Dead-Composers Society

[J.HunterDunn]

Another all-time favourite of mine. Both Schubert's haunting music and the poem by Goethe, that has so many layers and always leaves me in awe.

 

The performance of this poem is a challenge for the singer. He has several roles to perform: the narrator, the father, the child and last but not least Erlkönig.

 

Here are two links, one to the wiki-page that gives the original German text of the poem, a literal translation in English and a beautiful adaptation in English.

 

The second link is the performance of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau that gives me goose-bumps every time I hear it.

 

Not singing, but just mouthing the last two words ("war tod" = "was dead") is such a find.

 

I hope you'll be as taken with it as I am time and again.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Erlkönig

 

 

 

[Parker Owens]

Wish I had mega likes for this....

[AC Benus]

Just listening to this for the first time. The percussion syncopations begging at min 3:00 are pretty wild! What a great performance too 

 

 

[J.HunterDunn]

1 hour ago, AC Benus said:

Just listening to this for the first time. The percussion syncopations begging at min 3:00 are pretty wild! What a great performance too 

 

 

Hard not to get into a good mood with this music. Very energetic.

[Lux Apollo]

2 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Just listening to this for the first time. The percussion syncopations begging at min 3:00 are pretty wild! What a great performance too 

 

 

 

That was a first time for me, too. Wow!

[AC Benus]

An intriguing work I'm listening to for the first time as I type...

 

 

[Drew Espinosa]

On 9/23/2016 at 4:34 PM, Lux Apollo said:

The Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal, from the 12th century BCE city of Ugarit (in modern day Syria) is the oldest piece of annotated music currently known, well over 3200 years old! They think it dates from some time between 1400 and 1200 BCE, and was discovered during the excavations of the city libraries - documents of this period were written on clay tablets. Although it was written in Ugariti cuneiform, it is actually in the Hurrian language rather than a western Semitic dialect (e.g. Akkadian, Canaanite, Amorite, Aramaec, etc). The hymn was composed by a sacred scribe named Hammurapi, and is devoted to the Great Goddess Nikkal, wife of the Moon, and one who had some duties to do with orchards. Although there is some debate over exactly how to interpret the music, there are some interesting interpretations out there such as this one by Michael Levy:

Lux, that video by Michael Levy was on my Youtube recommendations. I love it!  

[AC Benus]

Good morning, world 

 

 

[AC Benus]

I wanted to post the Leonard Slatkin recording of the Grand Canyon Suite with the Saint Louis Symphony, but it's not on youtube.... It's a far superior rendering than any other of the recordings of Grofe's work, imo  

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2017 by AC Benus

[Lux Apollo]

Francois Couperin le Grand (1668-1733) had a large oeuvre, much more extensive than the keyboard works that form the core of what he is remembered for now. He was very much interested in a 'reunification' of aspects of French vs. Italian musical taste that had become quite disparate in the early Baroque, and nowhere can his efforts to create such a fusion be seen more evidently than in his chamber sonatas. Check out 'La Sultane':

 

 

Edited May 8, 2017 by Lux Apollo
Additional clarity

[AC Benus]

On 4/22/2017 at 1:52 PM, J.HunterDunn said:

Another all-time favourite of mine. Both Schubert's haunting music and the poem by Goethe, that has so many layers and always leaves me in awe.

 

The performance of this poem is a challenge for the singer. He has several roles to perform: the narrator, the father, the child and last but not least Erlkönig.

 

Here are two links, one to the wiki-page that gives the original German text of the poem, a literal translation in English and a beautiful adaptation in English.

 

The second link is the performance of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau that gives me goose-bumps every time I hear it.

 

Not singing, but just mouthing the last two words ("war tod" = "was dead") is such a find.

 

I hope you'll be as taken with it as I am time and again.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Erlkönig

 

 

 

The performances are stunning, especially the second one. 

 

It was interesting to learn about this poem and its origin. Also, it's interesting to discover the Danish roots of the story, and then learn of Goethe's 'mistake' of calling the spirit the 'Ash Tree King' (even though it is doggedly translated into English as the Elf King instead). Interesting because @Timothy M. taught me the ash is the tree of life in ancient Danish folklore, and I find the overlaps very intriguing. 

 

 

Thanks for posting this, Peter! 

[AC Benus]

1 hour ago, Lux Apollo said:

Francois Couperin le Grand (1668-1733) had a large oeuvre, much more extensive than the keyboard works that form the core of what he is remembered for now. He was very much interested in a 'reunification' of aspects of French vs. Italian musical taste that had become quite disparate in the early Baroque, and nowhere can his efforts to create such a fusion be seen more evidently than in his chamber sonatas. Check out 'La Sultane':

 

 

Listened to and enjoyed  The second movement was lively and will draw me back to give it another hearing 

[Timothy M.]

7 hours ago, AC Benus said:

 

It was interesting to learn about this poem and its origin. Also, it's interesting to discover the Danish roots of the story, and then learn of Goethe's 'mistake' of calling the spirit the 'Ash Tree King' (even though it is doggedly translated into English as the Elf King instead). Interesting because @Timothy M. taught me the ash is the tree of life in ancient Danish folklore, and I find the overlaps very intriguing. 

 

 

Sorry, I have to correct you on this, AC. It's true that Ask Yggdrasil is the ash tree of life in the Norse mythology, but it's the alder which has caused the mistake with Erlkönig in German. You see Elf King was called Ellekonge in Danish which was a derivative (diminutive?) of Elverkonge from the words Elver = Elf and Konge = King.

Now, when the poet Goethe wanted to construct a German word for Elf King, he looked north to Denmark. In order to translate Ellekong, he used a dictionary. First, he looked up Elle and he saw that El = Alder and Ellesump = Alder Swamp. So he naturally concluded Ellekonge should be translated as Alderking or in German Erlkönig, since the tree Alder is called Erle in German.

I had this explained to me in high school by my German teacher when we read and heard the poem. And I agree about the music being utterly compelling, even though it made teenagers   at the time.  

I'm sure @ColumbusGuy will enjoy this story too.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Timothy M.

[AC Benus]

1 hour ago, Timothy M. said:

 

Sorry, I have to correct you on this, AC. It's true that Ask Yggdrasil is the ash tree of life in the Norse mythology, but it's the alder which has caused the mistake with Erlkönig in German. You see Elf King was called Ellekonge in Danish which was a derivative (diminutive?) of Elverkonge from the words Elver = Elf and Konge = King.

Now, when the poet Goethe wanted to construct a German word for Elf King, he looked north to Denmark. In order to translate Ellekong, he used a dictionary. First, he looked up Elle and he saw that El = Alder and Ellesump = Alder Swamp. So he naturally concluded Ellekonge should be translated as Alderking or in German Erlkönig, since the tree Alder is called Erle in German.

I had this explained to me in high school by my German teacher when we read and heard the poem. And I agree about the music being utterly compelling, even though it made teenagers   at the time.  

I'm sure @ColumbusGuy will enjoy this story too.

Oops I got the wrong tree  

[J.HunterDunn]

13 hours ago, Timothy M. said:

 

Sorry, I have to correct you on this, AC. It's true that Ask Yggdrasil is the ash tree of life in the Norse mythology, but it's the alder which has caused the mistake with Erlkönig in German. You see Elf King was called Ellekonge in Danish which was a derivative (diminutive?) of Elverkonge from the words Elver = Elf and Konge = King.

Now, when the poet Goethe wanted to construct a German word for Elf King, he looked north to Denmark. In order to translate Ellekong, he used a dictionary. First, he looked up Elle and he saw that El = Alder and Ellesump = Alder Swamp. So he naturally concluded Ellekonge should be translated as Alderking or in German Erlkönig, since the tree Alder is called Erle in German.

I had this explained to me in high school by my German teacher when we read and heard the poem. And I agree about the music being utterly compelling, even though it made teenagers   at the time.  

I'm sure @ColumbusGuy will enjoy this story too.

 

Always intrigued by these kind of explanations I did some more research.

What I found is, that it was not Goethe (1749-1832) that made the faulty translation from Danish to German, but the German writer/poet Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803).

He translated the Danish song “Elverkonge” and gave it the title “Erlkönigs Tochter”.

Although I couldn’t find a date, all sources seem to be in agreement on the fact that this translation was made before Goethe wrote his "Erlkönig". Goethe knew both Herder and his poem.

As a matter of fact there is some similarity in the first and last lines of both poems, suggesting Goethe was influenced by Herder:

 

Herder: Herr Oluf reitet spät und weit                             (Lord Oluf rides late and far)

Goethe: Wer reitet so spat durch Nacht und Wind?        (Who rides so late through night and wind?)

 

Herder:  Da lag Herr Oluf und war tot.                             (There lay Lord Oluf and was dead.)

Goethe: In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.                     (In his arms the child was dead.)

 

Without the research I would never have learned, that the Danish composer Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) wrote music to the Danish folk-ballad “Elverskud”.

Apparently a well-known composer in Denmark, I had never heard of the man (so sorry, Tim ), which crack in my education now is repaired.

Please join me in enjoying the “Daughter of the Elf-king”:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBk3rpSmnZQ

[Timothy M.]

8 minutes ago, J.HunterDunn said:

 

Always intrigued by these kind of explanations I did some more research.

 

What I found is, that it was not Goethe (1749-1832) that made the faulty translation from Danish to German, but the German writer/poet Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803).

 

 

Interesting, because I wasn't sure it was Goethe either. At first I just wrote 'the poet wanted to construct' - but then I saw the mention of Goethe, so I added that name.  Thank you for clearing that up.  

And the name Herr Oluf sparks my memory, and I do believe we read both poems and did the same comparison.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Timothy M.

[J.HunterDunn]

2 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

 

Interesting, because I wasn't sure it was Goethe either. At first I just wrote 'the poet wanted to construct' - but then I saw the mention of Goethe, so I added that name.  Thank you for clearing that up.  

 

... and I slipped in some Danmark promotion while at it ...

[Timothy M.]

19 minutes ago, J.HunterDunn said:

Without the research I would never have learned, that the Danish composer Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) wrote music to the Danish folk-ballad “Elverskud”.

 

Apparently a well-known composer in Denmark, I had never heard of the man (so sorry, Tim ), which crack in my education now is repaired.

 

 

Yeah, Niels W. Gade is much beloved here, but I'm not surprised he's not very well known outside Denmark. Although, when he lived he was famous as Mendelssohn's assistant and as a conductor and composer. His most known piece of music is the Wedding Waltz from the ballet Et Folkesagn - all Danish couples have to dance this waltz at the wedding reception.

 

Including Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian-born wife Mary.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Timothy M.

[Timothy M.]

13 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Oops I got the wrong tree  

 

Well, I got the wrong poet, so that makes us equal.  

[AC Benus]

Rachmaninov playing Gluck....

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

On 4/4/2017 at 6:25 AM, Parker Owens said:

I kind of felt this one this morning...

 

 

 

Wow. Love the development section. So interesting 

[AC Benus]

It rarely gets any better than this... 

 

 

[Parker Owens]

Feeling very melancholy today, in need of an old friend. This is one...

 

 

[AC Benus]

1 hour ago, Parker Owens said:

Feeling very melancholy today, in need of an old friend. This is one...

 

 

It struck me now as more contemplative and quiet than melancholy  The theme is lovely, and the orchestration for the full strings reminds me of some of Thomas Beecham's Love in Bath ballet, where he arranged Handel. Thanks for posting 

Edited May 15, 2017 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

Beecham-Handel, Love in Bath. From 1925 I think...

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2017 by AC Benus