There is nothing like stumbling across an old favorite you have somehow forgotten, be it a sweater, a dessert, or a song. I was sorting through a stack of old CD’s recently and grinned with glee when I found a compilation of classical music I purchased in college. On the CD was a recording of Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) by Franz Schubert. I first heard the song in a Music History class and instantly fell in love with it. In fact, a close friend and fellow music major and I loved it so much, we fought over who would get to sing it during their vocal recital. (In the end, I don’t think either of us did, but it was a friendly source of contention none-the-less.)

The words to Gretchen am Spinnrade are taken from a selection of text from Goethe’s Faust. Schubert set these words to music in 1814, and the song proved to be his first successful lied. What makes Gretchen so unbelievably lovely is the lyricism of both the vocal and piano lines. While the vocalist, Gretchen, is ruminating on all the promises Faust has made, the piano accompaniment mimics the rhythmic repetition of a spinning wheel. It speeds up and slows down in accordance with the words and the emotions of Gretchen, making it feel as if she is truly seated at a spinning wheel. When the piece reaches its climax, the piano even stops as Gretchen becomes too distracted by the thought of Faust’s kiss. Once she realizes she has forgotten to keep spinning, it slowly begins again. These devices only heighten the drama of the words and melody. 

I have attached a performance by Gundula Janowitz I found on YouTube, for your listening pleasure. The song is written in German, so I have also listed the English translation below. Enjoy!

Translation: My peace is gone, my heart is heavy, I will find it never and never more. Where I do not have him, that is the grave, the whole world is bitter to me. My poor head is crazy to me, my poor mind is torn apart. My peace is gone, my heart is heavy, I will find it never and never more. For him only, I look out the window. Only for him do I go out of the house. His tall walk, his noble figure, his mouth’s smile, his eye’s power, and his mouth’s Magic flow, his handclasp, and ah! his kiss! My peace is gone, my heart is heavy, I will find it never and never more. My bosom urges itself toward him. Ah, might I grasp and hold him! And kiss him, as I would wish, at his kisses I should die!  My peace is gone, my heart is heavy...