Classical Music | Soprano

Recorded on 08/15/2011, uploaded on 09/29/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

As Schubert is ubiquitously known for his vast number of German lieder and elevating the form into the realm of high art, it is not surprising that his few examples of Italian song are somewhat overlooked. Some were written as exercises while under the tutelage of Antonio Salieri; others to meet the demands of the virtuoso Lablache. However, in 1820 he composed his Vier Canzonen, D. 668 for Franziska Roner von Ehrenwerth, a singer of modest talent and future wife of Schubert’s oldest friend Josef von Spaun. Though they may pale in comparison to his many lieder, Schubert nevertheless composed these four songs without dictates from others, be it instructor or performer, save for his graceful catering to von Ehrenwerth’s vocal talent. The range required of the singer is modest, yet the vocal melodies remain challenging in other aspects. Perhaps their one downfall is the piano accompaniments are at times unimaginative, if not trite and tawdry. However, in these settings, Schubert remained relatively true to the bel canto style, albeit in his own imagining of it, and his usually text painting and inventive accompaniments are subordinated, or altogether eliminated, for the sake of the graceful and lyrical flow of the vocal melody. Of the four songs, two of texts are by Pietro Metastasio, the famed librettists whose poetry was set by composers such as Mozart and Rossini; the other two were by Jacopo Vittorelli. Each is constructed along simple means, either strophic or ternary in design.     Joseph DuBose

The Steans Music Institute is the Ravinia Festival's professional studies program for young musicians.