In a story as old as time itself boy loves girl, boy loses girl, and boy falls into the depths of despair, forever scarred by the pain of love lost. Such is the tragic tale woven in Franz Schubert's composition, "Winterreise," which will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1 in Sweet Briar College's Memorial Chapel. The recital is free and open to the public.
Baritone Jonathan Green"It's one of the great tragedies of art music," said Jonathan Green, SBC dean of the college and vice president of academic affairs. "And it's kind of interesting because it was one of the last things that Schubert wrote. It was composed during the year of his death and, at least sort of anecdotally, was depressing enough that he had to take a break from it for a while."
Accompanied by pianist and assistant professor, Nick Ross, Green will sing the entire 24-song composition. "When I was about 18 years old, I did a couple of songs from this set and said, 'When I grow up, I want to do the whole thing,' and then it occurred to me that I'm grown up now so I better get around to it," Green said.
Pianist Nick RossComposed in 1828, Schubert's "Winterreise," or "Winter's Journey," is a song cycle based on the tragic poetry of Wilhelm Müller, a Viennese contemporary of Schubert. "By being a cycle they're actually interconnected," Green explained. "In the case of 'Die schöne Müllerin,' those twenty songs tell a story. There's a narrative line that runs from the beginning to the end."
"Die schöne Müllerin," or "The Beautiful Miller Maid," was an earlier Schubert composition also based on a series of Müller poems. "Just to give 'Winterreise' some context, 'Die schöne Müllerin' is about a poet who falls in love with a pretty miller girl," Green said. "She sort of responds until the big, manly hunter shows up and she ends up preferring him over the poet. The poet becomes despondent and eventually drowns himself in the stream. Die 'Winterreise' is less cheerful than that."
The lyrical story begins with the melancholy "Gute Nacht" or "Good Night." "The singer is leaving a house in the middle of the night," Green, a baritone, said, "and we understand he's in love with this girl whom he's leaving but that something has gone wrong with their relationship.
"And he says something about, 'The girl spoke of love. Her mother even talked about marriage. But now it's obviously not going to work and it's best that I leave. And I don't want to wake her up and disturb her, so I'm just going to sneak out in the middle of the dark, but so that she knows that I'm thinking about her, I'll leave a note on the gate that says, good night.' And that's it."
Thus begins the winter journey during which the distraught man wanders the countryside, agonizing over his loss. Through it all, however, the man's love for the girl he left on that cold, winter night remains strong. "All the way through it's clear that he never stops loving her which leads us to believe that it's probably her family rather than her," Green said. "Because there is never any of this bitter, 'You rejected me.' It's more like, 'Why haven't I heard from her?' "
The composition ends with "Der Leiermann," or "The Lyre Man," which Green described as a "deranged and dispassionate song" in which the "almost catatonic" man begs a socially outcast organ grinder to accept him as a musical partner.
Basically, the man "spends 24 songs going crazy," Green said.
Green, who did his doctoral studies in conducting at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, will perform the song cycle in German. During the performance, there will also be an English translation if audience members want to follow along.
Prior to the performance, an authentic German meal will be offered at 6 p.m. in the Prothro dining hall. The menu features Brathähnchen (German-style chicken), Sauerbraten (sour roast), Paprikaschoten für Vegetarier (vegetarian stuffed peppers), Knöpfle: Kartoffeln und Sauerkraut (potatoes and sauerkraut), Grüne Bohnen (green beans), Weckbrötchen (German rolls) and Donauwelle (Black Forest-style cake).
At dinner, SBC professor of German Ron Horwege will talk about what the audience can expect. Dinner is $6.75, $5.50 with an SBC ID.
For more information, please contact Ross at (434) 381-6121 or
nross@sbc.edu or Green at (434) 381-6205 or
jgreen@sbc.edu.
— By
Suzanne Ramsey,
SBC staff writer
