Arpeggione Sonata, D.821 & Lieder Ohne Worte

The melodies of Franz Schubert are capable of concentrating many nuanced and very deep feelings in a single design. The regularity of phrasing, the tendency to move per tone and semitone, the bending of the melody within a well-defined texture seem to point to a vocal imprint. This is also found in many themes of Sonatas and Quartets, of Trios and Symphonies. This applies not only to the use of specific references, such as in the Forellenquintett D 667, in the Wandererfantasie D 760, in the Variations D 802 on Trockne Blumen or in the Quartet D 810, Der Tod und das Mädchen. Besides the indisputable central place of vocal music in Schubert's oeuvre (more than 600 songs written between 1811 and 1828), instrumental music in turn absorbs the inspiration of the vocal, creating an osmosis between these two genres that will be taken up by Mahler. Besides all precise programmatic intentions, some figurations are also found in the instrumental works that Schubert associates in his songs with the ever-recurring symbols of his poetic world. These include, for example, water as the generative force of life, but also as mutability and destruction; spring as a comforting fata morgana in the winter of life; the march, linked to the meaningless route of existence; the dance as an image of seduction and exuberance. It is interesting to observe their persistence also in the performances presented here, of twelve songs that are performed as Lieder ohne Worte, where the melodies of the voice have been transferred to the viola.