.

Frühlingsglaube is one of the many songs of Schubert that Franz Liszt transcribed for piano. The first stanza features the vocal melody in the highest voice of the right hand. The second transfers the melody into the middle of the texture while the accompaniment is embellished.    Joseph DuBose