Der Erlkönig The Faces of Death Vinroy D. Brown Jr. Music History Seminar: Music As Narrative Dr. Timothy Cochran June 2013
Among the ranks of the greatest composers of our recent centuries would without doubt be Franz Schubert. Schubert s music is widely performed by singers across the globe, and his music serves as an ambassador for this great art. Some will say that among some of the best of the vocal repertoire is his arrangement of Erlkönig. The work follows the state of four characters and their psychological instabilities as one of the characters is nearing his death. This paper will serve to expose the psyche of each character and draw parallels between vocal line, text and accompaniment. This paper will also explore the same aspects in arrangements of Erlkönig not written by Schubert. The story of Der Erlkönig, or the Alder King, comes out of the Danish folklore. Johann Wolfgang von Geothe wrote the text for Schubert s arrangement of Erlkönig from the work Erlkönig s Tochter. The literal translation being the Alder King s Daughter, the Danish work was translated into German by librettist and composer Johann Gerder. The story speaks of a father bringing his son home on horseback. The son begins to hear things that his father cannot, thus the denial of these occurrences from the father. As the son is being provoked, he cries out in a desperate last plea for help. When the father goes to aid his son, he realizes that his son is dead. Due to the nature of the story, it can be assumed that each character in the folklore and the Schubert setting (and others, for that matter) will have certain psychological traits. Specifically, the Father, the Son and Der Erlkönig. The Father is in denial for most of the story. He does not believe that his son is being tormented. As the story continues, his denial propels a sense of growing fear and confusion, as 2
he cannot seem to come to terms with why his son would say such [what he considered] absurd things, that could all be justified by sounds in nature. The father is a realist, much to his own detriment by the end of the story. The son is fearful for his life throughout the entire story, which means he s not only emoting feelings of fear, but also that of hopelessness, anger and even annoyance. One could imagine how stressful pleading to someone you trust to no avail could be. There is a sense of desperation with the son s character that any effective setting of Erlkönig should depict. There should also be a moment of bitter realization that he is going to die. The severe circumstance to which the son is bound gives a view into the psyche of the son s character. The Erlkönig is naturally a split personality. Although the character appears calmly to the son in the story, his intentions are far from calm. In every aspect of his psyche, there is stillness. Der Erlkönig is the smartest of the characters, as his actions initiate the son s actions, which drive the plot. He is the true mastermind of the story. In the end, he gets his way and gets the young child. Schubert s setting of Erlkönig has unarguably become the most well known setting of the text to date. The Schubert setting outlines the story through the eye of four different characters- Narrator, Father, Son & Der Erlkönig. Each character in Schubert s Erlkönig has distinctive musical characters throughout the piece. These musical characteristics correlate directly with the psyche of each character as the story progresses. 3
The narrator (vocal line above) is the least of the characters in the plot. The narrator has a very small role that sets the scene through introducing the story, and ending the story by stating the last dramatic line of the piece. Yet, this minor character has musical characteristics. The narrator stays to the G minor tonic, with straight metric rhythms. The accompaniment underneath the narrator is a series of repeated chords in the right hand, and arpeggiated chords in the left hand. This duo of hands creates tension through which the narrator speaks. The father (see line above) is the second character to be introduced in this work. The father has lines that lie in the lower tessitura of the voice. The father s character is the only part that sings in both major and minor modes. In many regards, the vocal line changes as the conversation between the father and the son 4
escalates. It s initial tonal center lies in B- Flat, which is symbolic of the father- son relationship in this work. The son (reference above line) lies highest in the tessitura, with lines in the minor mode. The tesituratic singing indicates a sense of freight in the child. The Erlkönig (below) sings in a major key to a steady arpeggiated accompaniment. The triplets that overlap the arpeggios add a sense of mystery and unease to the work. The lines are usually sung pianissimo, as a means to haunt the son. The only time the piano lines break character is at the end of the piece, when Der Erlkönig kills the son. Scholars will argue (and I agree) that the piano accompaniment (below) serves as a character within itself. There is a horse motif initiated in the piano from the very beginning of the piece. The triplets in the accompaniment throughout the 5
piece depict a horse galloping- the horse that the father is taking his son home in. the horse stops only when they get home. At that point, the son is dead. The work later inspired other versions of Erlkönig. Franz Lizst set Erlkönig to piano after Schubert s arrangement. With the exception of a small number of changes (which were all artistic, I believe), Lizst excises the piano part of Schubert s Erlkönig for a solo pianist. The biggest difference being the key signature- Lizst transposes the work to G minor. Schubert s original work was in G minor but has since been transposed for higher voices. Hector Berlioz also orchestrates Schubert s original accompaniment to Erlkönig. Berlioz associates certain instrumentation with each character throughout the piece. For example, the initial entrance of the father s character is not only accompanied by voice, but in the oboe. The character traits and parallels in voice and instrumentation occur masterfully throughout the Berlioz orchestration. These are the only two settings of Erlkönig that were intentionally set to supplement Franz Schubert s arrangement. Carl Loewe set Erlkönig in 1817, and is said to rival Schubert s setting. The work was composed in Schubert and Geothe s lifetime, but Loewe [allegedly] did not reference Schubert at all. The piece, also in G minor has very similar characteristics to the Schubert setting. Similar to Schubert, and authentic to the folklore, the work establishes four distinctive characters- the Narrator, Father, Son & Erlkönig. The 6
work is similar in mannerisms concerning the transitions of mode, range and color of each character. The compound meter gives similarly a horse motif, which occurs throughout the work. Also, interesting to this is work is the reinstatement of the horse motif found in the beginning at the mid point of the work. This addition serves as an interlude, of sorts, for the piece. The work is very lyrical in its right hand composition, which plays the Schubert set melody. It is my opinion that what draws the most parallel from the Schubert and Loewe versions is the way in which each piece choses to end. The vocal lines are very straightforward and consistent in rhythms. The accompaniment is dry for the last line in seinen Armen das Kind war tot, much like a recitative. The setting of Erlkönig that can be least attributed to settings that fall under inspiration of Schubert would be a setting by J. F. Reichardt. The piece is in a compound meter, so the horse theme is initiated in the work. But, the similar G minor mode does not share the same form. The work is entirely strophic, and melodic lines, modes and characteristic interpretation is restricted to the confines of the strophic accompaniment. With a piece like this, dynamics are expected to in fluctuate the mood of each character throughout the piece. Refer to the example below. 7
Overall, these contrasting pieces have several things in common. Surprisingly, they all share the same G minor tonal center. The horse motif is present in each version. This is done in each piece with triplet rhythms, and meters that are usually compound. Lastly, each work in its own way endeavors to depict the story of Erlkönig through the scope of four different characters. The characters can be told apart by registration in voice and instrumentation. There are roughly ten different compositions dealing with Der Erlkönig. For this paper, 7 versions of Erlkönig were studied, and what helped were the performances of each of the versions. Each of these versions required great vocal agility to perform. Most of these versions are extreme in vocal range, requiring singers with established ranges and voices. Thus, much of the [in my opinion] better performances of the Schubert version (and others) were done by experienced singers. Soprano Jessye Norman sings Schubert is a way that is authentically true to all four characters, while Thomas Allen brings new life and vigor into Berlioz s orchestration. Countless pianists have mastered the Lizst transcription. Although the Carl Loewe version does not get as much recognition as Schubert s, his work is performed in concert halls to audiences who are looking for something new. In each version of Erlkönig, there were artists that gave each work the justice it deserved. 8
In conclusion, it is imperative that the listeners look through an open lens when evaluating works. With that being said, it is also important to know the stories of the music we are observing. Erlkönig has many different arrangements to its name, but the story connects each version. The characters in each setting encounter the same problem, and have a resolute end. These works also draw the psyche of each character, creating parallels to motifs and ideas in music. A text set by Geothe creates a standard for each piece that references his work for years to come. 9
Sources Feil, Arnold, (Author). "Goethes Und Schuberts Erlkönig." Schubert- Jahrbuch (2000): 3-14. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. Web. 11 June 2013. Gibbs, Christopher H., (Author). "'Komm, Geh' Mit Mir': Schubert's Uncanny Erlkönig." 19Th- Century Music 19.2 (1995): 115-135. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. Web. 11 June 2013. Gibbs, Christopher H., (Author). "The presence of Erlkoenig: Reception and reworkings of a Schubert lied." (1992). RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. Web. 11 June 2013. Feil, Arnold, (Author). "Goethes Und Schuberts Erlkönig." (1990): RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. Web. 11 June 2013.