Genre

Vocal MusicClassical
Period
Romantic
Comp Date
November, 1816
Avg Duration
3:13

Franz Schubert

Wiegenlied ("Schlafe, schlafe, holder ssser

Knabe"), song for voice & piano ("Mille Cherubini in
Coro"), D. 498 (Op. 98/2)
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Description by James Leonard
Schubert wrote three songs entitled
Wiegenlied (Lullaby): they are settings of texts by Krner (D. 304), by Seidle (D. 867) and this one
(D. 498) by an unknown author whom Schubert mistakenly took to be Claudius. Of the three of
them, this is by far the most affecting. The Krner setting is sweet and supple, the Seidle setting is
long and relatively monotonous, but this anonymous setting is not only as lovingly tender as
the Krner, but also has a pathos that adds immeasurably to its depth. The poem is in three verses,
with the first and third verses full of fairly standard-issue lullaby images, but the central verse opens
with an image that abruptly ceases the flow of charming maternal images: "Sleep in the sweet grave."
As it turns out, this Wiegenlied is to a dead child; indeed, it seems to have been written at almost
exactly the same time as the death of Schubert's youngest half brother, Theodor, only a few months
old. In those days, more than half of all the children born in Europe died in infancy, and several
of Schubert's own brothers and sisters died before they could walk. In setting this Wiegenlied to
whatGraham Johnson justly describes as "the most fragile, the most heartfelt"
melody, Schubert perhaps wrote an epitaph for all his dead sisters and brothers.