Franz Schubert composed Schwanengesang (“Swan Song”), D. 957, a cycle of 14 posthumously published songs, in October of 1828, a month before his death.
The haunting second song, Kriegers Ahnung (“Warriors Foreboding”), foreshadows Mahler’s Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The text by Ludwig Rellstab is the ghostly soliloquy of a soldier who fears imminent death on the battlefield, and who longs to return to his beloved.
The piano’s desolate introduction intones a solemn funeral drumbeat. A restless and melancholy dreamscape unfolds, accompanied by an adventurous harmonic stream which flirts only briefly with major. In the end, it is the quietly ominous, incessant drumbeat which remains.
This 2019 recording features baritone Gerald Finley, accompanied by Julius Drake:
English translation by Richard Wigmore:
In deep repose my comrades in arms
lie in a circle around me;
my heart is so anxious and heavy,
so ardent with longing.How often I have dreamt sweetly
upon her warm breast!
How cheerful the fireside glow seemed
when she lay in my arms.Here, where the sombre glimmer of the flames,
alas, plays only on weapons,
here the heart feels utterly alone;
a tear of sadness wells up.Heart, may comfort not forsake you;
many a battle still calls.
Soon I shall rest well and sleep deeply.
Beloved, goodnight!
Recordings
- Schubert: Schwanengesang, D. 957: Kriegers Ahnung, Gerald Finley, Julius Drake Hyperion Records
Featured Image: “First volume of Schubert’s Schwanengesang as originally published in 1829″