Die Shone Mullerin – The Fair Maiden Of The Mill
By sheer weight of their numbers (over 600). the songs of Schubert occupy a disproportionately large position in the repertory of the high romantic lied. Following the publication of Beethoven's An die feme Geliebte, the idea of a song cycle began to interest Schubert. But it wasn't until he came across the poems of Wilhelm Muller in the spring of 1823 that he decided to set some of them to music which he perpetuated by his compositional genius.
He began work on Die Schone Mullerin in the summer of 1823. and completed the cycle in November that year which he dedicated to Karl Freiherr von Schonstein. Schubert and Vogl
- a leading light of the Vienna court opera - performed some of the songs in Linz on 28th July 1823. It seems incredible that the cycle was not presented in its entirety until Julius Stockhausen performed it in Vienna on 6th May 1856, thirty-two years after it was first published and twenty eight years after Schubert's death. It would be folly to state that Muller's lyrics were of the same merit as those of Heine, Goethe, Eichendorf, or the influential Swabian Eduard Morike. Nevertheless, we are indebted to Muller for inspiring Schubert to string together a garland of exquisite melodies.
Muller, certainly with an awareness of the pun on his own name (Das Wandern ist des Mullers Lust) in the opening song, accounts in this transparent poem for the young miller's fondness for roving. The main means of communication here is the music of the water, which is used to connect each of the stanzas. A syllabic text setting with emphasis on the repetition of the most significant words 'Wandering', 'Water', and 'Mill-stones' provide an element of folksiness Not only do the words fall on the first note, or accented beat of the measure, they keep everything in harness. In the following song, Whither?, the brook is released from the mill-wheel, and meanders at its own sweet will. The song is in the form of a question. There are two implications here: where will the brook lead the youth? should he follow it?, what then will be his destiny? At the phrase 'Downward will I follow the stream' Schubert uses the bass clef to deepen the current.
In the most beautiful song of the cycle. 'The Inquirer. he asks the brook if the maid loves him, his whole world is contained in the brook's reply. will it be yes or no? Here Schubert uses recitative in an effortless fashion. The transition from B major at the phrase ‘yes. is the word I hope for' through C major to G major, demonstrates the composer's skill at giving depth and perspective to the lied. The story of Mine is short and uncomplicated, the proverbial love-bug has done excellent work on the boy's behalf as he exuberantly sings ‘The maid of the mill is mine !' Here we encounter the first fortissimos in the cycle. The introduction also serves as a postlude, and what a delightful end it makes.
The horn call in the C minor song The Hunter, with its few bars of scherzo accents, announces the arrival of the huntsman upon the scene. The miller sees him as a rival for the affections of his loved one and voices his anger in tones bristling with resentment. In the penultimate song The Miller and the Brook, the dialogue between the miller and his only friend the brook, is moving to a degree. With the gentlest ripple of semi-quavers the brook sings its song of comfort 'I'here is a beautiful modulation from B flat at the words 'a cooling peace' to G major at ‘Dearest streamlet sing on and never cease'. In the final E major song, The Brook’s Lullaby’ the gentle rocking effect at the phrase ‘till the stream is embraced by the ocean' is felicity it self
In conclusion. I leave the final words to Johann Michael Vogl the great interpreter, and champion of Schubert-Lieder.
'Nothing shows so plainly the want of a good school of singing as Schubert's songs. …How many would have comprehended, probably for the first time, the meaning of such expressions as 'speech in music.' 'words in harmony.' 'ideas clothed in music,' and so forth, and would have learnt that the finest poems of our greatest poets may be enhanced and even transcended when translated into musical language?.
© Philip Rodden
