Im Frühling

Like “Am Fenster,” Schubert’s setting of “Im Frühling” (In Spring) starts with an evocation of sacred or hymn music. The poem offers a reverie, nostalgiac musings on love and the beloved sparked by the return of spring’s fair clime. Its six stanzas are organized by their music into a nearly strophic arrangement: ABABCB. A short song-like piano interlude separates the second and third stanzas. The only wrinkle is strophe 5, which turns to G minor as the text deals with themes of “change”; at the end of these musings all that remains are love (possibly love lost) and its humbling companion, sorrow.

(c) Jason Stell