By CHAD CYGAN

In the vast catalog of Franz Schubert's hundreds of songs, certain poets play a particularly important role. While Schubert found inspiration in the words of a wide array of poets—many of them friends and colleagues—the poetry of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), the father of German literary Romanticism, led Schubert to write some of his most sublime, and famous, songs. Indeed, in the indispensable Schubert Song Companion, author John Reed states that "Goethe's influence on the art of music went further than that of any other man of letters, Shakespeare alone excepted." Goethe fused traditional poetic forms, a love of the folk tradition, and a general directness of expression—in short, the same attributes that could describe Schubert's music. Although Schubert never gained the approval of the esteemed poet despite repeated efforts, Schubert's Goethe songs are among his most beloved—and the bread and butter of every singer.

With this in mind, the Department of Vocal Arts welcomed Deen Larsen for a special seminar on Schubert's Goethe settings on Tuesday, October 10, in Morse Hall. The founder and director of the Franz Schubert-Institut in Baden bei Wien, Austria, Dr. Larsen is an acknowledged expert in the fields of German poetry from the age of Goethe, the philosophy of symbolic forms, the writings of James Joyce, and American social history. Born in Utah, he has resided in Austria since 1973.

Tharanga Goonetilleke, soprano, gets advice from Deen Larsen at a master class on Schubert’s Goethe songs. (Photo by Anthony Barfield)

From the beginning of the class, Dr. Larsen set forth his fundamental ideas about Goethe's poetry and philosophies, especially the symbols and references to colors that appear throughout his oeuvre. He assigned certain attributes to specific colors: white represents the divine; green is complete rest and an end to desire; red represents a state of heightened intensity. In short, he said, "everything that is life has color."

After a lengthy presentation, soprano Tharanga Goonetilleke, a master's degree candidate, and Reiko Uchida, an Artist Diploma candidate in collaborative piano, performed Heidenröslein, a miniature morality tale about the loss of innocence set metaphorically as a dialogue between a boy and a rose. Dr. Larsen did not take a strong approach to vocal technique or technical musical matters. Instead, he gave a lengthy interpretation of the "picking" of the rose and the "pricking" of the picker's finger. Many of his interpretive ideas suggested sexual imagery, but his principal suggestion was the use of color in the poem. Dr. Larsen asked Ms. Goonetilleke and Ms. Uchida to add the color red into their tone throughout the poem. Of course, a singer-and-pianist team cannot conjure up an actual color. But according to Dr. Larsen, red signifies the most unstable of all colors to Goethe, the highest level of excitement. He used the idea of color to encourage Ms. Goonetilleke to sing more directly to the audience, and to add excitement and passion to her performance.

The second performance was of the famous song Ganymed, sung by baritone Jonathan Estabrooks, a master's degree candidate, with pianist Jessica Chow, a doctoral candidate in collaborative piano. The poem chronicles the ascension of the boy Ganymede as he is carried heavenward at the command of Zeus to serve as the cupbearer of the gods. Schubert marks the score pianissimo (very soft) and Etwas langsam (somewhat slowly). Dr. Larsen contradicted the musical marking "staccato" at the beginning of the song to better fit his interpretation of Ganymede lying in the grass. The result of this more legato version yielded smoother transitions through the sections of the song, although it was arguable whether or not the text became more meaningful.

The third performance, Heiß nicht mich reden, was sung by soprano Ariana Wyatt, a member of the Juilliard Opera Center, and played by Ms. Chow again. Before addressing the musicians Dr. Larsen gave a short explanation of the text. Extracted from Goethe's epic Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, the poem is a first-person account by Mignon, a young girl who is guarding a terrible secret: she is the result of a union between her father and his sister. It is one of Schubert's most searing pieces. The text also moved Dr. Larsen to talk of songs about kissing and eroticism (Mignon's lips are "sealed by a vow, and only a god can open them"). Ms. Wyatt took multiple views on this as she performed the piece several times, each time achieving a higher level of communication. The audience and Dr. Larsen alike were very stirred by her new interpretations. "Your power lies in your vulnerability," he told her.

The final singer in the class was baritone David Williams, a master's degree student, with Ms. Chow as pianist again. Their presentation of Wandrers Nachtlied was beautiful, quiet, and very moving. This time Dr. Larsen directly addressed the singer: "Who are you singing to?" Given the introspective and intimate tone of the song, Mr. Williams said he intended to sing to himself. Dr. Larsen suggested that the song was a kind of prayer, which gave a very different yet equally moving impression when Mr. Williams sang it with this new intention. Dr. Larsen then encouraged Mr. Williams to sing as if he were discovering each word spontaneously instead of sounding as though he had memorized it. Mr. Williams was successful in incorporating all of Dr. Larsen's ideas.

Unlike a typical master class in which a well-known singer or collaborative pianist offers technical and interpretive insights, Dr. Larsen approached Schubert's Goethe songs by focusing on the text first, offering singers very different tools than a performing artist might. His insight into the origins of symbols and colors through Goethe's words offered another path into the poetry, and a different angle from which to communicate with the audience—which is, after all, our goal as performers.

Chad Cygan is a master's degree candidate in voice.