Page 167 - Winterreise Coverage Book, 2021 - 22
P. 167

The rethinkings continue in"Rückblick," a Schubertian angst-ridden slow movement,
               while "Frühlingstraum," usually lullably-like, is here  positively hallucinogenic, its

               contrasting section markedly menacing.


               And then there's the sheer modernism of "Letzte Hoffnung," Schubert's piano
               part  manifesting as pointillist in nature! How intelligent, too, to find a parallel between

               the song "Der Wegweiser" (the 20th song) and the very first, "Gute Nacht"; the
               perambulant, ongoing walking movement now transformed into something even
               darker, and now hinting at fears and, indeed, terrors.


               By the time we get to the final "Der Leiermann," the young man is crushed. The

               momentum now comes not from a linear, ongoing motion but from the circular motif in
               piano, representing the hurdy-gurdy's tune and also, perhaps, the eternal

               questions Winterreise itself ponders.


               Here's a second film from Appl about Winterreise - this is clearly a piece he feels
               strongly about, and how it shows in the recording:
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