Bostridge, Prosseda. Schubert: Die Schöne Mullerin

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Die schöne Müllerin, D 795

1. Das Wandern: Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust - Mässig geschwind
2. Wohin?: Ich hört' ein Bächlein rauschen - Mässig
3. Halt!: Eine Mühle seh' ich blinken - Nicht zu geschwind
4. Danksagung an den Bach: War es also gemeint - Etwas langsam
5. Am Feierabend: Hätt' ich tausend Arme zu rühren - Zeimlich geschwind
6. Der Neugierige: Ich frage keine Blume - Langsam
7. Ungeduld: Ich schnitt es gern in alle Rinden ein - Etwas geschwind
8. Morgengruss: Guten Morgen, schöne Müllerin - Mässig
9. Des Müllers Blumen: Am Bach viel kleine Blumen stehn - Mässig
10. Tränenregen: Wir sassen so traulich beisammen - Ziemlich langsam
11. Mein!: Bächlein, lass dein Rauschen sein - Mässig geschwind
12. Pause: Meine Laute hab' ich gehängt - Ziemlich geschwind
13. Mit dem grünen Lautenbande: Schad' um das schöne grüne Band - Mässig
14. Der Jäger: Was sucht denn der Jäger - Geschwind
15. Eifersucht und Stolz: Wohin so schnell - Geschwind
16. Die liebe Farbe: In Grün will ich mich kleiden - Etwas langsam
17. Die böse Farbe: Ich möchte ziehn in die Welt hinaus - Ziemlich geschwind
18. Trockne Blumen: Ihr Blümlein alle, die sie mir gab - Ziemlich langsam
19. Der Müller und der Bach: Wo ein treues Herze in Liebe vergeht - Mässig
20. Des Baches Wiegenlied: Gute Ruh', gute Ruh' - Mässig

Die Schöne Müllerin D 795 [The Beautiful Miller girl] is a cycle of Lieder (songs) composed by Franz Schubert (1797-1828) in 1823, based on a collection of poems written by Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827). Through his songs, the cycle explores themes such as nature, unrequited love and sorrow; elements that transpire from the interaction between Wilhelm Müller’s text and Schubert’s music, which creates a perfect unity between word and melody. The event narrated is loosely based on an amorous disappointment in Müller’s life but, unlike the miller, did not come to the same tragic end, since the poet, who had also set off on a journey, met his future wife Adelheid von Basedow shortly afterwards. The story is told through twenty pieces for voice and piano and follows the existential and sentimental journey of a young man – he was a miller too – who leaves his home and sets off following a stream. In Das Wandern [The Journey] the man celebrates the joy of walking and travelling, to which, however, are added various curious stimuli such as Wohin? [Where?] in which the young man follows the course of a stream, wondering where it will take him, until he arrives at Halt! [Arrival]: the arrival point is a mill, and the protagonist decides to stop. The brook (and water in general) is an essential narrative element within the cycle, in fact, in Danksagung an den Bach [Thanksgiving at the brook] there is a real song of gratitude to the brook for leading him to the mill. The young man, having arrived at the mill, sees a young miller and falls in love with her. In Am Feierabend [Feast Evening], he wishes to impress the miller’s daughter with his hard work and in Der Neugierige [The Curious] he questions the girl’s feelings. From this moment the ill-fated courtship begins and Ungeduld [Impatience] becomes an expression of his longing for love. In Morgengruß [Morning Greeting] the young man greets his beloved at the crack of dawn with the words ‘Guten Morgen, schöne Müllerin’ [Good morning, beautiful miller] and later picks flowers for her in Des Müllers Blumen [The miller’s flowers]. Caught between dream and reality is Tränenregen [Rain of Tears], a romantic scene of the two young people that turns into a dystopian dissolution accompanied by the rippling of the stream and the falling rain, which joins the young man’s tears. After this borderline nightmarish episode, there is an opening on the part of the girl that leads the young man to exclaim Mein! [Mine!] and, seized with the greatest joy, asks the stream to stop and the birds to stop singing to fix this moment of feeble happiness. During Pause [Pause] the euphoria prevents the young man from doing anything: it is a moment of reflection. He hangs his lute on the wall - adorned with a green ribbon, the miller’s favourite colour - and the strings vibrate slightly, stimulated by the wind (echoing the romantic topos of the Aeolian harp). In Mit dem grünen Lautenbande [With the green lute band], the young miller tries to win the girl over with music, but the green ribbon (the colour of hope) fades more and more. The unexpected arrival of a hunter makes the prophecy come true: in Der Jäger [The Hunter], the girl is fascinated by the newcomer. Thus, the miller’s jealousy and pride arise in Eifersucht und Stolz [Jealousy and Pride] the miller has angry outbursts towards the hunter and pours out his anxieties to the stream. His pride, however, conceals these thoughts from the miller. Self-loathing and jealousy loom over the young man who, in despair at the miller’s preference for the hunter, in Die liebe Farbe [The Beloved Colour] the colour green remains surrounded by tender memory and hope as he is bound to his beloved. Suddenly, in Die böse Farbe [The Evil Colour], green becomes a symbol of sorrow, changing meaning completely. Between forebodings of death, regret and hope is inserted Trockne Blumen [Withered Flowers]: the young man asks that the flowers, now wasted, given to him by the miller be placed on his grave (the flowers represent his unrequited love). After this extreme moment, spring returns to the young man’s heart with the final verse of the song: ‘Der Mai ist kommen, der Winter ist aus’ [May is coming, winter is leaving]. A final moment of dialogue between the young man and the brook occurs in Der Müller und der Bach [The Miller and the Brook] in which the young man asks the stream to sing him a lullaby, reassuring him that in heaven his troubles will be alleviated. And it is in fact Das Baches Wiegenlied [Lullaby of the Brook] that is the last lyrical moment of the cycle: the brook bids the miller goodnight, as he slips into eternal sleep, free of suffering and pain.