The song “Nacht und Traume” by Franz Schubert was created out of a combination of two of Collin’s poems. It was meant as a memorial and tribute to the poet, a greatly admired friend of Schubert’s, who had died the year before.
The vocal line travel into the void and lures moonlight, memories, and spirits to visit our dreams. In the piano, slow unruffled sounds breath steadily, and the one significant modulation into G major from the home key of B major, makes the dreamer fall into an even deeper sleep.
There is however a touch of lonely desolation on the diminished chord of ‘Rufen, wenn der Tag erwacht’: we plead for night’s return in order to live again in a better world, to recapture the joys that we once experienced.
Here is soprano Ely Ameling to sing this music for you:
