Schubert, Franz: Mehrstimmige Gesänge mit Orchesterbegleitung

Volume III/1 of the “New Schubert Edition” presents Franz Schubert’s partsongs with orchestra or instrumental ensemble. The instrumentation of these nine compositions is varied, ranging from male voices with low strings in “Gesang der Geister über den Wassern” (D 714) or male voices with four horns in “Nachtgesang im Walde” (D 913), to larger-scale occasional works featuring woodwinds, horns, trombones, timpani, vocal soloists, and strings, as in the “Spendou Cantata” (D 472). The fragmentary draft of “Gesang der Geister über den Wassern” is also included in the appendix. The differentiated editorial treatment of the individual works, which takes into account the heterogeneous source situation, is particularly noteworthy. Thus, based on Schubert's autograph of “Gesang der Geister über den Wassern”, which contains extensive cuts, new insights were gained which led to a re-evaluation and revised edition of the composition in two versions. The comments in “Sources and Readings” provide insights into the revision process as well as explanations of previously misinterpreted passages. The Foreword also sheds light on the contexts in which the works were composed and provides information on the instrumentation, premieres and other early performances as well as authors of the texts. For example, references to the unknown author of the text for the cantata “Wer ist groß?” (D 110), which contrasts Napoleon Bonaparte with the Austrian Emperor Franz I, were discovered as well as a document by Schubert's friend Josef Wilhelm Witteczek on the lost cantata “Prometheus” (D 451), in which the previously only summarily known parts of the work are listed individually including text incipits.