After a long, long time, I heard again today Franz Schubert’s song for Soprano, Clarinet and piano about the shephard on the Rock.
The Shepherd on the Rock” (German: Der Hirt auf dem Felsen), D. 965, is a Lied for soprano, clarinet, and piano by Franz Schubert. It was composed in 1828 during the final months of his life.
I heard it performed by Barbara Bonney, soprano, who used to come to the San Francisco area, and she would give Master Classes to folks where were not professional singers. (Think about THAT opportunity!)
Here is a portion of the text, as translated from the German:
When, from the highest rock up here,
I look deep down into the valley,
And sing,
Far from the valley dark and deep
Echoes rush through, upward and back to me,
The chasm.
The farther that my voice resounds,
So much the brighter it echos
From under.
My sweetheart dwells so far from me,
I hotly long to be with her
Over there.
OK… enough words! Here is the music that Schubert composed to express his loneliness and his passion:
