Ruth Ziesak, Christian Elsner, Ulrich Eisenlohr - Schubert: Goethe Lieder, Vol.2 (2003)

DEUTSCHESCHUBERT-LIED-EDITION, Vol. 13Franz Schubert (1797-1828)Goethe Songs, Vol. 2 The EditionIn1816 Franz Schubert, together with his circle of friends, decided to publish acollection of all the songs which he had so far written. Joseph Spaun, whomSchubert had known since his school days, tried his (and Schubert's) luck in aletter to the then unquestioned Master of the German language, Johann Wolfgangvon Goethe:A selection of German songs will constitute thebeginning of this edition; it will consist of eight volumes. The first two (thefirst of which, as an example, you will find in our letter) contains poemswritten by your Excellency, the third, poetry by Schiller, the fourth andfifth, works by Klopstock, the sixth by Mathison, Holty, Salis etc., theseventh and eighth contain songs by Ossian, whose works are quite exceptional.TheDeutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition follows the composer's original concept. AllSchubert's Lieder, over 700 songs, will be grouped according to thepoets who inspired him, or according to the circle of writers, contemporaries,members of certain literary movements and so on, whose works Schubert chose toset to music. Fragments and alternative settings, providing their length andquality make them worth recording, and works for two or more voices with pianoaccompaniment will also make up a part of the edition.Schubertset the poetry of over 115 writers to music. He selected poems from classicalGreece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from eighteenth-century Germanauthors, early Romantics, Biedermeier poets, his contemporaries, and, ofcourse, finally, poems by Heinrich Heine, although sadly the two never met.Theentire edition is scheduled for completion by 2005. Thanks to the NeueSchubert Ausgabe (New Schubert Edition), published by Barenreiter, whichuses primary sources - autograph copies wherever possible - the performers havebeen able to benefit from the most recent research of the editorial team. Forthe first time, the listener and the interested reader can follow Schubert'stextual alterations and can appreciate the importance the written word had forthe composer.Theproject's Artistic Advisor is the pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr, who has chosenthose German-speaking singers who represent the elite of today's young GermanLieder singers, performers whose artistic contribution, he believes, will standthe test of time.------ "Yearningfor tender love is symbolized in music"-- Women's Songs by Schubert to texts by GoetheGoethewas happy with the composer who set his poems to music: "He hits thecharacter of such a one, in similar strophes, the whole returning excellentlyso that it is felt again in each individual part, whereas others, by so-calledthrough-composition, destroy the impression of the whole through emphasizingparticular elements." The one who is praised here is, as everyone knows,not Schubert, but Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758-1832) and his simple, plain(today almost completely forgotten) melodies. Franz Schubert wo