Schubert "Heidenröslein, D. 257 (Op.3/3)" - Historical Background

Schubert was born and died in Vienna, Austria (1/31/1797-11/19/1828).  As a composer, he may be considered a bridge between the "classical" and "romantic" musical periods. Schubert is known for his ingenius melodic writing and his original sense of modulation in harmonic writing.  His music is often described as passionate, dramatic, and above all, extremely inventive.  He composed operas, symphonies, chamber music and more, yet throughout his short life of 31 years the majority of Schubert's output were lieder.  Heidenröalein, one of the 600 or more lieder that Schubert composed, was written in 1815 which may have been his most prolific year (in 1815, Schubert composed around 140 lieder, in addition to other works).   (Newbould)

Franz Schubert is very closely tied with the form of the lied.  A lied is an "art song," usually written for piano and one voice, that is set to the lyrics of a highly literary poem.  Lieder are associated with 19th century European romantic music and the simultaneous flowering of German poetry.  Though seen elsewhere, lieder developed in Germany and specifically, in the hands of Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann.

The poem "Heidenröslein" was an early work composed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), one of the most influential thinkers and writers in Western culture.  He has an immense history of literary output, his most famous work being the two-part poetic drama "Faust".   Though Schubert was one of the pioneers of setting such well-known poetry to song, he was not the only one to write music to Heidenröslein. (Others such as Brahms and Schumann composed for the poem). 

Since the phenomenology of this analysis will be greatly affected by the vocalist in the recording, it is important to acknowledge the historical background of said vocalist. Fritz Wunderlich like Schubert lived a short life, dying at just 35 years old.  The German tenor was born into a family of music and upon receiving a scholarship to Frieburg School of Music, he began to study both french horn and voice. During his career, he performed many operas in his local language of German, including Mozarts' "Magic Flute".  He also especially noted for his interpretations of Schubert and Schumann's lieder cycles.