Hyperion Records

This song has some of the pulsating magic of Nähe des Geliebten written a few months earlier. The glory of it lies in the impassioned and taut vocal line (which irresistibly recalls Ungeduld from Die schöne Müllerin) and the chromatic vigour of the underpinning bass. The movement of the rich and significant inner voices in the postlude brings Nähe des Geliebten, as well as the opening of Memnon, to mind). There is rapture and pain here a-plenty with wrenching modulations which make this seem very much a young man's music. A picture of Körner himself is obviously in the composer's mind. Having captured his essence, Schubert set about writing another song on the same day which is equally evocative of Körner's mercurial personality, Sehnsucht der Liebe.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 1989