Sonorum Concentus Haydn & Schubert's video: Schubert Der Wanderer Lied D 489 Waltraud Meier

Franz Schubert Der Wanderer Lied D 489 Waltraud Meier soprano Der Wanderer (D 489) [formerly D 493] is the name of a Lied composed by Franz Schubert in October 1816 for voice and piano. A revised version was published near the end of May 1821 as opus 4, number 1. The words are taken from a German poem by Georg Philipp Schmidt (von Lübeck). The lied is set in the key of C-sharp minor with the tempo marking sehr langsam (very slow) and the time signature alla breve. The piece has a total of 72 measures. Schubert wrote another lied entitled "Der Wanderer;" it is numbered D.649. The song begins with a recitative, describing the setting: mountains, a steaming valley, the roaring sea. The wanderer is strolling quietly, unhappily, and asks, sighing, the question: "where?" The next section, consisting of 8 bars of a slow melody sung in pianissimo, describes the feelings of the wanderer: the sun seems cold, the blossom withered, life old. The wanderer expresses the conviction of being a stranger everywhere. This 8 bar section was later used by Schubert as theme for a set of variations forming the second movement of the Wanderer Fantasy. Next the music shifts to the key of E major, the tempo increases and the time signature changes to 6/8. The wanderer asks: "where are you my beloved land?" This place the wanderer longs for is described as green with hope, "the land where my roses bloom, my friends stroll, my dead rise" and, finally, "the land which speaks my language, Oh land, where are you?" Towards the end of this section, the music gets quite animated and forms the climax of the song. Finally, the music returns to the original minor key and slow tempo. After quoting the question "where?" from the opening, the song closes with a "ghostly breath" finally answering the question: "There where you are not, there is happiness." The song closes in the key of E major. 0:00 Ich komme vom Gebirge her, (I come down from the mountains) Es dampft das Tal, es braust das Meer. (The valley dims, the sea roars) Ich wandle still, bin wenig froh, (I wander silently and am somewhat unhappy) Und immer fragt der Seufzer: wo? (And my sighs always ask "Where?") Immer wo? (Always "Where?") 1:24 Die Sonne dünkt mich hier so kalt (Their sun appears to me so cold) Die Blüte welk, das Leben alt (their blossoms limp, their life so old) Und was sie reden, leerer Schall (and what they speak of, empty fare) Ich bin ein Fremdling überall. (I am a stranger everywhere.) 2:14 Wo bist du, mein geliebtes Land? (Where are you, land, beloved home?) Gesucht, geahnt, und nie gekannt! (Imagined, sought, but never known!) Das Land, das Land so hoffnungsgrün (The land, the land, whence hope does flow) Das Land, wo meine Rosen blühn. (the land where all my roses grow) Wo meine Freunde wandelnd gehn (where friends shall never meet in vain) Wo meine Toten auferstehn (where all my dead shall rise again) Das Land, das meine Sprache spricht (the land that speaks my language true) O Land, wo bist du? . .(Oh land, where are you?...) 2:58 Ich wandle still, bin wenig froh (I wander silent, joyless here) Und immer fragt der Seufzer, wo? (my sigh keeps asking, Where? Oh where?) Im Geisterhauch tönt's mir zurück (The specters answer my distress) Dort, wo du nicht bist, dort ist das Glück (Where you are not, there's happiness.)