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Track(s) taken from CDJ33051/3

Thekla 'Des Mädchens Klage'

First line:
Der Eichwald brauset, die Wolken ziehn
composer
author of text

Susan Gritton (soprano), Graham Johnson (piano)
Recording details: March 2004
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: October 2005
Total duration: 2 minutes 32 seconds
 

Reviews

‘This enterprising, often revelatory set should intrigue and delight anyone interested in the development of the Lied’ (Gramophone)

‘Since making music with friends was Schubert's whole raison d'etre, this 3-CD box is an inspired idea … led by the soprano Susan Gritton, the performances are pure A-list’ (The Independent)

‘Anyone who loves lieder will find here a rich, diverse, and delightful offering. There isn't a bad song among the 81 songs by 40 composers who wrote during Schubert's lifetime, and there's a lot of fine music here by well-known and also practically unknown composers and poets. The singing is consistently excellent… anyone interested in this genre will find here a broad-ranging and generous collection’ (American Record Guide)

‘If 81 songs are too many to mention individually, sufficient variety exists and enough songs are receiving a first recording for this set to be indispensable for anyone interested in the genre’ (International Record Review)

‘Graham Johnson once again demonstrates that he has few peers today in his combined function as scholar-musician’ (Fanfare, USA)
This song was published in the third volume of Kleine Balladen und Lieder (1801). In the trilogy of plays by Schiller concerning the tragic career of General Wallenstein during the Thirty Years’ War, Thekla is Wallenstein’s daughter. Schubert wrote two songs with the title Thekla „Eine Geisterstimme“ (D73 and D595); these are settings of an entirely different poem which depicts Thekla as a wraith speaking from the other side of the grave as she describes her state of mind, and that of her father. This is a kind of ghostly sequel to Wallenstein’s Tod. The poem beginning ‘Der Eichwald brauset’ dates from 1798; it is also spoken by the afflicted Thekla, this time in the earlier play Die Picolimini (Act V). The lyric is entitled Des Mädchens Klage in Schiller’s Gedichte (1800). There are only two strophes in the poem’s appearance in Die Picolimini, as in the Zumsteeg setting. The composer must have taken the text directly from the play, and thus the character’s name as a title. Schubert had trouble with this poem, although he was clearly fascinated by it. He set it three times, each time in an entirely different way from that of Zumsteeg.

comparative Schubert listening:
Des Mädchens Klage First setting, D6. 1811 or 1812
Des Mädchens Klage Second setting, D191. 15 May 1815
Des Mädchens Klage Third setting, D389. March 1816

from notes by Graham Johnson © 2006

Other albums featuring this work

Schubert: The Complete Songs
CDS44201/4040CDs Boxed set + book (at a special price) — Download only
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