Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) is a selection of text from Goethe's Faust. It was set by Schubert in 1814, Op.2, D.118, and was his first successful lied. A challenging work for both pianist and singer, Schubert's setting for soprano voice has been transposed for mezzo-soprano voice as well.

[edit] Analysis

This song is in rondo form (ABACADA).

Gretchen is singing at her spinning wheel while thinking of Faust and all that he promises. The accompaniment mimics the spinning-wheel in constantly revolving semiquaver figurations in the right hand, the foot treadle back and forth in the left — speeding up and slowing down in response to the text, to show Gretchen's excitement or distraction. At the climax of the piece, the piano stops as Gretchen becomes overly distracted by the thought of Faust's kiss, and then only hesitatingly begins again as she realizes she has forgotten to keep spinning. Schubert ingeniously uses the piano to imitate the rhythmic repetition of the spinning wheel, perhaps mirroring either the hypnotic effect of temptation and the devil and/or love. The constancy of Gretchen's infatuation is alluded to not only by constancy of the spinning, but also by the repetition of the first stanza periodically throughout the song and the emphatic repetition of the final stanza three times.

Gretchen's beginning words (in German) are:

Meine Ruh ist hin

Mein Herz ist schwer

Ich finde, ich finde sie nimmer

und nimmermehr

The alliteration and rhyming are incomparable. Loosely translated to English, this means:

My peace of mind has fled

My heart is heavy

I will never find peace,

never again...

[edit] Notable recordings

Notable recordings include those by

• Elly Ameling and Jörg Demus
• Elly Ameling and Dalton Baldwin
• Barbara Bonney and Geoffrey Parsons
• Janet Baker and Gerald Moore.
• Nina Hagen, Street CD, 1991, titled 'Gretchen'
• Anne Sofie von Otter, Schubert Lieder with Orchestra CD, accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe led by Claudio Abbado.

Other notable recordings include those by Christa Ludwig, Gundula Janowitz, Jessye Norman, Irmgard Seefried, Elisabeth Schumann, and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

[edit] External links

• German text and English translation
• Recording by Jeannine Altmeier with Val Underwood, piano
• Gretchen am Spinnrade: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Full score and MIDI file at Mutopia