Schubert, Müller, and Die schöne Müllerin

An examination of some of the best loved of nineteenth-century lieder, by Schubert and Wilhelm Muller.

The collaboration of Schubert and the poet Wilhelm Müller produced some of the best loved of nineteenth-century lieder - in particular the song cycle Die schöne Müllerin. Professor Youens shows us how this archetypal tale of love and rejection, which has its origins in medieval romance, Minnesong and popular German legend, is reflected in the poet's own experience, the realms of art and life intertwining. Professor Youens considers other poets' explorations of the theme of a miller maid and her suitors, and looks at other musical settings of Müller's mill poems. But above all she examines Müller's permutation of the literary legends as an exploration of erotic obsession, delusion, frenzy, disillusionment and death and the way in which Schubert crucially altered Müller's vision when the poetic cycle became a musical text.

List of illustrations; List of examples; Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Behind the scenes: the genesis of Wilhelm Müller's cycle; 2. Variations on a poetic theme: hunters, millers and miller maids; 3. Before and after Schubert: at the mill with other composers; 4. 'Lilies that fester': sex and death in Müller's and Schubert's cycles; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

The collaboration of Schubert and the poet Wilhelm Müller produced some of the best loved of nineteenth-century lieder - in particular Die schöne Müllerin. Professor Youens shows us how this archetypal tale of love and rejection is reflected in the poet's own experience, the realms of art and life intertwining.