View source for Auf dem Wasser zu singen

[[File:Franz Schubert c1827.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Franz Schubert by [[Franz Eybl]] (1827)]]
"'''{{Lang|de|Auf dem Wasser zu singen|italic=no}}'''" (To sing on the water), [[Deutsch catalogue|D.]] 774, is a [[Lied]] composed by [[Franz Schubert]] in 1823, based on the poem of the same name by [[Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Wollenberg|first=Susan|title=Schubert's Fingerprints: Studies in the Instrumental Works|year=2011|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-140-942-122-1|page=33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMPIUEfX4ocC&pg=PA33}}</ref>
The text describes a scene on the water from the perspective of the narrator who is in a boat, and delves into the narrator's reflections on the passing of time. The song's piano [[accompaniment]] recreates the texture of the shimmering waves (''{{Lang|de|der Freude sanftschimmernden Wellen}}'') mentioned in the third line of the poem and its rhythmic style in the [[Compound meter (music)|6/8 meter]] is reminiscent of a [[barcarole]]. Harmonically, the song as a whole and within each stanza traces a movement from the [[minor mode]] to the [[major mode]]: the song begins in [[A-flat minor]] and ends in [[A-flat major]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schafer|first=Maureen|title=Illuminating Text: A Macro Analysis of Franz Schubert's "Auf dem Wasser zu singen"|journal=Musical Insights|volume=2|year=2002|publisher=Macromusic.org|pages=97–104|url=http://www.macromusic.org/journal/volume2/13MusicalInsights.pdf}}</ref>
[[Franz Liszt]] transcribed the piece for [[Piano solo|solo piano]], [[List of compositions by Franz Liszt#Transcriptions|S. 558]].
== Text ==
<poem lang="de" style="float:left;">Mitten im Schimmer der spiegelnden Wellen
Gleitet, wie Schwäne, der wankende Kahn;
Ach, auf der Freude sanftschimmernden Wellen
Gleitet die Seele dahin wie der Kahn;
Denn von dem Himmel herab auf die Wellen
Tanzet das Abendrot rund um den Kahn.
Über den Wipfeln des westlichen Haines
Winket uns freundlich der rötliche Schein;
Unter den Zweigen des östlichen Haines
Säuselt der Kalmus im rötlichen Schein;
Freude des Himmels und Ruhe des Haines
Atmet die Seel' im errötenden Schein.
Ach, es entschwindet mit tauigem Flügel
Mir auf den wiegenden Wellen die Zeit.
Morgen entschwindet mit schimmerndem Flügel
Wieder wie gestern und heute die Zeit,
Bis ich auf höherem, strahlenden Flügel
Selber entschwinde der wechselnden Zeit.</poem>
<poem style="margin-left:1em; float:left;">Amid the shimmer of the mirroring waves
the rocking boat glides, swan-like,
on gently shimmering waves of joy.
The soul, too, glides like a boat.
For from the sky the setting sun
dances upon the waves around the boat.
Above the tree-tops of the western grove
the red glow beckons kindly to us;
beneath the branches of the eastern grove
the reeds whisper in the red glow.
The soul breathes the joy of heaven,
the peace of the grove, in the reddening glow.
Alas, with dewy wings
time vanishes from me on the rocking waves.
Tomorrow let time again vanish with shimmering
wings, as it did yesterday and today,
until, on higher, more radiant wings,
I myself vanish from the flux of time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wigmore |first1=Richard |title=Auf dem Wasser zu singen &#124; Song Texts, Lyrics &… |url=https://oxfordsong.org/song/auf-dem-wasser-zu-singen |website=Oxford International Song Festival |publisher=Gollancz, reprinted in the Hyperion Schubert Song Edition |access-date=31 March 2024}}</ref></poem>{{clear|left}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last= Youens|first= Susan|author-link=Susan Youens|title= Swan Songs: Schubert's 'Auf dem Wasser zu Singen' |journal= Nineteenth-Century Music Review |volume=5|issue=2|pages=19–42|date= November 2008|doi= 10.1017/S1479409800003359|ref=none}}
==External links==
*{{Wikisourcelang-inline|1=de|2=Lied auf dem Wasser zu singen|3="Lied auf dem Wasser zu singen" (Stolberg's poem)}}
*{{IMSLP|work=Auf dem Wasser zu singen, D.774 (Schubert, Franz)|cname="Auf dem Wasser zu singen"}}
*{{YouTube|laa2fqo-2IE|Animated score}}, [[Barbara Bonney]], [[Geoffrey Parsons (pianist)|Geoffrey Parsons]]
{{Schubert lieder}}
{{Portal bar|Classical music}}
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[[Category:Lieder composed by Franz Schubert]]
[[Category:1823 songs]]
[[Category:Compositions in A-flat minor]]