Fundraising Concert
Saturday 16th January 2027
About the event
text
Winterreise
|
Winterreise (Winter Journey) is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert, a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller.
The Plot and Theme The work functions as a psychological monodrama. A grief-stricken rejected wanderer leaves his beloved's house in the dead of night. He walks aimlessly through a frozen, bleak winter landscape. The physical journey serves as a direct metaphor for existential isolation, despair, and mental unraveling. |
Structure and Notable Songs
Schubert composed the masterpiece in two parts. While originally written for tenor, it is frequently transposed and performed by baritones and basses. Major individual pieces in the cycle include:
Schubert composed the masterpiece in two parts. While originally written for tenor, it is frequently transposed and performed by baritones and basses. Major individual pieces in the cycle include:
- Gute Nacht (Good Night): The opening track where the lonely protagonist leaves town.
- Gefrorne Tränen (Frozen Tears): A realization that tears are freezing on his cheeks.
- Der Lindenbaum (The Linden Tree): A rare, fleeting memory of warmth, peace, and past love.
- Die Krähe (The Crow): A bleak segment where a crow stalks the wanderer like an omen of death.
- Der Leiermann (The Hurdy-Gurdy Man): The chilling final song where he meets a penniless street musician playing barefoot on ice.
