stuart estell Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Folks, I was mucking about on the piano last night and thought I might unearth my big book of Schubert songs. Apart from the obvious pretty severe co-ordination problems with trying to sing and play the accompaniments together, it struck me that his piano writing is often open enough in texture to transfer quite well to duet with a bit of tweaking. I suppose the obvious ones to have a go at would be the "pop classics" like Who Is Sylvia? but I'm wondering about doing some of Winterreise in a slightly folky way. Has anyone else tried any Schubert songs on box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Ooh no they're a bit 'Victorian Parlour' for me ("well why on earth is he playing a concertina then...?"). Try some baroque, Stuart; get the right piece and they're written for shorter keyboards and fit the range. They exercise your crossover skills and you can pretend to be playing a chamber organ. I've got several carefully selected baroque pieces I can't play yet. Got a cracking Handel Sarabande I can nearly play; it's not hard and sounds great, (slow and grand) I'll find you the ref. if you're interested. Should baroque have a capital letter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Folks, I was mucking about on the piano last night and thought I might unearth my big book of Schubert songs. Apart from the obvious pretty severe co-ordination problems with trying to sing and play the accompaniments together, it struck me that his piano writing is often open enough in texture to transfer quite well to duet with a bit of tweaking. I suppose the obvious ones to have a go at would be the "pop classics" like Who Is Sylvia? but I'm wondering about doing some of Winterreise in a slightly folky way. Has anyone else tried any Schubert songs on box? I've not tried them on a box Stuart, but encourage you to do so. Winterreise is a monumental undertaking. I had enough trouble taking care of the vocal responsibilities . Folky way works with a lot of Schubert. I attended a performance of Winterreise a few years back with a very nice baritone accompanied by a guitarist. 'Twas magic. For a deeply rewarding challenge, could I suggest Schuberts An die Musik? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart estell Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 Ooh no they're a bit 'Victorian Parlour' for me ("well why on earth is he playing a concertina then...?"). Try some baroque, Stuart. The thing is, I rarely - if ever - these days learn purely instrumental music, and my voice doesn't sound good singing Baroque vocal music. On the other hand Schubert was obviously very aware of folk melodies and I think I might be able to get away with singing some moderately convincingly. My own take on him is that he's like Mozart - deceptively simple-sounding but so amazingly life-affirming. I've not tried them on a box Stuart, but encourage you to do so. Winterreise is a monumental undertaking. I had enough trouble taking care of the vocal responsibilities blink.gif . Folky way works with a lot of Schubert. I attended a performance of Winterreise a few years back with a very nice baritone accompanied by a guitarist. 'Twas magic. For a deeply rewarding challenge, could I suggest Schuberts An die Musik? Thanks Mark, I'd forgotten about that one, and you're right, it's glorious. I've accompanied it numerous times on piano but have never tried singing it myself. I don't think I'll be performing the whole of Winterreise at any point in the near future either! Might see if I can get "Good Night" sorted first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 I'm very fond of Gute Nacht and the last one as well, Der Leirermann. The accompaniment is supposed to resemble a hurdy-gurdy and I can just hear a duet pulling off that texture beautifully. Now if one wanted to get crazy, how about the Earlking. What an accompaniment! Again a natural for the duet. Can't believe he wrote that thing a 17. Well, have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 (edited) I worked out the chords for Der stürmische Morgen (The Stormy Morning) from Winterreise and tried singing it and playing my accordion (piano-accordion). It sounded pretty bad...but, that was a few years ago, and I may try it again but with my concertina and foot bass. I only 'folky-fye' stuff, I guess....can't pretend to be a classical performer anyway, and I like to feel comfortable with the song! If something of Schubert's ever works out nicely for me, I'll let you know... (edited for spelling typo) Edited March 29, 2007 by bellowbelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 (edited) Hi Wendy, I just did a class on dear Schubert and thought of you as I took my students through Die Forelle. Honest, I could hear you singing it as the woman beside the brook contentedly watching a trout swimming about and in horror witnesses a fisherman approach the pool and through craft catch the poor fish. Edited March 29, 2007 by Mark Evans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 (edited) Hi Wendy, I just did a class on dear Schubert and thought of you as I took my students through Die Forelle. Honest, I could hear you singing it as the woman beside the brook contentedly watching a trout swimming about and in horror witnesses a fisherman approach the pool and through craft catch the poor fish. I think I'd probably love your class! Hmm, maybe I should look into taking just a class or two. (Don't know that I'd work towards a degree, but at least get more edjumu-cated!) I have listened to Die Forelle but haven't attempted to work that one out, so far. Lately, though, I have really been appreciating the classical music I've had the chance to listen to and learn about. Good old WGBH radio, of course, and then as well, I just joined the 'Classic Composers' club and will receive CDs with cute little tiny informative books every three weeks. Anyway, it seems like I had something else to say, but...forgot it. Anyway, I will post a link here to the .htm file I just made today to show the lyrics/chords for 'The Stormy Morning' (Schubert). The Stormy Morning (from Winterreise) ~ chord transcription & English words Here's another link to the same, though this one is not 'direct' -- The Stormy Morning (-- You might need to adjust the 'view text size' on your computer to 'smallest,' I'm not sure.) Edited March 30, 2007 by bellowbelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart estell Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 I'm very fond of Gute Nacht and the last one as well, Der Leirermann. The accompaniment is supposed to resemble a hurdy-gurdy and I can just hear a duet pulling off that texture beautifully. Now if one wanted to get crazy, how about the Earlking. What an accompaniment! Again a natural for the duet. Can't believe he wrote that thing a 17. Well, have fun. Mark, a question for you - are there any English translations you'd particularly recommend before I start hacking the ones in my Schirmer edition to pieces? When I had a sing through Gute Nacht in English I found some of the translated phrases a bit on the clunky side, although I can't recall off-hand which ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 (edited) Mark, a question for you - are there any English translations you'd particularly recommend before I start hacking the ones in my Schirmer edition to pieces? When I had a sing through Gute Nacht in English I found some of the translated phrases a bit on the clunky side, although I can't recall off-hand which ones. Unfortunately, there are none in my experience. A good source is Fisher-Diskau's book on Lieder translations. They make no attempt to be poetic, but give a clear indication of the intent and taste of the word meaning. I would suggest giving them a once over and then create your own. With an idea toward poetic word usage during the same period in England, I think you will be golden. Gute Nacht is an extremely troubling song. The lad has it all, good work, a pretty girl (the employers daughter) and her mother is smiling about their potental association. He throws it all away to head off in the dead of winter. It turns out to be a very long journey. Edited March 30, 2007 by Mark Evans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 (edited) I have listened to Die Forelle but haven't attempted to work that one out, so far. Lately, though, I have really been appreciating the classical music I've had the chance to listen to and learn about. Good old WGBH radio, of course, and then as well, I just joined the 'Classic Composers' club and will receive CDs with cute little tiny informative books every three weeks. That should be fun Wendy. I miss the large informative books that came with those type of compilation recordings when we had 33 1/3 LPs. 'Lots of pictures and illustrations. I don't miss the scratchy recordings however. Bon Chance on the Stormy Moring. It's a good one. All this Winterrise talk encouraged me to get out the cassette recording of a performance I did of the work at the Thayer Conservatory there in your neck of the woods in 1991. The formal salon was the perfect setting. Megan Henderson (my accompanist) and I even brought a 1828 Graf fortepiano copy for the performance. We did alright and were so into authentic that I insisted on scheduling the performance in freakin' February. Thayer is a breezy old mansion. Fortunately, my audience was forgiving despite being a bit chilled. Edited March 30, 2007 by Mark Evans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart estell Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 (edited) Mark, a question for you - are there any English translations you'd particularly recommend before I start hacking the ones in my Schirmer edition to pieces? When I had a sing through Gute Nacht in English I found some of the translated phrases a bit on the clunky side, although I can't recall off-hand which ones. Unfortunately, there are none in my experience. A good source is Fisher-Diskau's book on Lieder translations. They make no attempt to be poetic, but give a clear indication of the intent and taste of the word meaning. I would suggest giving them a once over and then create your own. OK, will do - thanks for your help Mark. Edited to say - an absolute steal on Amazon for just under £9 Edited March 30, 2007 by stuart estell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delbert Blackketter Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 (edited) Schubert songs - it struck me that his piano writing is often open enough in texture to transfer quite well to duet with a bit of tweaking.Has anyone else tried any Schubert songs on box? Stuart, Your discussion with Mark and Wendy got me to the point of buying two CDs of Schubert songs. On one of them 'Franz Schubert - die Schoene Muellerin' the first song on the CD is 'Das Wandern Ist Des Muellers Lust' which I know of as a simple little folk tune from a Reclam booklet of German folk songs. I had no idea that was Schubert. Edited to add: Franz Schubert: Die Schoene Muellerin, Arte Nova Classics, sung by Christian Gerhaher, accompanist Gerold Huber lyrics in German and English in the CD booklet Schubert: 12 Lieder/Moments musicaux, EMI Classics, sung by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, accompanist Edwin Fischer lyrics in German and English in the CD booklet Deutsche Volkslieder http://www.reclam.de/detail/978-3-15-010615-0#inhaltsverz My copy is the size of a packet on index cards; very small and handy. I often keep it in the case with my Stagi mini English. Regards Del Edited April 3, 2007 by Delbert Blackketter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 (edited) [On one of them 'Franz Schubert - die Schoene Muellerin' the first song on the CD is 'Das Wandern Ist Des Muellers Lust' which I know of as a simple little folk tune from a Reclam booklet of German folk songs. I had no idea that was Schubert. That's a good cycle with several monster strophic songs. The big Mamou you have just mentioned is on face value simple....ha!. Each verse has to stand out. What a challenge for the voice. I know that past collaborators on the fortepiano had to work very hard to make that left hand a mill wheel, a forest path, the stream. Again, I think the duet is just the beast to pull it off. Just can't imagine singing it and playing. I'd be a wreck! Such fun. Edited April 3, 2007 by Mark Evans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart estell Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 While ambling around Amazon.co.uk I found this. It seems insanely cheap for what it is, although I do wonder whether I'd actually be able to digest the whole lot. Still, payday approaches... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 (edited) While ambling around Amazon.co.uk I found this. It seems insanely cheap for what it is, although I do wonder whether I'd actually be able to digest the whole lot. Still, payday approaches... Ah Stuart, those gentlemen are the gold standard measure. The young Deiskau's voice is so expressive and Gerald Moore was truely an equal partner. A class act all the way. The price has come down a bit since its original release....whew! Edited April 13, 2007 by Mark Evans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart estell Posted April 17, 2007 Author Share Posted April 17, 2007 Well my book of translations hasn't arrived yet, but I had a go at singing "Gute Nacht" to the Maccann duet last night in the clunky Schirmer edition English translation. I just about got through the introduction and the first verse - very slowly - before my brain exploded. I think I'm going to need to go through a process of mentally translating the written accompaniment into chord symbols, before attempting any kind of reliable arrangement for box. Not to mention training my fingers to find all these alien chords with flats in them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Stuart, I can't imagine doing this. My hat's off to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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