Poetry and Music in Schubert's Lieder: A Personal Story

What poets did Schubert choose? What poems was he drawn to? What themes did he return to time and time again in his compositional career? This lecture shows how the relationships between poetry and music play a crucial role in the vast catalogue of lieder by Franz Schubert (1797–1828), profoundly shaping the composer’s work. Schubert chose his texts because he was driven by an inner imperative, or because he felt the need to express his worldview within the budding Romantic movement, or sometimes even because of events in his personal life. Thus, Schubert successfully spoke in the first person through the poems that he chose, becoming the hidden “I” behind the poet’s “I” within his songs. 

Presented in French

In connection with the Andrè Schuen & Daniel Heide concert on the same day, at 2:30 p.m.