"" ("The Violet"), K. 476, is a song for voice and piano by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

, written in Vienna on 8 June 1785, to a poem by

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

Lyrics

Goethe wrote the poem in 1773 or early 1774. It was first published in March 1775 in his first Singspiel ''Erwin und Elmire'' which was first set to music in 1775 by the German composer

Johann André Johann André (28 March 1741 – 18 June 1799) was a German musician, composer and music publisher of the Classical period. He was born and died in Offenbach am Main. In 1774, as the patriarch of a Huguenot family, André founded one of the firs ...

(a revival in 1776 used music by

Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

and by Carl David Stegmann, and another 1785 had music by

Ernst Wilhelm Wolf Ernst Wilhelm Wolf (baptised 25 February 1735 – 29 or 30 November 1792) was a German composer. Life Wolf was born in Grossen Behringen in Thuringia, today part of the Hörselberg-Hainich municipality. His elder brother Ernst Friedrich was a co ...

and Karl Christian Agthe). In 1771, Goethe had written the poem "

Heidenröslein "" or "" ("Rose on the Heath" or "Little Rose of the Field") is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1789. It was written in 1771 during Goethe's stay in Strasbourg when he was in love with Friederike Brion, to whom the poem is addr ...

" which tells of a young man's plucking of a feisty rose. In "Das Veilchen" it is a careless girl who destroys a

violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Viol ...

, a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

for a young man's heart.

Music

This song is Mozart's only setting to a text by Goethe. It not clear where exactly Mozart encountered the poem, but is likely through one of its settings by other composers of the time. Mozart made a telling addition by adding his last line. The poem is written in three stanzas, but instead of using

strophic form Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, ...

, Mozart creates a

through-composed In music theory of musical form, through-composed music is a continuous, non- sectional, and non- repetitive piece of music. The term is typically used to describe songs, but can also apply to instrumental music. While most musical forms such as t ...

work, demonstrating his careful attention to the words of the poet by creating a different mood for each verse. At the end of the song, the composer recalls the opening line in a touching 5-bar coda.Record notes by William S. Mann 1956. EMI ASD 3858 063-01578;

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...

soprano,

Walter Gieseking Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made int ...

(piano), 13 to 16 April 1955 The piece is 65 bars long and a performance lasts about minutes. Its

key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef a ...

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable composi ...

; its

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

is 2/4. The

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...

covers only the interval of a ninth, from F⁴ to G⁵. The piece starts with a 6-bar introduction of the melody of the first line by the piano. The first stanza takes up the next 15 bars. The entry of the shepherdess is marked by a modulation to

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

; this is followed by a four-bar segment which summarises the violet's happy mood – and a general pause which precedes the mood swing of the second verse, a change of key to

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the con ...

to describe the violet's longing. There is a modulation to the relative major

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing ins ...

in the latter part of that verse when the violet expresses hope of being loved back, but ending in a falling phrygian

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

. The narration of the third verse is a ''

recitativo accompagnato Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

'' in

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

culminating in the trampling of the violet which is emphasised by a following general pause. The dying flower is described by a chromatically falling line, before the final modulation back to G major changes the pain into jubilation: to die at the beloved's feet. Then Mozart adds two phrases of his own as a coda; in recitative, in free time and using only two notes: "Das arme Veilchen!" (Poor little violet!), a long general pause, and closing the song ''a tempo'' with a quotation from the third line: "es war ein herzigs Veilchen." (it was the sweetest violet.)

By other composers

Other composers who have set this poem to music (besides those mentioned above as composers of Goethe's singspiel) include Philipp Christoph Kayser (1776),

Anton Schweitzer Anton Schweitzer (6 June 1735 in Coburg – 23 November 1787 in Gotha) was a German composer of operas, who was affiliated with Abel Seyler's theatrical company. He was a child prodigy who obtained the patronage of the duke of Saxe-Hildburghause ...

(1777),

Joseph Anton Steffan Josef Antonín Štěpán or Joseph Anton Steffan ( – ) was a Bohemian-Austrian classical era composer and harpsichordist. Steffan was born in Kopidlno, near Hradec Králové, Bohemia in March 1726, the son of a schoolmaster and church o ...

(1779),

Johann Friedrich Reichardt Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and ''Stadtmusiker'' Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann Fr ...

in 1780 and in 1783, (the second setting was praised by Clara Kathleen Rogers and Felix Mendelssohn)

Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff (26 November 1744 - 26 April 1785) was a German military officer, poet, and composer. Life He was born in Erlangen, Bavaria, the son of a Bavarian margrave and part of the Franconian aristocratic family Seckendorff. ...

(1779), Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (c. 1807),

Peter Josef von Lindpaintner Peter Josef von Lindpaintner (8 December 1791 – 21 August 1856) was a German composer and conductor. Born in Koblenz as the son of a tenor, he studied with Peter Winter and Joseph Graetz. From 1819 onwards he was based in Stuttgart. Some o ...

(1815),

Václav Tomášek Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (in German: Wenzel Johann Tomaschek; 17 April 1774, Skuteč, Bohemia – 3 April 1850, Prague) was an Austrian-Bohemian, by other accounts a Czech composer and music teacher. He was known as the Musical Pope of P ...

(1815),

Carl Gottlieb Reissiger Carl Gottlieb Reißiger (also ''Karl Reissiger'', ''Carl Reissiger'', ''Karl Reißiger'') (31 January 1798 – 7 November 1859) was a German Kapellmeister and composer. Biography Born in Belzig, Reissiger attended the Thomasschule zu Leipzig an ...

(1827),

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

(1853), Nikolai Medtner (1909), and

Othmar Schoeck Othmar Schoeck (1 September 1886 – 8 March 1957) was a Swiss Romantic classical composer, opera composer, musician, and conductor. He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs and song cycles, though he also wrote a number of ...

(1915). Musical settings in other languages include the composers

Halfdan Kjerulf Halfdan Kjerulf (17 September 181511 August 1868) was a Norwegian composer. Biography Kjerulf was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of a high government official. His early education was at Christiania University, for a lega ...

to a Danish translation by Adam Oehlenschläger, to a Swedish text, and an English version by Clara Kathleen Rogers.

References

External links

* *
Mozart: "Das Veilchen“ – im Kontext verschiedener Vertonungen
Hubert Wißkirchen, 25 May 2011

translations, list of musical settings, at the LiederNet Archive *,

Kathleen Battle Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performance ...

, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Veilchen, Das Musical settings of poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1785 compositions 1785 songs Compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Compositions in G major Stefan Zweig Collection