Analysis of The Twin Brothers

Die Zwillingsbrüder(The Twin Brothers, D. 647) is a one-

act Singspiel (sometimes also described as a Posse mit Gesang) composed
by Franz Schubert in 1819 on a libretto by Georg Ernst von Hofmann. Die
Zwillingsbrüder was first performed at the Kärntnertortheater on June 14,
1820. Hofmann based the libretto on the 1818 French vaudeville Les deux
Valentin (The Two Valentines) by Marc-Antoine Madeleine
Désaugiers and Michel-Joseph Gentil de Chavagnac(1770–1846).

Die Zwillingsbrüder, like Schubert's other operatic works, met with limited
success both at the work's inception and over time. Critics attribute this to
the weakness of the libretto as well as to a mismatch between the lightness of
the subject matter and the refined nature of Schubert's music. In this work,
Schubert's music often approaches the style of Mozart, evoking for
instance Die Zauberflöte.

Summary of The Twin Brothers

The scene takes place in a village on the Rhine, on the 18th birthday of
the young heroine, Lieschen. Lieschen is eagerly awaiting her marriage to
her young fiancé, Anton. The opera opens with a chorus in the couple's
honor.

Unfortunately, upon Lieschen's birth, her father, Der Schulze, had agreed
with a friend, Franz Spiess, that, in exchange for a sum of money, Franz
would be allowed to marry Lieschen when she came of age. Immediately
following the deal, Spiess had left for the war. Franz, now an old veteran
whom the villagers had presumed dead, suddenly returns, on the last day on
which he can claim his bride, and Lieschen's father must keep his word.

Coincidentally, Friedrich Spiess, Franz’s twin brother, also a veteran,

happens to return to the village on that same day. The Spiess brothers are
both under the impression that their twin was killed in the war. Since they
are identical twins and they are never in the same place at the same time,
the villagers mistake them for each other. The twins' stories and behaviors
do not match (while one brother strives to arrange his marriage to the
heroine, the other gladly revokes his right to it), leading Der Schulze to
believe that the old soldier has sustained a mentally impairing sword wound
and that he is unfit to marry his daughter. After this confusion is used to
comic effect in a variety of ways, the twins finally meet, and Lieschen is
allowed to marry Anton.
 Die Zwillingsbrüder
(The Twin Brothers)
By Franz Schubert

Group 1

Dee, Tricia Mae

Mendoza, Diane

Panopio, Kris Anne

Ebora, Ericka

Coliat, Camille

Bayhon, Miggy

Frane, Karen

Agbay, Aziza