Take me to your Lieder, Schubert! Quiz

Answer: Prometheus

"Prometheus" is a half-recitative song in which the Titan Prometheus expresses his contempt for the gods, especially Zeus. In Greek mythology, he gave humans the gift of fire, and Zeus punished him horribly for breaking the gods' monopoly on it. The text is by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose poems Schubert used for many of his best songs.

Answer: Der Erlkönig

"Der Erlkönig," Schubert's Opus 1, is a setting of Goethe's poem about a father riding desperately with his ailing child, whom the Erlking (hard to translate, but "elf king" is often given) is trying to lure away. You'll have to hear the song to find out if he gets home in time. The piano accompaniment is murderously difficult.

Answer: Der Rattenfänger

The rat catcher ("Der Rattenfänger") is the German name for the one called the Pied Piper in English. In three verses by Schiller, he brags about how he can catch rats, children, and young women with his music.

Answer: Der Fischer

In this song using Goethe's text, a man is innocently fishing at a stream, and an aquatic woman, a kind of nixie or fresh-water mermaid, doesn't like his killing her fish. She charms him with her words, and he sinks into the water.

Answer: Der Taucher

The text of "Der Taucher" (the diver) is by the German poet Friedrich von Schiller. It tells the story of a mad king and a diver who will accept any challenge. The song has lots of suspenseful detail, taking over 20 minutes to reach its tragic ending.

Answer: Der Tod und das Mädchen

The title "Der Tod und das Mädchen" is usually translated as "Death and the Maiden," but "Death and the Girl" would be more literal. I think of her as a small child. She sees the bony personification of Death coming and begs him to leave her alone. He reassures her that she will sleep gently in his arms. Schubert used the music for Death's response in his "Death and the Maiden" string quartet.

Answer: Wandrers Nachtlied

"Wandrers Nachtlied" is one of Goethe's best-loved lyrics. Very short, it begins, "Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh" (over all the hilltops is peace).

Answer: Die Forelle

The original poem "Die Forelle" (the trout), by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, is a heavy-handed allegory warning young women to be careful of men trying to lure them. With some judicious cutting and appropriate music, Schubert turned it into a scene where we can feel sorry for the fish.

He wrote a set of variations on the tune for his quintet for piano and strings, appropriately known as the "Trout" Quintet.

Answer: Der Lindenbaum

The song cycle "Winterreise" (winter journey) begins with a suitor leaving a house where he's no longer wanted. The best-known song in the cycle is "Der Lindenbaum" (the linden tree). The singer recalls better times there and feels tempted to stay in the freezing cold.

Answer: Mein

This song is from the song cycle "Die schöne Müllerin" (the fair miller maid). A suitor thinks the miller maid is his ("Mine!"), but starting in the next song, everything falls apart on him.