Instrumentation of Franz Schubert’s song cycle with seven new songs after Emily Dickinson by Johannes Maria Staud for tenor and large ensemble (2023/2024)
Johannes Maria Staud orchestrated the original work for large ensemble and added seven new songs based on poems by Emily Dickinson. The commissioned composition, realised in collaboration with ensemble KONTRASTE, Casa da Musica Porto/Remix Ensemble, and Wiener Konzerthaus/Klangforum Wien, combines historical and contemporary languages. Christoph Prégardien’s performance brings Schubert’s settings into the present and creates a dialogue between the two poets: Dickinson’s laconic lyricism acts as a modern counterpoint, questioning the original cycle’s romanticised image of nature and – for the first time – lending the character of the “fair maid of the mill” her own voice.
Die schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days
Music by Franz Schubert (Text: Wilhelm Müller; arrangement for ensemble: Johannes Maria Staud)
and Johannes Maria Staud (Text: Emily Dickinson)
Scoring: Tenor – 1.1.1.1 – 1.1.1.0 – 2perc – acc.pno – hp – 2.2.2.2.1
Duration: 85′
1. Das Wandern (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
2. Wohin? (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
I. What mystery pervades a well? (Staud/Dickinson)
3. Halt! (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
4. Dankgesang an den Bach (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
5. Am Feierabend (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
II. His mind of man, a secret makes (Staud/Dickinson)
6. Der Neugierige (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
7. Ungeduld (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
III. Volcanoes be in Sicily (Staud/Dickinson)
8. Morgengruß (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
9. Des Müllers Blumen (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
10. Tränenregen (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
IV. These Fevered Days (Staud/Dickinson)
11. Mein! (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
12. Pause (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
V. Impossibility, like Wine (Staud/Dickinson)
13. Mit dem grünen Lautenbande (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
14. Der Jäger (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
15. Eifersucht und Stolz (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
16. Die liebe Farbe (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
VI. Art thou the thing I wanted? (Staud/Dickinson)
17. Die böse Farbe (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
18. Trockne Blumen (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
19. Der Müller und der Bach (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
VII. The waters chased him as he fled (Staud/Dickinson)
20. Des Baches Wiegenlied (Schubert/Müller, arr. Staud)
The work was premiered by Christoph Prégardien and ensemble KONTRASTE under the direction of Gregor A. Mayrhofer at Nuremberg’s Tafelhalle on 6 October 2024.
