Marisa Curcio

Dr. Helvering
Musicianship II
4/28/2014
Analysis of Frhlingstraum from Schuberts Winterreise
Franz Schubert was born in 1797, and in a short life of only thirty-two years managed to
become one of the foremost sounds of the early romantic era. From Austria, he was greatly
influenced by composers like J.S. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. He wrote over 1,000 works in
total, but is most known for his more than 600 lieder for all voice parts and types. As these
pieces often reflected events going on in his personal life, they were rather dark; he struggled
with loss, heartbreak, depression, and was even suicidal at certain points in his life. However,
these hardships absolutely transfigured the face of music in the early nineteenth century as he set
them to text both poetry that he found and some he had written himself in the form of lieder.
Die Winterreise, or Winter Journey, is arguably the most popular song cycle that
Schubert ever wrote. Originally written for tenor and piano, it has been transposed to fit several
different vocal ranges. It contains twenty-four pieces, each with text written by Wilhelm Mller
that centered on the changing seasons and fickle love. Frhlingstraum is no exception; it is about
a dream of springtime that falls through the singers grasp once he realizes that spring is a long
way off and that his love can never flourish in the winter. Schubert expectedly set the text in AB-C-A-B-C form, otherwise known as strophic form. This particular setting means that the entire
chord structure is identically repeated after the end of the first section; the text is the only
variation made in the movement from one half to the next. The brilliance with which Schubert

composes every nuance of the text into the sound is awe-inspiring, truly bringing Die
Winterreise to life.
A chordal analysis of the first section Frhlingstraum reveals several interesting,
unexpected turns. The progression used in the A section is exclusively diatonic; the only
accidentals heard are coloring the melody. The period is asymmetrical, the first part that ends on
an imperfect authentic cadence being significantly shorter than the latter part of the section.
Interestingly, the A section never stops on a half cadence only perfect authentic cadences (PAC)
and imperfect authentic cadences (IAC). The perpetuity of this could be symbolic of the text,
which is referencing a dream-like state of springtime that never seems to end. Schuberts choice
in tempo during this section is noted as etwas bewegt, or somewhat moved. This is clearly
shown by the ascending arpeggiated chords accompanying the voice. They create the illusion of
moving forward, and lightness in the sound that highlights the meaning of the text.
The next section is a sudden contrast in tempo and color. Marked schnell, or quickly,
the tempo immediately picks up with an increased understanding of reality for the singer. Both
the voice and piano undergo an agitated, almost psychotic sequential modulation that has several
tonic sections with little-to-no correlation among them. However, the progressions used in some
of the tonics are repeated just after in a different tonality. The first chord heard after the A section
is e minor in first inversion a minor dominant relative to A major. E minor becomes the tonic
briefly, moving from tonic to supertonic as a subdominant function and back to the tonic. The
chord that follows, however, sparks some discussion. It looks like a French augmented sixth
chord (Fr+6) that incorrectly resolves to the tonic. The chord, usually resolving to the
dominant, functions as a subdominant chord with an outward resolution of the augmented 6th
interval. In this case, and repeated three more times shortly after, it resolves to the tonic chord in

first inversion. Without analysis, it just seems like a passing chord or a coloration of the diatonic
chordal structure which changes rapidly in this section. The B section moves from e minor to d
minor via a pivot chord, and then changes to g minor briefly before heading to a minor, the same
patterns repeating throughout. The a minor section is the smaller part of the asymmetrical period,
and marks the start of the codetta. This is a type of coda that concludes a section of a work
instead of the whole work; it is usually characterized by a tonic extension and repetition, as it
appears in this case. There is a tonic pedal tone in the bass, and above it are very dissonant
chords formed by the right hand of the piano and the vocal line: a Neapolitan chord, a Fr+6, and
a dominant 7 chord. It creates a sort of ominous sound that the text is painted upon. The pedal
tone breaks, and the B section comes to a brief rest in a PAC in a minor.
The C section is the slowest, most contemplative section in the work. There is a switch to
2/4 that occurs right at the beginning, and a tempo marking of langsam, meaning slowly, that
brings the events that have just happened in the music to a striking halt. Also, Schubert very
suddenly returns to the parallel major here, bringing the listener and the character back into the
dreamlike state that they felt in the A section. The piano and the voice both avoid sounding the
tonic for quite a bit at the beginning of this movement; the voice comes to rest on the third of the
key, forming an IAC as opposed to a PAC, and the piano uses the tonic in second inversion as a
passing chord until it rests on the root position tonic at the cadence. There is a clear feeling of
perpetuity and unrest in this section, as is depicted by the way the voice interacts with the piano.
Schubert sets a first inversion tonic chord at the next cadence, which also creates an IAC that
suspends the listener and the character and keeps them wondering what is happening. The music
moves without hesitation to the minor subdominant chord: a somewhat unexpected coloration of
the line. The minor subdominant chord could then have resolved in several ways, one way being

the major tonic (making the minor subdominant chord a borrowed chord from a minor). Instead,
it resolves to the minor tonic a modal modulation that highlights the meaning of the section and
the text. At the end of the section, right before it ends, we are left at the tonic. However, Schubert
omitted the fifth and the third in the last two to three measures, leaving open octaves to make the
gravity of the movement apparent.
The text is painted stunningly well all throughout this song of Winterreise. This part of
the characters winter journey is about his Frhlingstraum, or dream of springtime. When he
is asleep, metaphorically or physically, he dreams about the joys of spring and the presence of
love in his life. For example, the entire A section is about his dreams of May and the beauty that
comes with it. Colorful flowers is set as a sigh in the music, coming down the scale to rest on
the tonic note. The word merry is set in a jubilant, energetic way, and birdcalls mirror the
sounds of actual birdcalls; an irregular rhythm with an ascending arpeggio followed by a
descending scale. Merry birdcalls repeats again, showing the repetitive nature of the calls.
Later, when the same music is repeated again with different text, the word love is set as a sigh
in a descending scale. Beautiful and heart are both set with a dotted rhythm that is
unexpected and sounds like sighing. Kisses is set as an upward-bound arpeggio that comes
back down to the tonic; it sounds like the joy and happiness that one could glean from kissing.
Schuberts ingenious way of setting text is continued into the B section. With the rapid
change of keys, tempo, and dynamic, the sound becomes immediately more agitated fitting the
text quite well. The roosters crowed is set as a leap of a perfect fifth descending, showing the
striking nature of the sound. Awoke, in my eyes awoke, is at the top of the phrase with a rise
of sound leading to it parallel to the feeling before one opens their eyes. It is cold and dark,
so there is a sudden change of tonic and feeling in the music that shows this. When that line is

repeated, it is placed at one of the most dissonant points of the piece: the pedal tone tonic with a
Neapolitan on top of it. When the ravens are shrieking on the roof, the melody jumps an octave
down followed by a minor ninth up, and with a dotted rhythm; it shows very clearly the extreme,
loud nature of the text. When the section repeats and the character sits alone and thinks about his
dream, he is upset that it is not actually springtime, so the same agitated nature is felt again in the
music.
The C section is the most insightful and internal part of the piece. The melody is noodling
in the same area of the voice creating a suspense in the sound that characterizes the equally
suspenseful text. The character feels as though he has been lied to about the impending spring
and an opportunity for love, especially when Schubert moves to minor after throwing in the
minor subdominant chord. The question is posed, do you laugh at the dreamer / who saw
flowers in winter? In this minor section, the text is repeated, and the listener and the performer
garner a true understanding of the question. The tonal change that occurred in this section makes
this portion of the text and the music the deepest and most impactful part of the movement.
When the section is later repeated, the character poses another question: When will I hold my
beloved in my arms? The true pain felt by the singer is evident as the section again moves from
major to minor and ends the piece.
Schubert used several compositional techniques to help move the music and the story
along. For example, there are no half cadences at all throughout this piece. The music hardly ever
stops moving forward, which shows the perpetuity of the text, but it cadences only on PACs and
IACs. The music coming to a temporary pause on a half cadence is usually what defines a
musical phrase. Schuberts obscuring of the phrase, and the asymmetrical periods created
therefrom, show a restless, uneasy, but not wholly unpleasant state. Also, the composers use of

the appoggiatura enhances the text and plays back and forth with the piano. A main purpose in
this particular set of Lieder is the equal importance of the piano and the voice, so the
appoggiatura usually causing dissonance puts importance and emphasis back into the voice
temporarily. Viennese appoggiaturas are the most common type that Schubert wrote in
Frhlingstraum. They sound like a regular appoggiatura; however, they are written as a grace
note a whole step higher than the written pitch. When actuated, they take the place of the written
pitch if the following note is the same. All appoggiaturas, Viennese or otherwise, represent
sighing in the melody that further paints the text and colors the texture of the sound.
Winterreise is an astonishing cycle of songs with the wisdom, maturity, and emotional
intelligence of someone twice Schuberts age. An analysis of Frhlingstraum reveals so much
about the composer and his style, and the text is both beautifully crafted and perfectly set. The
unrest shown by the voice and piano intermingling is the most prominent and perhaps the most
important aspect of this movement. Of Schuberts more than 600 lieder, this piece could stand
alone and still make for a dramatic, passionate song about the dream of springtime and a life of
love.

References
Frhlingstraum from Schuberts Winterreise [Video file]. (2009, September 12). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gkOOGYnNlc
Giarusso, R. (n.d.). Beyond the Leiermann: Disorder, reality, and the power of imagination in the final
songs of Schuberts Winterreise. In B. M. Reul & L. Byrne Bodley (Eds.), The Unknown
Schubert (pp. 25-41).
Schubert, F. P. (Composer). (n.d.). Die Winterreise [Score].