Classical Music | Soprano

Recorded on 11/05/2008, uploaded on 05/02/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

After spending two week in Graz during the summer of 1827, Franz Schubert not only wrote a letter of thanks to his hostess Maria Pachler, but also composed a set of songs specifically for her. Among those songs is Heimliches Lieben ("Secret Love"), a setting of a poem by Karoline Klenke. The song itself, and the fact that it was Pachler that chose it, has raised questions as to the nature of her relationship with Schubert. And, Schubert's setting was likely his "secret" reply.

Sometimes wrongfully interpreted as overly sentimental, Heimliches Lieben begins with a flowing triplet accompaniment below a luscious chromatic melody. The vocal melody has all the touches of intense feeling—chromatic inflections, delicate embellishments and heartfelt melodic leaps. While each stanza (except for the second) ultimately comes to rest in the tonic key of B-flat major, the harmonies that occur in between these tonal pillars would make for an interesting study in the handling of chromatic harmony and modulation. During the final repetition of the final two lines of Klenke's poem, the melodic is broaden and the bass nearly takes on the character of a bona fide countermelody. This change, though subtle, brings Heimliches Lieben to close on a note of distant reverence.      Joseph DuBose