# Schubert's Death and the Maiden: Listening Analysis



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

This is a popular work among the cogniscenti, but I have often wondered what they see in this. For me, Schubert is not the most harmonically adventurous composer; so I had to 'crack this nut' by other means than themes, or harmonies. I approached it rhythmically, and my interest was sustained, and my respect for Schubert was increased. DISCLAIMER: This analysis is based on listening only, so those with the score who question the time signatures need not bother; whether it's 4/4, 6/8, triplets, or etc.
The first movement starts with a declamatory, dramatic statement of a theme, and soon starts forward momentum in what sounds to be a quadruple meter, in 4. The upper violin voice is the key to hearing the divisions, throughout. A quick 1-2-3-4 is apparent in the upper voices, while the harmonic structure (chord changes) is on the larger pulse of 4. More declamatory phrases appear at 4:00 (I'm referencing the Tackacs). Suddenly, almost imperceptibly, we are in a triple meter at 4:32, where the declamatory theme seems to get choppier, in what I call a "shuffle" rhythm. If I saw a score, I'd say it had changed to 6/8 or 12/8, where the 4 pulse is still retained for harmonic purposes, as in 123-223-323-423, dividing the beat into three, or it could be triplets in the old 4 meter. At 5:52 we are back in simple 4. Once again, listen to the upper voices, not the big pulse below.
The 'big pulse down below' that outlines the chord changes and the themes which run throughout, is the pulse that is common to both 4/4 and 12/8 or 6/6. Shubert is playing with this ambiguity. Then at 8:05, we are back in a 3-division. At 9:23, we are back to the original 4-division, to the brisk ending. Again, listen to the upper voices and the way they subdivide the beat into either 3 or 4.
Second movement starts out in a placid 4/4, then at 2:00 goes to a brisker 3-feel. The themes always retain their "4" identity, so they are not the key to the puzzle when listening. The upper voices, often as accompaniment, are the answer. At 3:39, it again changes to a 4 meter. The upper voices divide it as a quick 1-2-3-4, while the theme continues underneath, in the viola, in a slower "4" feel which outlines the larger 4 pulse.
At 5:38, we once again have the "shuffle" rhythm, a jerkier rhythm, which is revealed to be in 4. These all appear to be variations. At 7:24, we are once again in a more placid 3.
At 9:32, we are in 4 again; listen to the upper first violin as he outlines the 4-division. The cello then takes the theme, "obscuring" the fast-4 division with a broader 4 on the pulse. The movement ends quietly, emphasizing the pulse beat in 4.
I'll stop here, but this is what I find most interesting about this piece. The themes are good, but what really keeps my interest is the way Schubert plays with the rhythm and the pulse.
If anyone desires a more detailed explanation of how this "3 vs. 4" rhythm, and "pulse" are done, it's probably in one of my blogs somewhere.


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## Hildadam Bingor (May 7, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> For me, Schubert is not the most harmonically adventurous composer;


This is, not counting composers who came after him, compared to Beethoven and... who?????


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Hildadam Bingor said:


> This is, not counting composers who came after him, compared to Beethoven and... who?????


Well, can you point out any radical departures from the standard classical harmonic schemes? Anyway, I don't think that 'harmonic adventurousness' is the reason Shubert is interesting; for that I will go forward into Romanticism further, and beyond. The point I wish to make is that the main innovation of Schubert is rhythmic, not harmonic. Do you agree or disagree? At any rate, that's what it took to keep my interest.


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## Hildadam Bingor (May 7, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> Well, can you point out any radical departures from the standard classical harmonic schemes?


I hate writing about harmony, but I think it's consensus that Schubert's harmony was the most radical before the class of 1810-13. Anyway here's Rick on one facet of the subject:

http://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-002009.xml (If you happen to have a relevant subscription.)

or:

https://books.google.com/books?id=D-0VX3ASxm4C&pg=PT105 (Section starts at bottom of page, but actually the conclusion of the previous section is relevant too, so maybe just start at the top of the page.)


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> Well, can you point out any radical departures from the standard classical harmonic schemes? Anyway, I don't think that 'harmonic adventurousness' is the reason Shubert is interesting; for that I will go forward into Romanticism further, and beyond. The point I wish to make is that the main innovation of Schubert is rhythmic, not harmonic. Do you agree or disagree? At any rate, that's what it took to keep my interest.


Schubert's adventurous harmony has universally been noted as an important part of his style. In the very movement you are discussing, the first movement of the "Death and the Maiden" Quartet, (mm. 33ff.), we have moves through Db major(!) and E minor, with the return to D minor executed through a strange enharmonic modulation where the A# from the the vii7 of V in E minor becomes the Bb of a Ger+6 chord in D minor. This sort of thing was pretty standard for Schubert. And then there is the repeated passage in the coda: minor Neapolitan, Ger+6, I6/4, V, i. Schubert is also noted for his three-key expositions, a notable departure from standard classical harmonic schemes, especially when the third key is something like the flatted submediant minor (enharmonically spelled), as in the first movement of his last sonata. His songs are full of harmonic weirdness.

As for rhythm, the sheer variety _is_ striking in the movement you cite, although the whole thing is notated in 4/4. What I find more striking in this movement is the great flexibility and irregularity of the phrase structure.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I've always thought of harmony as one of Schubert's strong points (maybe his strongest). 

His weaker areas as far as I can tell are his counterpoint and development. But he was so good harmonically and melodically that his weak areas don't stand out too much and there is a nice sense of natural flow in his music.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

millionrainbows said:


> The point I wish to make is that the main innovation of Schubert is rhythmic, not harmonic. Do you agree or disagree? At any rate, that's what it took to keep my interest.


I'm not sure about innovation, but I think of him in terms of harmony more so than rhythm. You have pointed out some interesting rhythmic aspects in Death and the Maiden, and when I think about it, there does seem to be some interesting rhythms going on in that work, maybe in his 13th SQ as well. I'll have to think about this. I wonder if these works are exceptions though, or if this kind of thing shows up in a lot of his compositions.

Unless use of rhythm is highly unorthodox or unique (ie - some Stravinsky and Bartok and much 20th century music) I often don't really notice it.


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