During the second week of the Schubertíada, we're listening to the three Schubert's great cycles performed by three different singers who, in addition, have also three different voices: baritone Andrè Schuen will sing Schwanengesang, tenor Christoph Prégardien Die schöne Müllerin and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, Winterreise. We've listened so far to some songs from the three cycles, so if you want to go over them, that's a lot of (wonderful) work!

August arrived, it's the time for the Schubertíada. The four weeks of this month will be dedicated to going over eight of the concerts in Vilabertran, paying attention to the songs we listened so far. The ninth concert is that of the Acadèmia and we won't know the programme until a couple of days before so I don't think I can talk about it. As always, I hope these short posts are useful to those of you attending the recitals, and all the readers will have a new song.

This lied was composed by Franz Schubert in october 1816 for voice and piano. The publication was orderded by Cappy and Diabelli in the 29 may, 1821. Dedicated in “respet” to Johamm Ladislaus von Pyrker, Venice patriarch. The poem was written by Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck and belongs to Op.4, that groups together 3 lieders: Der Wanderer, D.493; Morgenlied, D.685 (poem by Zacharias Werner) and Wandrers Nachtlied I, D.224 (poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Mit Myrthen und Rosen is the last Lied of the work Liederkreis op.24 by Robert Schumann. Due to its duration and its own value, it is the only one that is occasionally interpreted separately, although, in my opinion it takes on all its poetic meaning if it really is the culmination of the cycle and the story that happens to the poet along the previous 8 songs.

Von ewiger Liebe (Of eternal love), op. 43 No. 1 is a Lied composed in 1864 by Johannes Brahms, when he was 31 years old, in the height of literary romanticism, a movement that embodies the ideals of individualism, sentimentality, subjectivity and irrationality, with a great interest in nature and the exaltation of the figure of the hero. All these qualities are found in this poem, although in many editions it appears as the work of Josef Wenzig, it is actually August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. In fact, Fallersleben composed this poem in 1837 from a free translation of Leopold Haupt of a Volkslieder (folk song) written in the dialect of the village of Sober, a Slavic western village recognized by Germany as a national minority.

The cycle of songs "Myrthen" Op. 25 of Robert Schumann was composed in the prolific year of 1840, and with a very special motive: it was a wedding gift for his wife Clara Wieck with whom finally, after a problematic trial against Clara´s father who opposed her relationship, could get married that year.

The third Lied of the cycle Die schöne müllerin (“Halt!” - “Stop!”) is the entry point to the plot that the poet Wilhelm Müller puts forward, and that Franz Schubert illustrates with great mastery. The young miller, wanderer protagonist of the cycle introduced in the first Lied (“Das Wandern” - “Wandering”), arrives at a little stream in the second piece (“Wohin?” - “Where to?”) that will join him forever and that will be the co-protagonist of the cycle. This stream will take him to a mill where he enters to work to keep learning the craft and where he will meet the beautiful miller girl.

When the cycle of songs “Dichterliebe” (Poet's Love) by Robert Schumann begins, something tells us that this love will not end well. But why? What happened? Does the poet's beloved exist or do not exist? Did that lover leave him for another? She never loved him? These questions are answered subtly poem after poem. The story of this love is told by Heine in his Lyrische Intermezzo, in 65 poems, but Schumann chose only 16 (although he had composed 4 more than he later discarded to give it better continuity).