Hyperion Records

John Reed points out that this, and all the other songs of October 15th were written on the name day of Schubert's beloved of the time, Therese Grob. If he was inspired to a large creative outburst in her honour there is little doubt as to who is the beloved of this song. Like Labetrank der Liebe this is about intimate exchange, the mingling of tears as a symbol of the interpenetration of one human soul and body, with another. Wishful thinking, in the case of this composer, produces music of the greatest intensity, for fulfilment at this stage of his life (and perhaps any other) would have short-circuited the agony of sexual longing which spurred creative fantasy. The music (particularly the music of the opening bars) reappears as the Claudius setting An die Nachtigall from the following year. An die Geliebte does not perhaps achieve the perfect balance of classical and romantic elements of that famous song, but it is a worthy companion of the other Stoll settings, which is recommendation enough. All is translucent texture, with a succession of exquisite sequences and suspensions—in short, a perfect page.

Josef Ludwig Stoll was a doctor's son who, after a grand tour of Europe, became a well-known Viennese journalist. He was editor of the periodical Prometheus. It is possible that Schubert's attention was drawn to the poet's work by Stoll's death in January 1815. The poet apparently died in needy circumstances having squandered a considerable inheritance.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 1990