Classical Music | Baritone

Recorded on 09/10/2010, uploaded on 11/14/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Barely longer than a few dozen measures, Schubert's setting of Matthias Claudius's poem An die Nachtigall ("To the Nightingale") is worthy of its entitled poet. In the poem, the nightingale, which for centuries has served as a symbol of poetry and creativity, sings soft lullabies to the poet's beloved. Though marked in the key of G, Schubert's setting begins deceptively in C major and by the fifth measure cadences in A minor. The close of the piano's brief prelude, however, confirms the tonic key of G. The vocal melody is, during the first two lines, simple but becomes more florid during the next two. A drastic change occurs with the poet's plea to the nightingale ("Nachtigall, ach!"). The music shifts to the parallel minor and softly embellishes a dominant pedal. E-flat is reached on the word "Amor" but a subtle change of the chord to an augmented sixth brings about a return to the tonic of G major.    Joseph DuBose