Download Composer: Franz Schubert

Composer: Franz Schubert
Title: "Heidenröslein" ("The Wild Rose")
Type of Composition: Lied
Form: stropic
This simple, folklike song, written by Schubert when he was only 18, embodies a number of typical
Romantic characteristics. The subject of Goethe's poem is a delicate and vulnerable rose, which is plucked
by an insensitive boy. The rose achieves brief revenge by pricking the boy's finger; but, of course, it is
doomed to die. The reverence for nature, the fantasy of the subject, and the melancholy end of the tale are
all Romantic traits, as are the folklike nature of the music and the sensitive mating of music and text.
The texture of the Lied is homophonic, and the piano accompaniment bears less dramatic responsibility
than in many of Schubert's songs; but the light and innocent piano figure which occurs between the verses
sets the mood and is an integral, rather than a decorative, element of the song.
Although the three verses are set to the same music, a good singer effectively expresses the nuances of the
text by subtle changes in voice quality, dynamic level, and facial expression. Rubato greatly enhances the
gentle humor and the pathos of the song.