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Track(s) taken from CDD22010

Wandrers Nachtlied I, D224

First line:
Der du von dem Himmel bist
composer
5 July 1815; published in 1821 as Op 4 No 1
author of text
dedicated to Charlotte von Stein

The Songmakers' Almanac, Dame Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano), Graham Johnson (piano)
Recording details: November 1983
St Barnabas's Church, North Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Antony Howell
Release date: March 1997
Total duration: 1 minutes 34 seconds

Cover artwork: Party Games of the Schubertians (Gesellschaftspeilungen der Schubertianer). Leopold Kupelwieser
 

Other recordings available for download

Florian Boesch (baritone), Roger Vignoles (piano)
Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Julius Drake (piano)
Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), Graham Johnson (piano)

Reviews

‘Impossible to imagine anyone not deriving enormous pleasure from this collection’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Reviewers have long since run out of adjectives to describe Graham Johnson's superb complete Schubert song series for Hyerion. Now, for the Schubert centenary year, comes a re-release of a Schubertide which while not part of the series is certainly in the same spirit. "Back catalogue" at Hyperion means caskets of jewels rather than dusty shelves. There are so many matchless performances on this set that you could operate the player blindfold and pick a winner every time. All conjure up memories of superb evenings in the concert hall where this group could justifiably claim to have set a new standard for the presentation of song’ (The Singer)
Schubert set this poem on the same day as Der Fischer and Erster Verlust. It is daunting that after writing Wanderers Nachtlied he did not congratulate himself and take the rest of the day off. Most composers have spent a lifetime trying in vain to achieve such concentration in their music, for this song is in every way a distillation, the very essence of the Lied.

The poem was written at the beginning of Goethe's stay in Weimar (where he was to remain for most of his life), and in the early stages of his relationship with the aristocrat Charlotte von Stein who was to help the young firebrand change into a. courtier and statesman. It was Charlotte (the dedicatee of this poem) who made Goethe realise that a lifetime of Sturm und Drang was a ridiculous prospect; a man who had been forever on the move now needed to settle down. With unerring genius the young Schubert of 1815 has reflected in music the classical gravity of the words, and by repeating the last two lines has added musical ardour to the poem's entreaty without disturbing its essential poise.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 1988

Other albums featuring this work

Schubert: 21 Songs
Studio Master: CDA68169Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Schubert: Der Wanderer & other songs
Studio Master: CDA68010Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Schubert: The Complete Songs
CDS44201/4040CDs Boxed set + book (at a special price) — Download only
Schubert: The Hyperion Schubert Edition, Vol. 1 - Janet Baker
CDJ33001Download only
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