Description

Walther Dürr presents Volume 8 of the new Urtext edition of Schubert’s lieder in separate editions for high, medium and low voice.

This volume contains lieder originating during the latter half of 1815, between August and November. Three series of lieder, each based on a particular poet, immediately catch the eye: a number of Ossian settings, a group of Klopstock lieder and finally another set on texts that Schubert found in a Viennese almanac (Selam). Furthermore, the series of Schubert lieder on texts by the North German poet Ludwig Theobul Kosegarten which starts in Volume 7, is concluded in this volume.

Description

Volume 9 of the new Urtext edition of Schubert’s lieder contains lieder composed during the spring and summer of 1816, some of which follow upon series started in 1815. They are available in separate books for high, medium and low voice. The volume was completed by the eminent Schubert scholar Walter Dürr who passed away at the beginning of 2018.

It was in 1816 that Schubert completed his settings of Ossian’s songs and added lieder on texts by Johann Georg Jacobi, Johann Peter Uz and Matthias Claudius. Also included are the lieder from the Grob family songbook. In summer 1816 Schubert produced his first settings of poems by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (“Grablied auf einen Soldaten” and “An mein Klavier”), the author of the words to one of his most famous songs “Die Forelle”/ “The Trout” (see Volume 2).

Description

Volume 10 of the new Urtext edition of Schubert’s lieder contains works composed between September 1816 and August 1817. Above all, the collaboration with his friend, the poet Johann Mayrhofer, was decisive for Schubert’s development as a lieder composer in these months.

Description

Volume 11 of the Bärenreiter Urtext edition of Schubert’s lieder seamlessly follows on from the preceding volume with nine songs that were written between August and November 1817. Also included are the complete lieder from 1818 to 1819. For Schubert, these were years of crisis and new beginnings. He left his parental home for good, turned away from established models in his instrumental compositions and went in search of new themes, drawing not only on poets familiar to him, such as Johann Mayrhofer or Aloys Wilhelm Schreiber, but also on authors unknown to him, such as Franz Grillparzer or Johann Petrus Silbert. A significant role in his lied compositions during these years is played by cyclical forms, such as the four songs on hymns by Novalis or the three songs that form an entity based on texts by Mayrhofer, all of which are contained in this volume.

Description

Schubert lieder for discerning musicians The start of a new Bärenreiter Urtext Edition The New Schubert Edition is the only scholarly-critical edition that will, once completed, include Franz Schubert’s lieder in their entirety. In response to the rising expectations of performers and listeners alike, all the lieder will be published over the next few years in performing editions containing the text of Walther Dürr , the eminent Schubert scholar and former Managing Editor of the New Schubert Edition. The new series will substitute the edition jointly published by Bärenreiter and G. Henle since 1977.

Introduction by Walther Dürr focuses on peculiarities in the genesis and performance history of each lied and provides solid information on performance practice

– Adopts straightforward ordering principle from the New Schubert Edition: first by opus number, then in chronological order

– Complete transposition into three vocal registers finally allows every singer to work with the latest findings of Schubert scholarship

The edition is scheduled to include eleven volumes. Each volume will appear in three editions; one for high voice, one for middle voice and one for low voice.

“There are still too few singers who use the scholarly-critical edition of Schubert’s lieder with the Urtext from the New Schubert Edition. However, the awareness to work with the musical text and its transmission is growing, even among solo vocalists. The edition has been produced, adhering where possible to the original musical text and without editorial emendations. This enables singers and accompanists to make their own interpretations of the lieder, while keeping as close to Schubert’s original intentions as possible. Not only are editorial decisions clearly identified – this is to be expected in the critical editions of today – but Schubert’s notational idiosyncrasies are fully retained, e. g the exact placement of dynamic marks and the often vague distinction between crescendo hairpins and accents. The edition gives suggestions for rendering appoggiaturas and grace-notes and includes alternative versions in the appendix. This makes it abundantly clear that introductions and other ornamental embellishments were fully in keeping with the musical practice of Schubert’s time. We are delighted to learn that this high-quality edition will now be published.”

( Christoph Prégardien Andreas Staier )

The Editor

For more than two decades Professor Walther Dürr was the Managing Editor of the Neue Schubert- Ausgabe in Tübingen , to which he contributed the lieder volumes. He has taught at the universities of Stuttgart , Freiburg, Berne , and Tübingen and is considered one of the most distinguished Schubert scholars in the world.

Description

Walther Dürr , one of the world’s most distinguished Schubert scholars, now continues his new Urtext edition of Schubert’s lieder with the second volume for high, medium, and low voice, adding forty-six further lieder with the definitive texts from the “New Schubert Edition” and the composer’s original groupings.

The volume contains not only such well-known lieder as Die Forelle and Der Alpenjäger , but two of Schubert’s smaller song cycles: the Mignon Lieder from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister and the songs from Sir Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake .

Especially useful to performers are the alternative versions reproduced for several of the lieder, allowing seemingly familiar works to appear in a new light.

The edition also takes the practical side of music-making into account. The larger size of its volumes guarantees a spacious and uncluttered appearance on the page. A detailed preface by Walther Dürr recounts the genesis and transmission of each lied and outlines its source materials.

Description

Walther Dürr , one of the most distinguished Schubert scholars, has edited the third volume of Schubert lieder in versions for high, medium and low voice. With this publication, further lieder are now available in Schubert’s original groupings with definitive texts based on the “New Schubert Edition”. The third volume contains not only well-known lieder such as “ Der Wanderer an den Mond ” and “ An die Musik ” but also Schubert’s best-known song cycle “Die Winterreise ”.

The appendix contains five lieder from this cycle (“ Wasserflut ”, “ Rast ”, “ Einsamkeit ”, “ Mut ” and “ Der Leiermann ”) in the keys in which Schubert originally wrote them. For the first edition these were transposed into lower keys by him or his publisher Haslinger .

Therefore, the volume for high voice (BA 9103) contains a further attraction for tenors whereas the tessituras in the main part of the volume are more suitable for a high baritone. In the editions for medium voice (BA 9123) and low voice (BA 9143) , the appendix contains alternative higher versions for these songs.

The practical side of music-making has also been taken into account in this edition. The larger format of the volumes guarantees a clear easy-to-read layout. The extensive foreword by Walther Dürr (Ger, Eng) describes the genesis and transmission of each lied as well as its sources.

Description

Walther Dürr , one of the best-known Schubert scholars, has now edited the fourth volume of songs for high, medium and low voices as a continuation of the new Urtext edition of Schubert Lieder. This contains both the last books of lieder which Schubert himself saw into print together with individual lieder. These were printed during Schubert’s lifetime in little-known sources, in periodicals and almanacs, but were not included by him in lieder volumes or published as works with their own opus number, together with lieder listed in the Deutsch catalogue as “undated” (D 990A to D 990C).

They were mostly written between 1826 and 1828.

The best-known settings in this volume are probably the fourteen lieder D 957 and D 965A drawn together as ‘Schwanengesang’ to poems by Ludwig Rellstab, Heinrich Heine and “Die Taubenpost” by Johann Gabriel Seidl. As this was Schubert’s last major composition, the collection, posthumously published by Haslinger at the beginning of May 1829, later acquired the name ‘Schwanengesang’, the name traditionally given to an artist’s last work.

Description

As a continuation of the new Urtext edition of the Schubert lieder, Walther Dürr has now edited volume five for high, medium and low voices. Volumes 1 to 4 of this edition contain mainly lieder which Schubert himself saw into print (in his own choice and order) and in the fourth volume works from the last two years of his life are included. The lieder in volume 5 onwards are strictly presented in the order of Deutsch’s Thematic Catalogue which means that in principle they are arranged chronologically.

The lieder in volume five were composed in the years 1811 to 1814. The first – “Hagars Klage” (D 5), dated 30 March 1811 – is also his first complete surviving song. The first eleven lieder are evidence of his early studies (1811–1813/14). During this period Schubert immersed himself in Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg’s ballads and lieder and wrote Italian arias during his composition lessons with Antonio Salieri. He also composed a single strophic song (“Klaglied”, D 23), which – the only one of these songs – was published shortly after his death in November 1830 as op. 131, 3. His apprentice work, as it were, was the major ballade “Der Taucher” (D 77) which was composed between 1813 and roughly the beginning of 1815. Probably not by chance, his first complete opera (“Des Teufels Lustschloss”, D 84) was written at the same time. He also set fourteen poems by Friedrich von Matthisson exploring the principle of the strophic lied.

Description

Continuing the new Urtext edition of Schubert’s lieder, editor Walther Dürr now presents volume 6, for high, medium and low voice. While volumes 1 to 4 of this series contain mostly lieder that Schubert had published during his lifetime, volume 5ff. contain the remaining songs which are presented basically chronologically in the order of their Deutsch catalogue number.

The lieder in this sixth volume were composed during the period between autumn 1814 and spring 1815. With “Nachtgesang” (D 119) and “Trost in Tränen” (D120) Schubert turns to the “Strophenlied” in its stricter sense for the first time. He develops an interest in this form parallel to his first involvement with Geothe. Schubert, during this period an assistant teacher at his father’s school, orientated himself towards the so-called “Berliner Liederschule”, particularly the songs of Johann Friedrich Reichardt. By the beginning of the year 1815 he drew his inspiration mainly from the texts of Theodor Körner; however he regularly still produced settings for the poetry of Goethe and Schiller.

Description

The new Urtext edition of Schubert’s lieder edited by Walther Dürr continues with volume 7, presented in separate volumes for high, medium, and low voice. This new volume contains the lieder that Schubert composed between May and August 1815, including his setting of Schiller’s ballad “Die Bürgschaft” (D 246).