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Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel

Blogs > AxiomBlurr
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AxiomBlurr
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
786 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-07-11 11:42:43
July 11 2019 11:41 GMT
#1
To say that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust changed the world, is not an understatement. The published Part One of his two part epic play appeared in 1808 and immediately attracted enormous attention from artists, musicians, scholars and the general public alike.

It is still studied in universities around the world and barely a year rolls by without a new 'reading' or understanding being published. I recently read one called Goethe's Faust: The Tragedy of Development, written by Marshall Berman. Berman relates Faust's and Goethe's ideas of 'writing life large' (of taking your ideas and manifesting them across societies and time). It incorporates the Thucydides' style view of the great human, the human of immense energy, sweeping away the old and uttering in the new. Examples given were Faust, Goethe, Baron Haussman and Robert Moses.

Goethe always admired Greek and Roman history and always advocated the ability of the classic era in each to also 'write life and thought large.'

In 1814, in Biedermeier Vienna a seventeen year old Franz Schubert read Part One of Goethe's Faust. He immediately set a portion of the play to piano. The lied he entitled "Gretchen am Spinnrade" (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) and in his own way Schubert, through music would write his own thought large across time and societies, as this song (for piano and soprano) would go on to forever change the world of music, sound and our relationship to it.

Born in Himmelpfortgrund, Vienna in 1797, Franz received music training from his family (particularly his father) and friends from a young age until in 1804 when he was recognized and taught by the highly accomplished composer Anton Salieri (not the one from the Peter Schaffer play). It is said that he quipped: “Teach? I sit back and watch, as the boy already knows everything. Highly likely to be apocryphal but none the les,s Salieri's judgment of Schubert was also mirrored by Beethoven who prophesied “ Yes Schubert will go far.”

Gretchen at the Spinning wheel utilizes text from Part One, Scene 18 of Goethe's Faust.

Schubert's hand written score.

[image loading]


German (and English Translation) of the lied.

www.lieder.net


Elly Ameling (soprano) + Jorg Demus (piano) performance.

www.youtube.com


The setting is Gretchen seated, using her spinning wheel thinking of Faust. The piano initiates the song with a reinforced accelerating and decelerating repeated D minor melody. This melody tonally rises and falls, representing the motion of the wooden spinning wheel as Gretchen pushes the peddle to drive it.

As Gretchen begins to sing of her heartache, the steady rhythm of the rotating wheel accompanies her. But as she recognizes/ sings/ states (in semi-recitative) her situation, she becomes emotionally moved and fails to keep the spinning wheel steady (represented in the piano by the breaking down of the 'spinning melody').

This scenario is repeated. However on the second capitulation, as the melody begins to become more sparse, the piano releases a series of block chords before a moment's silence. This plays as Gretchen is at the height of her ecstatic anger. As Gretchen collects her thoughts, the 'spinning melody' rocks slowly but insistently back into action.

Some have commented that with the return of the steady 'spinning melody' during Gretchen's final lament, Schubert intends to illustrate; reality is always present and that Gretchen cannot (as we cannot) escape reality.

Yet this song was the first in history to explicitly illustrate a philosophy of music that connects humanity's emotional experience, the physical world and our functionality. When we fear, or despair or experience anger, our ability to maintain our functional selves often falters.

In the varied information we have relating to the musician, poet and prophet Orpheus, we find that he played mainly two types of song on his lyre; songs of worship/protection and songs that could animate/control life and nature. It is a fascinating observation that the second type of songs, were always described as 'spinning songs.'

The mechanical nature of the wheel in Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel fulfills multiple roles; metronome, emotional barometer and functional energy/movement.

The multiple layers of complexity set up by the soprano and piano instructing one another, leads to the song being greater than the sum of its parts; the piano supports the soprano, but also has its own identity, the soprano supports the piano but also maintains her own separate psychological existence. Entwined in song the two create a compendium that lives and feels upon every listening.

As Debussy would later say; 'Music does not contain emotion, it is emotion.'

Schubert across the ages and countries has blessed society with a beautiful song that also brings us a burden. The burden that any song written after Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel can no longer just have instruments accompanying the voice, that the instruments must contribute psychologically to the song.

We are still learning/ researching about Schubert's far reaching contribution to song and programmatic music today


With Love...






****
Grumbels
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Netherlands7031 Posts
July 11 2019 17:15 GMT
#2
Nice post.

I studied a number of Schubert piano pieces last year and I thought they were very dramatic, completely dependent on performance. They were satisfying to play, but frustrating at times. I wonder if he really could have gone on to rival Beethoven had he lived longer.
Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it.
AxiomBlurr
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
786 Posts
July 12 2019 01:31 GMT
#3
On July 12 2019 02:15 Grumbels wrote:
Nice post.

I studied a number of Schubert piano pieces last year and I thought they were very dramatic, completely dependent on performance. They were satisfying to play, but frustrating at times. I wonder if he really could have gone on to rival Beethoven had he lived longer.


Thank you,
I am not sure if anyone will ever rival Beethoven, but Schubert most certainly cut his own path and left future generations a large and beautiful collection of music. Morbid fact: A year before Schubert died, he helped carry Beethoven's coffin.
BookTwo
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
1985 Posts
July 12 2019 05:52 GMT
#4
5/5.

This post finally got me looking into "Faust" because it was referred to in the comics Tintin. Bianca Castafiore would always say that she is going to perform "The Jewel Song" from "Faust" but that Opera is different from Goethe's Faust.

Good to clear that up.
AxiomBlurr
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
786 Posts
July 12 2019 10:06 GMT
#5
On July 12 2019 14:52 BookTwo wrote:
5/5.

This post finally got me looking into "Faust" because it was referred to in the comics Tintin. Bianca Castafiore would always say that she is going to perform "The Jewel Song" from "Faust" but that Opera is different from Goethe's Faust.

Good to clear that up.


Thank you, that one may have been on Gounod's Faust, although there have been others.
I honestly have no idea why I set myself to writing such things - I often feel foolish I guess, but if even one of you like it, I think it is enough

intrigue
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
Washington, D.C9933 Posts
July 17 2019 04:09 GMT
#6
enjoyed the read, thanks
Moderatorhttps://soundcloud.com/castlesmusic/sets/oak
AxiomBlurr
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
786 Posts
July 17 2019 13:27 GMT
#7
On July 17 2019 13:09 intrigue wrote:
enjoyed the read, thanks


Thank you very much - I will try to do more music studies.
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