Der Hirt auf dem Felsen

Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock), D. 965 is a famous lied for soprano, clarinet, and piano by Franz Schubert. A typical performance lasts about 12 minutes.

History

The piece was composed in 1828 during the final months of Schubert's life. Of the six verses, the first four came from the poetry of Wilhelm Müller, while the last two were written by Wilhelmina Christiane von Chézy. It was written at the request of the famous Austrian operatic soprano Anna Milder-Hauptmann, a friend of Schubert. She asked for a show piece that would allow her to express a wide range of feelings. It was published a year and a half after Schubert's death.

Analysis

The lied is multi sectional with the clarinet and voice (soprano) equally challenged. In the first section a lonely shepherd, high on the top of a mountain, listens to echoes from below. In the second section the shepherd expresses his grief and loneliness. In the lively third and last section the shepherd anticipates the coming of Spring and with its rebirth.

Recordings

Singers who have made recordings of this work include: Arleen Augér of USA, Elly Ameling of the Netherlands, Isobel Baillie of U.K., Kathleen Battle of USA, Erna Berger of Germany, Barbara Bonney of USA, Helena Dearing of USA, Gabriele Fontana of Austria, Ria Ginster of Germany, Edita Gruberová of Slovakia, Barbara Hendricks of USA, Gundula Janowitz of Germany, Christa Ludwig of Germany, Ann Mackay of U.K., Edith Mathis of Switzerland, Akiko Nakajima of Japan, Dame Margaret Price of U.K., Margaret Ritchie of U.K., Lynda Russell of U.K., Lotte Schöne of Austria, Elisabeth Schumann of Germany, Rita Streich of Germany and Benita Valente and Helen Donath of USA.

Media

	Der Hirt auf dem Felsen Soprano Montserrat Alavedra is joined by William McColl, clarinet, and Joseph Levine, fortepiano
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External links

• Der Hirt Auf Dem Felsen: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Complete German lyrics, with translations
• Performance by soprano Hyunah Yu, clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, and pianist Gilbert Kalish from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
• Performance by Laia Falcón, soprano (Spain), Tomasso Lonquich, clarinet (USA, Italy) and Marko Hilpo, piano (Finland) Video

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