Robert Gomez

Professor Burns

Applied Voice

February 15, 2015

Die Forelle

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) is said to be the last of the classical composers and

the one of the first of the romantic composers. Schubert was the son of a schoolmaster,

therefor he received a good musical education and later went on to boarding school. He

played violin, piano, and sang and was also considered a musical genius. In 1812,

Schubert broke his voice and thus had to leave the Stadtkonvikt, the school he attended,

so he became a schoolmaster for the next four years while simultaneously composing

music. Over the next few years, he wrote a number of piano pieces, symphonies, and a

three-act opera. Schubert is credited with creating the German Lied, or German romantic

music. In 1818, Schubert left education altogether so he could fully pursue his musical

career. That summer, he wrote a string material, including piano duets Variations on a

French Song in E minor and Sonata in B Flat Major. Due to such works, Schubert

gained considerable popularity and was seen as a visionary. His life wasnt always so

easy; many publishers were too scared to take a chance on a young, non-traditional

composer such as himself.

In late 1822, Schubert hit a financial crisis and also fell ill with syphilis. He

struggled to make money for a while, but eventually returned to teaching while still

writing music. While still ill in 1828, Schubert wrote what is considered to be his greatest
piano duet Fantasy in F minor. He continued to write cantatas, sonatas, and symphonies

until he died in 1828 in Vienna, Austria.

Die Forelle (1817) is a song for voice and piano, composed by Schubert, with

words by Christian Friedrich Daniel Shubart. It is one of his most recognizable songs.

The text was written from the view of a person on a riverbank watching the fish swim.

Then, a fisherman arrives and catches a trout, which angers the onlooker, as he

empathizes with the fish. Schubert conveys Shubarts message clearly by first conveying

a pleasurable in the fishs freedom and then anger while watching the fish die.

In einem Bchlein helle, Ein Fischer mit der Rut

Da schoss in froher Eil Wohl an dem Ufer stand,

Die launische Forelle Und Sahs mit kaltem blute

Vorueber wie ein Pfeil. Wie sich das Fischlein wand

Ich stand an dem Gestade So lang dem Wasser helle

Und sah in ssser Ruh So dacht ich, nicht gebricht,

Des muntern Fishleins Bade So fngt er die Forelle

Im klaren Bchlein zu. Mit seiner Angel nicht

Doch endlich ward dem Diebe Und ich regem Blute

Die Zeit zu lang. Sah die Betrogne an.

Er macht das Bchlein tckisch trbe,

Und eh ich es gedacht

So zuckte seine Rute

Das Fischlein zappelt dran,

In a clear little brook,

There darted, about in happy haste,

The moody trout

Dashing everywhere like an arrow.

I stood on the bank

And watched, in sweet peace,

The fishs bath

In the clear little brook

A fisherman with his gear

Came to stand on the bank

And watched with cold blood

As the little fish weaved here and there.

But as long as the water remains clear,

I thought, no worry,

Hell never catch the trout with his hook

But finally, for the thief,

Time seemed to pass too slowly.

He made the little brook murky,

And before I thought it could be,

So his line twitched.

There thrashed the fish,

And I, with raging blood,

Gazed on the betrayed one.

When I sing through this piece, I think about somebody that always comes along and

ruins my nice moments in life. Schubarts text, along with Schuberts writing, give a

somewhat agitated sound once the character learns that the trout has died. His various

dynamic levels along with the general bounciness of the piece make it both fun and

difficult to sing while trying to deliver emotion.