Classical Principle Weekly
Dec 13, 2022
Schubert's “Death and the Maiden”:
One great thing about classical art is that it does not preach or moralize. It does not attempt to teach a lesson. Rather, it leaves the audience free to figure out the solutions for themselves. That does not mean that such art is dispassionate, neutral, or devoid of emotion. Nor is it value-free. Neither is it the liberal "It can mean whatever you want it to mean." It is extremely passionate and holds to deep values. Yet, even in the most heated passion, it prefers to be thought-provoking, rather than didactic. When a person discovers something through their own powers of reason, their discovery will be real in a way that artificially induced beliefs will not.
Matthias Claudius (1740-1815), wrote this poem, “Death and the Maiden” ("Der Tod und das Mädchen") in 1774.
German English
Das Mädchen: The Maiden:
Vorüber! Ach, vorüber! Go away!, Oh go away!
Geh, wilder Knochenmann! Go, you wild man made of bones!
Ich bin noch jung! Geh, Lieber, I am not young! Go, lover.
Und rühre mich nicht an. And do not touch me.
Und rühre mich nicht an. And do not touch me.
Der Tod: Death
Gieb deine Hand, du schön und zart Gebild!
Give me your hand,
you beautiful tender vision!
Bin Freund, und komme nicht, zu strafen. I am a friend, and come
not to punish you,
Sey gutes Muths! Ich bin nicht wild, Be of good cheer. I am not
fierce,
Sollst sanft in meinen Armen schlafen! Softly, in my arms, shall you
sleep!
The poem is designed as a dialogue. How is it to be read? The reciter must obviously create two different voices. The meter helps. The maiden speaks in iambic trimeter (three iambs per line). Death speaks in iambic tetrameter (four iambs per line, except the first which is five.)
What does it mean? The most common interpretation is that it means exactly what it says, that death comes as a comforter, a friend. We live in an age when euthanasia is promoted as caring, and offering relief from pain. But it is also a cost-cutting measure with tremendous potential for for abuse, where some people who are on the edge of despair and require actual comfort, are pressured “not to be a burden," and agree to end their lives.
In Renaissance paintings, “Death and the Maiden” referred to the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades, the king of the underworld.
How does Schubert set it? A piano prelude in D minor sets a sad tone. The maiden's distraught entrance changes the tone entirely, as she tells death to "get lost." Death then sings softly on top of the opening piano motif, and on a monotone for most of the first two lines. Is that comforting or menacing? Does it lack emotion because it's dead? Or is that menace hidden behind a seductive quality?
Listen to the great Marion Anderson
The final tone, if the singer has the range, is a low D. Suddenly it sounds like a man's voice. It reminds us of Schubert's setting of Goethe's “Erlkonig”, where a seductive Elf, suddenly reveals his threatening nature.
In this recording, Nathalie Stutzmann sings death's repeated tones without vibrato, giving it an even more eerie and lifeless quality.
The piece ends with a repeat of the opening piano phrase, but in D major. We will leave you to contemplate why.