An die untergehende Sonne ("Sonne, du sinkst"), song for voice & piano, D. 457, Op. 44

• Date: 1817
• Composer: Franz Schubert
• Period: Romantic (1820-1869)

Review

An die untergehende Sonne (To the Setting Sun) (D. 457), of May 1817, was nearly the last of Schubert's settings of works by the then-popular poet Ludwig Kosegarten, and it is his only Kosegarten setting that is not strictly strophic. Indeed, An die untergehende Sonne is neither strictly strophic (setting each stanza of the poem to the same music) nor through-composed (setting each stanza to different music), but is rather a hybrid of the two song structures, a sort of rondo-formed song. Kosegarten's thrice-repeated refrain -- "Sun, you are sinking" -- is set as a soft-hued, hymn-like evocation in E flat major at the start of the song and reappears in its center and at its end. Kosegarten's second stanza -- "Calm and tranquil is your parting" -- is set as a luminous arioso in slow triple time in A flat major, and his third stanza -- "The people bless you" -- is set as a lightly moving through-composed song of its own in quick one-in-a-bar B major. The finished work is both a coherent and compelling new type of song. ~ James Leonard, Rovi

Albums with Complete Performances of the Work

Title	Date
Erna Berger: Liederabend	2002
Franz Schubert: 15 Lieder	2010
Franz Schubert: Lieder	1996
Franz Schubert: Lieder, Volume I
Franz Schubert: The Complete Songs	2005
Janet Baker & Raymond Leppard at Aldeburgh	1996
Janet Baker Sings Monteverdi, Gratiani, Barringcloe, Humfrey, Purcell, Schubert, Fauré, Gounod, Handel	2007
Mozart, Schubert: Lieder	1989
Schubert: 15 Lieder	1990
Schubert: 15 Lieder	1990
Schubert: 15 Lieder	1990
Schubert: 15 Lieder	1990
Schubert: Complete Songs, Vol. 15	1992
Schubert: Lieder	1989
Schubert: Lieder	2001
Schubert: Lieder	1996
Schubert: Lieder	1993
Schubert: Lieder	2008
Schubert: Lieder
Schubert: Lieder
Schubert: Lieder [Box Set]	2005
Schubert: Poets of Sensibility, Vol. 5	2006
Schubert: The Collector's Edition [Box Set]	2007
Schubert: The Complete Lieder
Schubert: The Masterworks	2004
Schubert: The Masterworks	2004
Spirit of Love: Ian Partridge Sings Favourite Songs by Schubert	1999

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