Classical Music | Soprano

Franz Schubert

Heidenröslein, D. 257  Play

Hyunah Yu Soprano
Alon Goldstein Piano

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

Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Schubert's setting of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem Heidenröslein, dating from 1815, is one of his undeniably charming strophic songs. The poem itself, written by Goethe in 1771, tells of a young lad that picks a rose and gets pricked. Though both Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms also later set Goethe's poem, it is Schubert's setting that has remained the most popular. Schubert set each of the three stanzas of the poem to the same music. The vocal melody is simple, bordering on a folk tune. The unassuming accompaniment is equally simple, only breaking from its pattern to repeat and embellish the final measures of the vocal melody. Yet, it is such charming simplicity that has made Heidenröslein one of Schubert's most beloved songs.      Joseph DuBose