"Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" () is a 1779 poem by

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

(1749–1832). It may be best known in the English-speaking world through a musical setting of 1820–21 by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

(1797–1828) as a

part song A part song, part-song or partsong is a form of choral music that consists of a song to a secular or non- liturgical sacred text, written or arranged for several vocal parts. Part songs are commonly sung by an SATB choir, but sometimes for an al ...

for men's voices and low strings (D.714).

The poem

In 1776, Goethe settled in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, seat of the

Duchy of Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the House of W ...

, and a centre of the intellectual movement known as the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

. In 1779, he embarked upon his second tour of Switzerland, this time accompanying his employer Duke Karl August (1757–1828). From 9 to 11 October, the party visited the area around

Lauterbrunnen Lauterbrunnen () is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Swi ...

, in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

. Goethe was impressed by the sight of the Staubbach Falls, which cascade down a sheer rock face high. He was motivated to write a first version of this poem, with the title "Gesang der lieblichen Geister in der Wüste" (). He sent it to

Charlotte von Stein Charlotte Albertine Ernestine von Stein (alternatively Charlotta Ernestina Bernadina von Stein; née von Schardt; 25 December 1742 – 6 January 1827) was a German lady-in-waiting at the court in Weimar and a close friend to both Friedrich Schille ...

(1742–1827),

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

at the ducal court and a close friend to and influence on Goethe. In 1789, he revised the poem for publication in one of his volumes of collected writings. He gave it the title it now bears, made minor modifications to the wording, and changed its form from a dialogue between two spirits speaking alternately to a monologue. The poem is 35 lines long, mostly of four or five syllables, and is divided into six

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

s of uneven length. It is without either rhymes or strong rhythm. Goethe compares the soul of man to water. Water cycles between Heaven and Earth. It gushes over a high cliff and breaks among the rocks. It flows through grassy meadows to a lake where the stars see their reflection. Wind is the water's lover, stirring it into restlessness. The soul of man is like the water, and the destiny of man is like the wind. "Gesang der Geister" has been contrasted with "" (), a 1772–73 poem by Goethe which describes the course of an idealised river from a mountain spring to the ocean. Both poems are examples of ''

Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...

'' ("Storm and Stress"), a German proto- Romantic aesthetic movement with an emphasis on subjective experience. interpreted "Gesang der Geister" as an extended Romantic metaphor, in which the repeated ascent and descent of water between Heaven and Earth represents man's attempt to grasp both the mundane and the eternal, and the contrast between the restless cascade and the tranquil lake is between stormy passions and calm reflection, in a kind of mysticism or pantheism where these opposites blend to form a natural whole. By . Retrieved from

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

Peter Härtling Peter Härtling (; 13 November 1933 – 10 July 2017) was a German writer, poet, publisher and journalist. He received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his major contribution to German literature. Biography Härtling was ...

suggested that the poem could be read in the context of an attempted distancing by Goethe from Charlotte von Stein.

Terence James Reed Terence James Reed, FBA (born 1937), known professionally as Jim Reed, is a scholar of German literature. He was Taylor Professor of the German Language and Literature at the University of Oxford from 1989 to 2004. Born in 1937, Reed completed ...

thought that the wind symbolises the psychological disturbance caused by love.

Musical settings

Overview

This section is arranged chronologically. The D-numbers of the Schubert settings are the

Deutsch catalogue ''Schubert: Thematic Catalogue of all his Works in Chronological Order'', also known as the Deutsch catalogue, is a numbered list of all compositions by Franz Schubert compiled by Otto Erich Deutsch. Since its first publication in 1951, Deutsch ...

numbers. *Franz Schubert, D.484. 1st setting; 1816. Voice and piano. Fragment. *Franz Schubert, D.538. 2nd setting; 1817. Two tenors and two basses. *Franz Schubert, .704 4th setting, 1st version; 1820. Four tenors, four basses, two violas, two violoncellos and double bass. Fragment. Renumbered into D.714. *Franz Schubert, D.705. 3rd setting; 1820. Two tenors, two basses and piano. Sketch. *Franz Schubert, D.714. 4th setting, 2nd version; 1820–21. Four tenors, four basses, two violas, two violoncellos and double bass. *

Bernhard Klein Bernhard Joseph Klein (6 March 1793 – 9 September 1832) was a German composer. Life Klein was born in Cologne. He married Lili Parthey (1800–1829) who was the sister of Gustav Parthey (1798–1872) and the granddaughter of Friedrich Nicolai ...

(1793-1832), Op. 42. 1840? Male voice choir (two tenor parts, two bass parts). This piece was performed in Berlin in 1852 and in San Antonio, Texas in 1853. *

Carl Loewe Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (; 30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs ("Balladen") were well enough known for ...

(1796-1869), Op. 88. 1840. Soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and piano. , Loewe's editor, said that this song was performed too rarely in public, and that it seemed detached from earthly things, but rather to consist of ethereal sounds. By . Pianist Graham Johnson described it as "charming without being untrue to the profound spirit of the text". *

Ferdinand Hiller Ferdinand (von) Hiller (24 October 1811 – 11 May 1885) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, writer and music director. Biography Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus (origin ...

(1811-1885), Op. 36. 1847. Mixed chorus and orchestra. *

Hermann Reutter Hermann Reutter (; 17 June 19001 January 1985) was a German composer and pianist who worked as an academic teacher, university administrator, recitalist, and accompanist. He composed several operas, orchestral works, and chamber music, and especi ...

(1900-1985), Op. 52. 1939. Soprano and baritone soloists, mixed chorus and orchestra. *

Aurel Stroe Aurel Stroe (5 May 1932, in Bucharest – 3 October 2008, in Mannheim) was a Romanian composer, philosopher and linguist. In 2002 he was awarded the Herder Prize from the University of Vienna; and in 2006 he was awarded the Promaetheus Prize by the ...

(1932-2008). 1999. High voice, clarinet and piano.

Schubert's settings

Schubert made several attempts to set the poem between 1816 and 1821, and completed three of them. His first version, D.484, is for voice and piano, and has survived only as a fragment, which music critic

Richard Capell Richard Capell (23 March 188521 June 1954) was a British journalist who was music critic for the ''Daily Mail'' (1911–1933) and thereafter at ''The Daily Telegraph''."Obituary in ''The Times'', ''Mr. Richard Capell'', 22 June 1954, p.10 Biogr ...

called "a grievous relic ... mutilated by chance". His second version, D.538, is a part song for male voices. It was written in 1817, and first published in 1891. A typical performance takes about 6½ minutes. His third and final version, D.714, is a part song for male voices and low strings. It was completed in 1821, and first published as his

Op. posth. In music, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among com ...

167 in 1858, thirty years after his death. A typical performance takes about 10 or 11 minutes. The forces are unusual, and it is not often performed; but it has been recorded more than twenty times. It is the best-known of all settings of the poem, and has been much admired. Capell called it "one of Schubert's greatest choral works". Norwegian pianist

Leif Ove Andsnes Leif Ove Andsnes (; born 7 April 1970) is a Norwegian pianist and chamber musician. Andsnes has made several recordings for Virgin and EMI. In 2012, he signed with Sony Classical, and recorded for the label the "Beethoven Journey" project, whi ...

has said that it is "one of chubert'smost magical pieces", and also that " should be listened to only at night, and will make you feel as if you are the last person in the universe".

References

External links