Schubert’s Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession

In 1828, Franz Schubert gathered his circle of friends to perform Winterreise (Winter Journey), his latest song cycle, for them; they found the music gloomy and mournful, but Schubert—who died that year at age 31—said that he liked these songs more than all the others he had composed, and that his listeners would come to like them as well. Schubert’s 24-song cycle, originally written to be recited by a male vocalist and piano for 70 minutes, without interruption, in intimate settings, is now performed in large concert halls around the world. English tenor Bostridge, who has sung these pieces frequently, offers his take on the meaning and enduring power of Winterreise. Most of the short chapters are written in elegant prose that soars off the pages, though some fall surprisingly flat. Bostridge probes the historical context of each piece and explores its connections to other arts. For example, he points out the connections between the music and lyrics of the cycle’s first song, “Good Night,” and Goethe’s two poems “Fairy King” and “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel”: the poems animate the entire song and, musically, “subtle changes are used to shift perspective or emotional temperature.” The words of “Rest,” the 10th song in Winterreise, reflect a “rebellious ferocity and [are] a testament to repressed energy and pain.” Bostridge’s illuminating reflections will guide readers as they listen again, or for the first time, to the nuances of Schubert’s great work. (Jan.)