preview

Analysis Of Franz Shubert 's ' The Erlking '

Decent Essays

To my fellow budding vocalists, the Romantic Era was a time period in which music was bursting at the seems; many composers were experimenting with the power of musical devices, which was extremely evident in Franz Shubert’s “The Erlking”. This piece of music that was originally a poem depicts the gruelling story of a son with his father, travelling on a horse by night. The boy notices a dark being (The Erlking) that is slowly advancing towards him; however, the father dismisses these thoughts and reassures him that there is nothing there. Eventually, the boy realises he has been attacked by The Erlking, soon being taken by the pillars of death. In pieces such as “The Erkling”, Franz Schubert was considered as a creative composer who was among the initial artists in the Romantic Era; he employed emotion and a sense of purpose within his compositions. Hence, I believe that Franz Schubert’s Lied “The Erlking” consistently unified poetry and music to compliment the Romantic era, purposefully creating drama and sound because of the various musical elements utilized throughout the piece. The musical elements that are explored in order to prove the hypothesis comprise of Melody and Dynamics, with the analysis of each character’s development: The Narrator, the Erkling, the father and the son.

The unification of poetry and music to create drama in this piece was achieved through the use of the characters and their melodic context. The narrator begins singing in the minor key of G

Get Access