Composer: Crabtree, Leslie
Dates: 1941-
Song title: Berg' und Burgen schaun herunter
Opus, no., etc.: Nr.7
Music collection title: Lieder
Imprint(s): -
Analysis: Two measures of ascending F major arpeggios introduce a very simple, sweet melody outlining the F major triad, emphasizing c'. Its long phrases (2 lines of poem each) rising and falling in unvarying rhythm (dotted half notes followed by eighths) underlaid by the continuing arpeggios are all suggestive of the wave-like motion of the poet's boat sailing peacefully on the Rhine. The tune takes an interesting turn up to e-flat' (over a C minor chord) at the end of the first phrase. Some contrary motion in the arpeggios appears in the interlude between stanzas 1 and 2, perhaps indicative of the play of the waves, while the peaceful, calm aspect of the second stanza is evoked by the change in vocal rhythm to the more straightforward, "restful" halves and quarters. This stanza's final phrase reflects its text (and approximately inverts its first stanza counterpart) by descending to a low d for "Die ich tief im Busen hegt" ("Which I cherish deep in my heart), just as the waters both hide and reflect the poet's feelings. The third stanza is marked "Much slower" and is the occasion for an excursion to D-flat major. The second stanza's characteristic rhythm is retained, but the voice is freed from its restricted compass to range widely (to both the highest and lowest notes in the song) and expressively while uncovering the menace hidden in the depths of the river. The piano's bass line of accented dotted-quarter-note octaves is perhaps symbolic of the latter, while a feeling of slight imbalance is conveyed by the eighth-note delay in the right-hand doubling of the vocal melody, from which cascade ominously the now-descending arpeggios. At the end of the stanza these arpeggios change direction, thereby starting a gradual transition to the F-major wave-playing accompaniment of the second stanza in Tempo primo. Although the initial melody is resumed, the vocal part is now off-balance, proceeding at the start of the last stanza in even dotted quarter notes, implying 6/8, against the 3/4 time of the piano. This deftly illustrates the poem's metaphor: the dual nature of both the river and his beloved's heart. The fickleness of both is further emphasized by the sudden shift of voice and piano at the third line to the rhythm and texture of the first stanza (also quite appropriate for the reference to her surface sweetness), and a further shift to the pattern of the second and third stanzas for the last line. Another change contributing to heightened emotion in this final stanza is the return at the end of the second line ("Der Liebsten Bild") to the previously noted high e-flat', rather than the descent from that note to the central c' established in the opening stanzas. The subsequent third line sustains this higher tessitura in A-flat major (the flattened sub-mediant). This key foreshadows the rather abrupt cadence on F minor that ends the last phrase. This lies generally lower, but takes a final leap to d-flat' on "fromm" (gently), a further sign that love may linger in the poet's heart despite the all the bitterness.
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Copyright © 2000, Peter W. Shea