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Jan 31, 2005, 3:59 AM

Nopantsmasanda

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Der Erlkönig

Here is the recording.

Loewe - Erlkoenig

A big thanks to Face for hosting it.

Goethe is freaking amazing. When in the hands of a great composer, his work shines.

This thread came about from my ponderings on the subject while doing my vocal lit. homework.

I'm not referring to Schubert's version, but rather to Johann Karl Gottfried Löwe's version. If I can get a hold of Face, I'll ask him to host it for I believe it is far superior to Schubert's version. For now, I wish to present the text along with some other materials.

Original German text:

Quote:

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.

»Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?« -
»Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?«
»Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.«

>Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel ich mit dir;
Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.<

»Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?«
»Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind:
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.«

>Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.<

»Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?«
»Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.«

>Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt.<
»Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!«

Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not:
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

Translation into English from recmusic.org/lieder :

Quote:

Who's riding so late through night, so wild?
It is the father who's holding his child;
He's tucked the boy secure in his arm,
He holds him tight and keeps him warm.

My son, why hide you your face in fear?"
See you not, father, the Erl King near?
The Erl King in his crown and train?"
My son, 'tis but a foggy strain."

Sweet lovely child, come, go with me!
What wonderful games I'll play with thee;
Flowers, most colorful, yours to behold.
My mother for you has garments of gold."

My father, my father, and can you not hear
What Erl King is promising into my ear?"
Be calm, stay calm, o child of mine;
The wind through dried leaves is rustling so fine."

Wouldst thou, fine lad, go forth with me?
My daughters should royally wait upon thee;
My daughters conduct each night their song fest
To swing and to dance and to sing thee to rest."

My Father, my father, and can you not see
Erl King's daughters, there by the tree?"
My son, my son, I see it clear;
The ancient willows so grey do appear."

I love thee, I'm aroused by thy beautiful form;
And be thou not willing, I'll take thee by storm."
My father, my father, he's clutching my arm!
Erl King has done me a painful harm!"

The father shudders and onward presses;
The gasping child in his arms he caresses;
He reaches the courtyard, and barely inside,
He holds in his arms the child who has died.

To me, the Löwe Erlkönig is extremely creepy, and scary. It's a fantastic version of it. I hope to be able to sing it this semester. I thought to myself, what exactly would the Erl-King look like? I did a google search and came up with some interesting things...

I find this innacurate due to the changing of the sex of the antagonist. Still, a good visual description of the setting.

Here's a creepy-looking version of the Erl-King himself.

Badassery?

Sure, it references Schubert's version, but it's still cool.

Sweetness. It shows the Erl-King being apart of the night itself!

Finally, the coolest of the images:

Can you imagine how scared the people of the poet's day must have been?

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Last edited by Nopantsmasanda : Jan 31, 2005 at 5:19 PM.

Jan 31, 2005, 12:03 PM

blaubeeri666

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Der Erlkönig (king->male)
i know the poem from my german class in school and i've played the liszt transcription of schubert's song. very dramatic work. i don't know Johann Karl Gottfried Löwe's though.
it's cool how the rhythm of the lyrics is exactly like a horse's galope. just concentrate on the syllables.

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Jan 31, 2005, 12:32 PM

Appasite Ire

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The song is a great one. It's a bitch on the accompanist, however. And I like to do it fast. F a s t.

The image of the 'elf' doesn't really follow D&D rules, however...but I'll let it slide.

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Jan 31, 2005, 4:42 PM

Nopantsmasanda

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Quote:

Originally Posted by blaubeeri666

Der Erlkönig (king->male)

Dammit, and I knew that too. When I was creating the thread, I was thinking about the Erl King's daughters, and the feminine popped into my head, accidentally. Being a vocalist, this is unforgivable.

I will hang my head in shame and request that the thread's title be changed for accuracy's sake.

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Jan 31, 2005, 5:00 PM

^___^

I prefer not to have my gender preference be known.

Bonkler

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MP3 available here: http://glandeur666.free.fr/gff/lroo...20Erlkoenig.mp3

Beautiful. I can't say whether I like Schubert's or this one better, but these two are definitely up to the same standards of very high quality. Thanks for sharing, Nopants!

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Feb 6, 2005, 6:26 AM

Arkhangelsk

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Ooooh...never heard any other classical-music version aside from Schubert's. The Erlking is one of my favorite poems, so anything related to it is of interest to me.

After listening to both versions I feel they both are effective in conveying the mood of the poem, and make use of varied vocal ranges for the son/father/Erlking. I think the piano triplets in Schubert's version establish a more rushed, tense atmosphere, but I prefer Löwe's ending. Schubert's version (1815) predates Löwe's by about three years (1818), so I wonder if he was influenced by the other composer's work? In any case, I love to hear different variations... there are two other electronic versions of the song I know of: one by German techno group Drakul (which is a rather rushed and hushed reading of the poem set to music) and another by electronica group Electric Skychurch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nopantsmasanda

Here's a creepy-looking version of the Erl-King himself.

I own the animation that this picture came from. It's amazing and downright creepy -- around 5 minutes long...animated entirely in sand over a lightbox, mind you. You can buy it (I think) from the official website. Musically speaking it's not the best (or worst) rendition of Schubert's piece, and there's a few very slight effects added to enhance the differences in the characters' voices. The animator wasn't allowed to use any pre-recorded version of the music due to copyrights (he was submitting it to film festivals), so he had to find a singer and pianist to learn it and record it for him specifically for the film.

One of the things I've found interesting is how...err...pedophiliac the poem seems (I love thee, I'm aroused by thy beautiful form); it certainly adds another dimension to the creepiness. Maybe the animation made it more obvious

. In any case, thanks for posting this! I was glad to listen to it

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