| dc.description.abstract | Largely forgotten since his death, Carl Loewe was one of the most prolific lied and ballad composers of his time. Craig Timberlake refers to him as ¿the greatest of all German ballad composers.¿ Indeed, Loewe¿s unique approach to the musical setting of ballad text reveals his true talents as a composer. Though there are published books and articles concerning Loewe¿s life and works, relatively few detailed analyses of his works exist. He is most often mentioned as a side note or in conjunction with his contemporary Franz Schubert. Most sources agree, however, that Loewe¿s greatest contribution to the musical repertory is in the art ballad. Loewe composed these large-scale works for voice and piano with textural, harmonic, and melodic variety in addition to variety in character. Credited with the development of the Romantic ballad, he advanced this genre of song to new heights. He used subtle and sophisticated melodies, chord progressions, and text painting, among other devices, to vividly bring the ballad texts to life. The piano accompaniments were uniquely and meticulously crafted to create vivid scenes and moods. The new, elevated status of the piano accompaniment allowed the piano to provide commentary on the action. The beauty of his songs lies in the complete scene he creates for the listener. In fact, Loewe was creating more than just a song, but a drama enacted by singer and pianist. The musical setting of early ballads was simple, as composers were mostly concerned with allowing the singer to deliver the text. The piano accompaniment usually acted as harmonic support and atmosphere. Carl Loewe¿s conception of the art ballad married the duties of the voice and piano. Now, both instruments were equally important to tell the story. The overall result was a composition full of drama and emotion. Loewe came to his own characteristic compositional style early in his career, and stuck closely to it through most of his life. This study will focus on three of Carl Loewe¿s ballads: Erlk¿nig (Op. 1 no. 3), Heinrich der Vogler (Op. 56 no. 1) and Archibald Douglas (Op. 128). These ballads represent his compositional style from early to late in his career and are illustrative of his incredibly detailed approach to text-setting. I will use textual and musical analyses to examine how Loewe set the three texts and offer performance suggestions for Erlk¿nig that may heighten the musical expression of the ballad. | |
