Ashley Darby

December 4, 2013
Erlkonig
The piece I have chosen to write my research paper over is Erlkonig by Franz
Schubert. Franz Schubert was born in Austria in the town of Himmelpfortgrund on January 31,
1797. He is considered one of the last Classical composers and one of the first Romantic
composers. Schubert is largely credited with creating German Lied. Gretchen am Spinnrade
and Erlkonig are two of his first Lieds. Schubert enrolled in Stadtkonvikt, which trained young
vocalists to one day sing at the Chapel of the Imperial Courts. His voice broke in 1812, which
forced him to leave the college. In 1814, he enrolled in a teachers training college in Vienna and
took a job as an assistant at his fathers school. Schubert worked as a schoolmaster for the next
four years. In 1818, he left school and dedicated himself to music full-time. (The Biography
Channel Website, 2013) Der Wanderer and Der Erlkonig are the two songs which made
Schubert famous.
Erlkonig or Elf King is a poem by Johann Von Goethe. Franz Schubert used many of
his poems as the setting to his Lied. In the almost 600 Lieds of Franz Schubert, a serious number
of them are composed on the verses that belong to Goethe. (Coca, 145) The text of seventy-three
of Schuberts songs is by Goethe. (Capell, 6) Erlkonig portrays the death of a child that is
being haunted by a supernatural being. There are four characters in this Lied, the narrator, father,
son, and the persuasive Elf King. The narrator lies mainly in a middle range and is in a minor
mode. The father sings in a low range and alternates between a major and minor mode. His tone
is comforting and familiar. The son lies in a high range and is in a minor key, portraying the
fright of a child. Erlkonig is in a major mode and alternates between high and low to an
arpeggiated accompaniment, adding to the persuasive manner.
Ashley Darby
December 4, 2013
This has become one of my favorite pieces to listen to. The story behind it is so dark, and
the accompaniment really highlights the key factors in the poem. For instance, the runs of triplet
eighth notes throughout the piece portray the horse galloping through the woods to get the father
and son home safely. The translation of the poem is this:
Who rides so late through the windy night?
The father holding his young son so tight.
The boy is cradled safe in his arm,
He holds him sure and he holds him warm.
2. Why is your face so frightened my son?
The King of elves, father, see him yon?
The Elfin King with his tail and crown?
It is the fog, my son, streaming down.
3. Yes, you my dear child, come go with me!
The games I play, you'll like them, come see.
The shore is coloured with flow'rs in bloom,
My mother's gold gowns, you will see soon.
4. Oh father, father, can you not hear
What the elfking promises? I fear!
Be calm, stay quiet my dearest son,
The wind blows the dry leaves of autumn.
Ashley Darby
December 4, 2013
5. My darling boy, won't you come with me?
I have daughters in whose care you'll be.
My daughters dance round the fairy ring.
Each night they'll cradle you, dance and sing.
6. Father, dear father, can you not see
The elf king's daughter staring at me?
My son, my son, I see it so well:
Gray meadows on which the moonlight fell.
7. I love you for your beauty of course,
If free you'll not come, I will use force.
Father, dear father, he's touching me.
Of elf king's hurt, father please, free me.
8. Dread grips the father, he spurs the roan,
In loving arms he feels the boy moan.
At last, the courtyard, with fear and dread,
He looks at the child; the boy is dead.
As indicated in the poem, the Elf King is a figment of the sons imagination. Whenever
he asks his father if he sees Elf king, the father tells him it is just the fog or the mountains.
Towards the end of the song, the father tries to keep the boy calm. Erlkonig uses force when the
boy does not come on his own by the constant persuasion of Erlkonig, and ends up dead in the
end. I really feel that this piece is very clear in its portrayal of the supernatural. The way
Ashley Darby
December 4, 2013
Schubert has written this is spot on, because of his use of borrowed chords like the Neapolitan
sixth, chromaticism, and the way he slips in and out of modes to distinguish the characters.
In all honesty, I wish that this piece was for a woman. I would most definitely have this
in my repertoire if that was the case. I actually find it impressive when a performer is able to
portray four different characters in one song. In conclusion, I loved researching the story behind
this Lied. Schuberts poetry for inspiration, his form and analysis is what makes him one of my
favorite composers. Schubert produced masterful works with rich harmonies and legendary
melodies for a variety of genres, and his influence proved considerable with later composer such
as Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Hugo Wolf. In 1872, a memorial to Schubert was
constructed in StadtPark in Vienna. In 1888, his grave, along with Beethovens, was relocated to
Zentralfriedhof, the Viennese cemetery that is among the largest in the world. There, Schubert
was placed alongside fellow musical giants Johann Strauss II and Johannes Brahms. (The
Biography Channel Website, 2013)






Ashley Darby
December 4, 2013
Works Cited
Coca, Gabriela. Musical Sensibility Of The Balladic In The Lieds Of Franz Schubert:
Erlkonig, Op. 1. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Musica 55.2 (2010): 145. Publisher
Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 19. Nov. 2013.
Franz Schubert. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Nov 19 2013, 06:34
http://www.biography.com/people/franz-schubert-9475558
Capell, Richard. Schuberts Songs/ By Richard Capell. n.p.: New York: Dutton, (1928), 1928.
Tarleton State University Libraries Catalog. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.