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: