Artist

Admin

Bass-baritone

Henk Neven

Pianist

Hans Eijsackers

Internationaal Lied Festival Zeist

Gregorio Chávez Coutiño

That beautiful Mullerin

Zeist

Netherlands

Public

Concert

Approved

In 2023 it will be two hundred years ago that Schubert composed Die schöne Müllerin on poems by Wilhelm Müller. Just as in his Winterreise, written later , we encounter themes in this cycle that are characteristic of Schubert's oeuvre: a lost or impossible love, death and das Wandern - wandering through nature.

 

In Die schöne Müllerin, a young man goes out into the wide world in search of work and happiness. When he arrives at a mill shortly after the start of his trek, he immediately finds employment there and soon falls in love with the beautiful miller's daughter. Whether he really seeks rapprochement and whether she reciprocates his feelings remains open. But anyway, he is torn by his emotions that fluctuate from great euphoria to deep despair. Especially when shortly afterwards a rival appears for whom the miller's daughter immediately succumbs: the huntsman. Overcome with jealousy and grief, the young man completely breaks down and seeks solace in the depths of the stream.

 

Throughout the cycle, this stream is a support and refuge for the young man in his search for happiness. Wohin? he asks her at the start of his journey. And she leads him to the place where he can find work and love. He also consults her later, looking for answers, certainty or comfort. But when all hope evaporates and he finally decides that life no longer makes sense to him, it is no coincidence that he chooses that same stream as his last refuge.

The young miller's servant epitomizes der Wanderer to perfection. He is the prototype of the romantic soul who, out of a fundamental dissatisfaction with life, goes in search of something better. Because a true romantic lives in permanent conflict with himself and his environment. What he desires escapes him again and again. He never finds peace because he cannot be at peace with himself. The only avenues open to him are escape routes where he can take refuge in the fragility and grandeur of nature, the beauty of the arts - music! - to finally find the ultimate peace in death.

English

Frammistaða áskriftir (Leikarar & starfslið )

Leikarar

Áhöfn