Schubert: Impromptu in G-flat Major for piano, D. 899/3, Op. 90, No. 3 (October 14, 2001)Schubert: Winterreise (“Winter Journey”), D. 911, Op. 89, Part I (January 19, 2003)This week’s program focuses again on Schubert, and his gift for a singing melody. In the first piece, the lyrical melody in the pianist’s right hand is a tune that could easily be the vocal line of one of Schubert’s songs. The left hand devotedly accompanies the tune, providing harmonic support and rhythmic motion. This idea, of a melodic line supported by an evocative piano accompaniment, figures prominently in Schubert’s songs, including the other piece on the program: Winterreise. This song cycle was written late in Schubert’s life, during a serious illness, and the narrator in the songs contemplates and confronts death throughout. In a particularly poignant moment halfway through this excerpt, in the song “Der Lindenbaum,” the narrator finds a brief respite under the branches of a Linden tree. But, as in much of Schubert’s song, there is perhaps a somewhat unsettling correlation between rest and death. The poems tell the story of a winter’s journey through the cold and snowy woods. You can find the complete translations at http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/assemble_texts.html?LanguageId=7&SongCycleId=4, so you can follow the story. Be sure to check back for podcast #6, and the conclusion of Winterreise.