Schubert and Schumann

Our At Lunch 2 concerts featuring Roderick Williams and Britten Sinfonia Voices focus on the part songs of Schubert and Schumann. SinfoniaStudent, Anna Kaye explores both composers in this fascinating article;

Schubert and Schumann are composers that I first encountered quite late in my musical education. I was sixteen before I played the cello line of the Unfinished Symphony, and I still have only listened to much of Schumann’s lieder where I have sung many of the other major composers of the mid-Romantic period. As I reflected on this, I was initially frustrated by the fact that such wonderful music was absent from my repertoire for so long. But it is in reflection that I understand that this was perhaps a good thing.

Schubert was the epitome of the tortured artist. It is estimated that in his lifetime that only 10% of his works were actually performed. Despite this, Schubert lent respectability to song as a form that would not have been seen before. He changed the public’s perception of song as a genre, and this change was no less momentous for being posthumous. Lieder was the field of the amateur composer, of the homespun musician, and of the inexpert singer. Part songs were equally trivial, being composed to suit the requests of whichever choir performed them. Schubert took these genres and transformed them into something that required skill, and more importantly, taste, on the part of the performers. One need only listen to a substandard performance of Du Bist die Ruh to see that it highlights, rather than masks, the weaknesses of the singer - and, to a lesser extent, the accompanist. The part songs are no less forgiving for the singers. The favour of high tenor lines seems to have been founded in Schubert’s early life working with the boys’ choir of the Imperial Chapel, and the combinations of soloist and chorus, accompanied and unaccompanied, are certainly reminiscent of the demands and abilities of a group which fluctuated between boys’ and men’s voices.

Schubert tended to follow an instinct that allowed music to flow from his pen, and wrote very little literature for such a prolific composer of music. Robert Schumann was, first and foremost, a writer. His On Music and Musicians continues to provide some of the definitive reviews of music that we musicians value today. There is a particularly well-thumbed edition from my college library that has made the near-permanent move to my room as I continue to review it, much to the chagrin of the four other music students at my college. But it is not necessarily musical interest that drives me to return to Schumann again and again. It is the simple joy of reading such eloquent and expressive writing. Certainly, one cannot deny that Schumann is a skilled composer. Mondnacht, which Roderick will be singing in At Lunch 2, is a fantastic piece of music and one of the best examples of Schumann’s strophic song. But, in my opinion, it is the poetry that flowed from Schumann that is what elevates him above Schubert in the composition of song. In the words of the composer himself:

“People who are unfamiliar with the most significant manifestations of recent literature are considered uncultured. The same should apply to music.”

Schumann believed that the piano had a voice independent and equal to the singer. He was not entirely trusting of the singer and their ability, but his faith in the abilities of the piano is all too clear, not only in his song but in his solo piano compositions such as Traumerei, one of the greatest and most popular piano pieces ever written, so much so that it features heavily in one of my favourite novels - Jilly Cooper’s Appasionata. Make of that what you will.

Schumann and Schubert were complex people and both their lives ended in tragedy - Schumann’s in an asylum, and Schubert’s taken by syphilis. However, their vocal music transcends these unhappy circumstances to lift up the listener to a calmer, higher place. Schubert, particularly, was adamant that the purpose of music was to raise the listener “closer to God”. It is indeed complex music but it is also music that is returned to again and again - much like my borrowed copy of On Music and Musicians.

The reason I am glad that I didn’t attempt to perform the work of these composers until later in my life, and the reason I am glad I have yet to perform the majority of them, is because the performance of their works requires great tenacity in one’s technique and a superior judgment that leads the performer away from self-indulgence. I possessed neither of these when I was younger, and it will be a while yet before I will feel secure in performing a song cycle like Winterreise. It is a excellent thing then, that those attending At Lunch 2, will have the pleasure of hearing performers like Roderick Williams and Britten Sinfonia Voices, whose judgment and taste I trust implicitly.

Anna Kaye
Britten Sinfonia, SinfoniaStudent

At Lunch 2 performances take place on Wednesday 5 February 2014 at London's Wigmore Hall, Sunday 9 February 2014 at Saffron Walden's Saffron Hall and on Tuesday 11 February at Cambridge's West Road Concert Hall. Click here for more details.

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Meet Henning Kraggerud

For the opening concert's of Britten Sinfonia's 2011-12 season the orchestra will be joined by violinist Henning Kraggerud. In this edition of our occasional series of Q and A's with soloists, musicians and staff, Henning answers a few questions.


What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Hard to single out, but probably Beethoven with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, but I also loved Tchaikovsky at the Proms in 2010.

When are you happiest?
With my family at Christmas.

What is your greatest fear?
You think I will tell?

What is your earliest musical memory?
Listening to Beethoven symphonies as a toddler.

Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Haruki Murakami, because he is like Beethoven in the way that he didn’t give up before he became a genius through hard work, rather than born a genius like Mozart.

What is your most treasured possession?
My violin.

What would your super power be?
Controlling the flow of time.

If you were an animal what would you be?
Pan-dimensional being, partly mouse, as described by Douglas Adams.

What is your favourite book?
At the moment 1Q84 (Haruki Murakami), but is has been Lord of the Rings, Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, Never Let Me Go, The Corrections…

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Peshawari naan and Madras curry with Cobra beer.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?
To listen to Chopin play maybe?

How do you relax away from the concert platform?
Reading lots of books.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Having 2 children

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Not believing in easy answers you can write in one sentence.

In a nutshell, what is your philosophy?
Those who have both legs firmly planted to the ground go nowhere.

Henning will be directing and performing with Britten Sinfonia in Mozart's 4th Violin Concerto, Mahler's arrangement of Schubert's Death and the Maiden and a new work by Piers Tattersall. Concerts take place at Norwich Theatre Royal on Sunday 2 October, Cambridge's West Road Concert Hall on Wednesday 5 October and in London at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall on Friday 7 October. For more info click here

Imogen Cooper wins RPS Award

We were delighted that Imogen Cooper was the Instrumentalist Award winner at the RPS Music Awards, presented last Thursday evening at the Dorchester. The citation sums up why we enjoy working with her so much: 'Imogen Cooper's distinction as one of the most formidable musicians of her time is widely recognised. But the intellect, musicality and programming skills that she has demonstrated in her music-making in 2007 have, we feel, taken her to new levels. This award celebrates her achievements as a deeply thoughtful soloist, an inspirational keyboard director and a fastidiously accomplished chamber musician.' Britten Sinfonia next performs with her in February 2009 when we continue our Beethoven concerto cycle with no. 3. The concerts are in London, Cambridge and Norwich. Stephen Moss' article in the Guardian last week about Imogen makes fascinating reading. You might also enjoy Mark Padmore's discussion of Schubert's song cycles in the same paper: more of our next project with Mark later.