Schubert, Die schöne Müllerin

Cambridge Music Handbooks

by Susan Youens

This is a guide to both the music and the poetry of Schubert's much-loved song cycle, set to poems by the Prussian poet Wilhelm MÜller. Composed in 1823, this work is one of the greatest masterpieces of the song repertoire. The genesis of both the poetry and the music, composed soon after Schubert discovered that he had contracted syphilis, is discussed in the first two chapters. A chapter on the poetry considers MÜller's uneasy relationship to the tenets of Romanticism; the influence of Goethe, folk poems, and medieval poetry on Die schöne MÜllerin; and a reading of each of the poems, which are reproduced in German and in English translation. The final chapter provides commentary on each of the twenty songs in the cycle.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

129 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 1992

Reviews

[Joe Matson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but thorough, this book does everything it's supposed to do with respect to poet, composer, text, and music. The lack of conclusion makes it hard to read as a book--something you read from beginning to end; I'm afraid all of Youens's fine writing will end up being used as a reference book instead--something you read for relevant excerpts.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the poetry descriptions were helpful, this book read more like an encyclopedia than a biography. Since Youens used musical terminology to analyze Die Schöne Müllerin, the text was very difficult to follow at times.