Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art song "Erlkönig", the Piano Trout Quintet in A
major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the
"Great" Symphony No. 9 in ...(+)
Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art song "Erlkönig", the Piano Trout Quintet in A
major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the
"Great" Symphony No. 9 in C major, a String Quintet,
the three last piano sonatas, the opera Fierrabras, the
incidental music to the play Rosamunde, and the song
cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. He was
remarkably prolific, writing over 1,500 works in his
short career. His compositional style progressed
rapidly throughout his short life. The largest number
of his compositions are songs for solo voice and piano
(roughly 630).
Lied der Mignon I ["Heiß mich nicht reden, heiß mich
schweigen" ("Don't tell me to talk, tell me to be
silent")] D.877 Op. 62 No. 2 is unlike the three other
Mignon songs in Goethe’s novel Wilhelm Meisters
Lehrjahre, ‘Heiß mich nicht reden’ is not fully
integrated into the narrative structure of the text. It
appears at the end of Book 5 with the comment that
Mignon was unhappy when Wilhelm left the troupe of
actors for a while and that she then sang a song which
she had sung a few times before (but which, according
to the narrator, had not been included so far because
of the lack of a suitable opportunity to present it).
We are therefore led to believe that the text relates
to Mignon in general rather than to any particular
situation she finds herself in.
The first ‘secret’ or mystery about the poem is,
therefore, who is the text addressed to? Who has asked
Mignon to speak, and in what circumstances? Why is she
even saying that she is unable to speak; why is she not
simply remaining silent, as she declares she needs to
do? Once we begin asking questions like this, we become
even more inquisitive. What was the oath she swore? To
whom? Why? If there is a fixed time when the sun breaks
through dark night or when the cliff opens up to
release its hidden springs, when is the time when
Mignon will be allowed to open herself and reveal her
inner self, her deep secret? How will she ever know
that time? Where is the god who will unlock her closed
lips?
That is the nature of secrets; they make us want to
know more. The more that is hidden, the more interested
we become. The more we are told we mustn’t ask, the
more we think, ‘oh, but you could tell ME!’. Then,
of course, there is the psychological effect of
projection: the person with the secret becomes a sort
of blank screen onto which we can project our own
concerns and experience. This may be one of the main
reasons why Mignon has attracted such attention from
composers, readers and listeners over the years.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mignon_(Schubert))
Although originally composed for Voice & Piano, I
created this Interpretation of "Lied der Mignon I"
(D.877 Op. 62 No. 2) for Flute & Strings (2 Violins,
Viola & Cello).
