Schubert’s use of the piano in his lieder extends beyond simple harmonic support. Schubert employs several techniques in the instrumental accompaniment that supports the vivid imagery of the text and follows closely the dramatic leanings and urges that the singer undergoes, using several distinctive textures and instrumental effects even within the span of a single song to add depth and emotional support to the singer. I will examine two songs—Erlkonig and Gretchen am Spinnerade—that offer exemplary instances of Schubert’s vivid word painting, scene-setting through instrumental passages, and contrast through his use of the piano part.

Erlkonig, Op. 1 is one of Schubert’s earlier compositions, written when he was only 17 or 18. Erlkonig sets the eponymous poem by Goethe into a lengthy, episodic composition. Erlkonig is also through-composed (as opposed to strophic)—not only does the music unwind continuously without much repetition, but the verses and roles range from the despairing to the seductive to the alarming. The singer takes on four roles within Erlkonig: the narrator, the father, the son, and the Erlking himself. Each role is sung in a different register: the steady middle register of the narrator; the deeper, urgent voice of the father; the high keening of the child; and the sweet, saccharine voice of the Erlking. But the differences in voice parts are not limited to the vocal line alone, as the piano part adds dimension and context to the vocal parts in each of their appearances. Schubert treats the vocal line as the foreground—the occupying action of the narrative direction—while the piano acts as an indicator of emotional context. One prime example of this is during Erlking interludes, when both the piano and the voice drop in dynamic. However, while the voice resides in the high upper register, the piano maintains a galloping rhythm in its lower register. Schubert creates a soundscape of contrasts: the piano is menacing in its constant, never-ceasing action as if a low growl, while the Erlking sings in a deceiving lullaby. Schubert employs the piano as a complementary feature to the voice in other registers, like in accompanying the child’s distressed calls with a dramatic sforzando in the piano part. Another instance of Schubert’s use of the piano as a narrative voice equal to the singer comes at the coda and climax of the piece, with the return of the introductory material in the home key of G minor, this time with the octave triplets doubled. The augmentation of an already stressful and sonically busy section with both hands adds tension and climactic achievement as compared to a plain return of the introductory material in the piano part. The fact that the piano also closes such a narrative piece with a dramatic V-I progression after the singer’s last “in seinen Armen das Kind war tod” offers a spare, devasting, still, and cosmic closing to a piece distinguished by perpetual motion.

In Gretchen am Spinnerade, Schubert further extends word-painting as done in Erlkonig. Gretchen am Spinnerade is an adaption of a scene from another one of Goethe’s works Faust, but Schubert accomplishes the differing mood and dramatic urge of the underlying text in a completely different manner. Whereas Erlkonig’s dramatic tension stemmed from immediacy of death and fear, in Gretchen the main character’s toil is an internal one of longing and desire. The lied overall is in a flowing 6/8 tempo, with the right hand of the piano nearly always undulating as it outlines a minor triad. Meanwhile, the left hand of the piano part is steady, playing repeatedly on beats 1 and 3. This not only mimics the constant thumping of a spinning wheel foot treadle, but also imitates the heartbeat of Gretchen. At measure 51, the piano part changes textures and moods entirely. The left hand heartbeat gives way to widely spaced chords, signifying not only that Gretchen has become so distracted by her reminiscences of Faust that she has stopped spinning as the foot treadle stops, but her heart has quite literally “skipped a beat”. Gretchen loses her thread entirely as she dreams about Faust’s kiss. In measure 69, while the singer remains tacet for a few bars, the stuttering starts and stopsof the piano part portrays an unsteady Gretchen regaining her composure and resuming. A similar moment occurs in the buildup to measure 112, when Gretchen is so occupied again by the memory of Faust that she absent mindedly spins faster and faster, her treadle and heartbeat similarly picking up in pace. At measure 112, Gretchen realizes her mistake and allows the wheel to slow to a normal pace. As the final lines repeat the opening yearning “Meine Ruh’ is thin, mein Herz ist schwer”, the piano part gradually fades away as Gretchen resigns herself to her loneliness. Schubert expertly uses the ostinati and relative constancy in the piano part to set and play with musical expectations as the piece goes, generating much of the subtext and dramatic action that isn’t necessary voiced by the singer.