Schubert: the Complete Song Texts

by Franz Peter Schubert, Richard Wigmore

An astonishingly prolific composer, Schubert had written more than 600 songs when he died in 1828, aged 31. Most were settings of German poetry, including over 100 by Goethe, but some use Italian words and others are translations into German of English poetry and prose by Walter Scott, Shakespeare and others. The most famous songs have appeared in previously published volumes of texts, but more and more singers are now including the less familiar items in recordings and Lieder recitals. This book provides the texts and Richard Wigmore's prose translations of all the songs, and should be of value to singers with little or no German, and to music-lovers listening to the songs at concerts, on radio and on record.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1988

About the author

Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.

Although he died at the age of 31, Schubert was a prolific composer, having written some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies (including the famous "Unfinished Symphony"), liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music.

Appreciation of Schubert's music during his lifetime was limited, but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his death. Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn, among others, discovered and championed his works in the 19th century.

Today, Schubert is seen as one of the leading exponents of the early Romantic era in music and he remains one of the most frequently performed composers.

Reviews

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can you say about a book like this? (Apparently not much, if the stone-cold silence of previous Goodreads users is any indication.)

Wigmore's text remains a vital reference work for anyone who loves lieder. We are now lucky to have two fantastic guides to the songs - John Reed's older "Schubert Song Companion" and the more recent multi-volume work by Graham Johnson - but for ease of reference, this collection of the lyrics in German with English translation can't be beat. (The decision to alphabetise all songs beginning with "The" (Der/Die/Das) together, rather than under the first letter of the noun itself, is bewildering to me, but perhaps it's a German thing.)

I have just tracked down the complete 40-CD series released by Hyperion from the late 1980s to the early 2000s collecting all of Schubert's songs, and the booklets therein (which formed the basis for Johnson's subsequent work) are each mini-masterpieces of their own. But there's very much a place for an elegant single volume such as this one on any music-lover's bookshelf.