Ständchen

Not to be confused with its namesake from the Schubertian song cycle Schwanengesang, “Ständchen” D. 889 is a terse, single strophe of Shakespeare as translated by August Schlegel. The lark referred to in the poem makes its appearance in the accompaniment’s buoyant rhythm, though beyond that Schubert’s setting is sparse with text painting. At the start of the text’s fifth line he makes a striking shift from F major to D-flat, which seems less motivated by the text than it is by the need for contrast. The final measures revel in incomplete closure, as the voice leaps up successively on the text “steh’ auf.”

(c) Jason Stell