Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Müller (7 October 1794 – 30 September 1827) was a German lyric poet, best known as the author of ''

Die schöne Müllerin ' (,"The Fair Maid of the Mill", Op. 25, D. 795), is a song cycle by Franz Schubert from 1823 based on 20 poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the first of Schubert's two seminal cycles (preceding ''Winterreise'')'','' and a pinnacle of ''Lied'' r ...

'' (1821) and ''

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert (Schubert Thematic Catalogue, D. 911, published as Opus number, Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 Poetry, poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the ...

'' (1823). These would later be the source of inspiration for two

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

s composed 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 ...

Life

Wilhelm Müller was born on 7 October 1794 in

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

, as the son of a tailor. In Dessau, he pursued a distinguished academic career. He received his education at a local gymnasium, and would later attend the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, where he specialised in philological and historical studies. In 1813-1814 he took part in the national uprising against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

as a volunteer in the Prussian army. He participated in the battles of

Lützen Lützen () is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Lützen is situated in the Leipzig Bay, approximately southwest of the Leipzig city limits and northeast of Weißenfels. The town has access to the Bun ...

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

and Kulm. In 1814 he returned to his studies at Berlin. From 1817 to 1819, he visited southern Germany and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and in 1820 published his impressions of the latter in ''Rom, Römer und Römerinnen''. In 1819, he was appointed teacher of

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

in the Gelehrtenschule at Dessau, and in 1820 librarian to the ducal library. He remained there the rest of his life, dying of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

aged only 32. Müller's son,

Friedrich Max Müller Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

, was a German-born British orientalist who founded the comparative study of religions; his grandson Sir William Grenfell Max Muller was a British diplomat.

Works

Müller's earliest lyrics are in a volume of poems, ''Bundesblüten'', by several friends, published in 1816. That same year he also published ''Blumenlese aus den Minnesängern'' (''Flowers harvested from the

Minnesingers (; "love song") was a tradition of German lyric- and song-writing that flourished in the Middle High German period (12th to 14th centuries). The name derives from '' minne'', the Middle High German word for love, as that was ''Minnesangs m ...

''). His literary reputation was made by the ''Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten'' (in two volumes, 1821–1824), and the ''Lieder der Griechen'' (1821–1824). The last-named collection was Germany's chief tribute of sympathy to the Greeks in their struggle against the Turkish yoke, a theme that inspired many poets of the time. Two volumes of ''Neugriechische Volkslieder'', and ''Lyrische Reisen und epigrammatische Spaziergänge'', followed in 1825 and 1827. Many of his poems imitate the German

Volkslied Volkslied (literally: folk song) is a genre of popular songs in German which are traditionally sung. While many of them were first passed orally, several collections were published from the late 18th century. Later, some popular songs were also i ...

. Müller also wrote a book on the ''Homerische Vorschule'' (1824; 2nd. ed., 1836), translated

Marlowe Marlowe may refer to: Name * Marlowe (name), including list of people and characters with the surname or given name * Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), English dramatist, poet and translator * Pat Marlowe (1933–1962), English socialite * Phili ...

's ''Faustus'', and edited a ''Bibliothek der Dichtungen des 17. Jahrhunderts'' (1825–1827; in ten volumes), a collection of lyric poems.

Editions

Müller's ''Vermischte Schriften'' (''Miscellaneous writings'') was edited with a biography by Gustav Schwab (three volumes, 1830). Wilhelm Müller's ''Gedichte'' were collected in 1837 (4th ed., 1858), and also edited by his son,

(1868). There are also numerous more recent editions, notably one in

Reclam Reclam Verlag is a German publishing house, established in Leipzig in 1828 by Anton Philipp Reclam (1807–1896).J. T. Hatfield (1906).

Historical position ''vis-à-vis'' Romanticism

Recent research has stressed that Müller, although contemporaneous with German

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

, cannot easily be subsumed under that movement. In ‘Die Winterreise’ – which occupies a central position in Müller's lyric output – the wanderer shows a determination not to get lost on the Romantic paths that promise a way out of present dissatisfactions. “

Andreas Dorschel Andreas Dorschel (born 1962) is a German philosopher. Since 2002, he has been professor of aesthetics and head of the Institute for Music Aesthetics at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz, University of the Arts Graz (Austria). Ba ...

has convincingly argued that ‘Die Winterreise’ is a work of

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

.” The cycle depicts the self-determination of a subject who retains the ability to reflect because he is not engulfed by dreams. The realms of dream, death, and nature do not fulfil their promise, and the traveller ultimately rejects “Schein” (semblance) for “Sein” (actual being), or the imagined future for the real present. “As Dorschel points out, the wanderer actively denies the value of dreaming in ‘Im Dorfe’ (‘Was will ich unter den Schläfern säumen?’ ��Why should I want to waste my time among those who are asleep?’ .., and ..death eludes him. This is not merely chance, however, for when ‘Der Lindenbaum’ calls him temptingly back with the promise of eternal rest, he actively chooses to keep walking away from its lure. Dorschel aligns the wanderer with Kant's enlightened subject who sets off on an ‘Ausgang . .aus seiner selbstverschuldeten Unmündigkeit’ (‘emergence ..from his self-imposed immaturity’), avoiding ‘die Wege, / Wo die andren Wandrer gehn’ ��paths / where other wanderers walk’(‘Der Wegweiser’ .. as he charts his own path.”

Legacy

Müller excelled in popular and political songs that attracted great composers, notably two of

s, ''

'' and ''

'', which are based on the sets of poems of the same name by Müller. He also influenced

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

's lyric development. Composer

Pauline Volkstein Pauline Volkstein (19 January 1849 – 6 May 1925) was a German composer of more than 1,000 songs. Biography Volkstein was born in Quedlinburg, Germany. She had little formal music training, but came from a musical family. Her mother had studied ...

(1849-1925) set Müller’s text to music in her lieder. Andrés Neuman wrote a novel, ''El viajero del siglo'' (''Traveller of the Century'', 2009), inspired by the poems of ''Winter Journey'' (''Wanderlieder von Wilhelm Müller. Die Winterreise. In 12 Liedern''), giving life to several of its characters. Neuman had previously translated Müller's ''Winter Journey'' poems to the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

.Müller, Wilhelm: ''Viaje de invierno''. Translated by Andres Neuman. Barcelona: Acantilado, 2003.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Wilhelm 1794 births 1827 deaths People from Dessau-Roßlau 19th-century German poets 19th-century German male writers Franz Schubert German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German male poets German-language poets Lyric poets