Title: Der Abend (The Evening)
First line: Der Abend bluht
Poet: Ludwig Theobul Kosegarten
D-number: 221
Date: 15 July 1815
Used recording: Catherine Wyn-Rogers, accompanied by Graham Johnson (The
Hyperion Schubert Edition Vol. 22: An 1815 Schubertiad II, Track 5,
2:37)

There are three Schubert Lieder which are called "Der Abend" resp.
"Abend": D 108, D 221, D 645. But the topics of evening and night, so
often symbolizing desire, longing, farewell and death, are very close
to Schubert's heart. Just browse through the index of Lieder titles
and you will find 58 titles which refer to evening and night. What does
this fascination for the night mean? Why wrote Novalis, one of the most
Romantisch of all Romantiker, "Hymnen an die Nacht"? This celebration
of solitude, darkness, of - just draw the logical and allegorical
conclusion - death is something definitely modern. For centuries night
had been the symbol for everything evil and detestable (that's why the
gothic cathedrals have such threatening towers in the West to defend the
altar - which is in the East - against Hell). To fall in love with night
is the sign of a great change: the old certainties have gone (as Yeats
wrote: "Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold"), foul becomes fair,
life becomes dubious, death becomes deservable. So much for theory.

Of all the obscure poets of Schubert lyrics Kosegarten is one of the
most obscure. Heaven knows I am a fanatic for German poetry but I had
never heard the name Kosegarten until I began to become a fanatic for
Schubert. Gotthard Ludwig Theobul Kosegarten (1758 - 1818) studied
protestant theology and later became a pastor and professor for history
and theology. He wrote sentimental novels and very, very, very sentimental
poetry which was liked a lot then. He also was a dramatist and the writer
of two idyllic epic poems (his works have nice titles, unintentionally,
like "Wunna or The Tears of Reunion").

Kosegarten's evening poem is influenced by Ossian in used names and in
the atmosphere of archaic gloom. The sun sets near Tamora in Daura, the
home of the Irish kings. The sea kisses the sun full of awe and ecstasy
and roars terribly. Temora is swallowed up by the darkness and the full
moon rolls gleaming red from the dark waves. - Not only is the poem full
of pathos, the author also rhymes "die See" and "Sinkende". Well, you
can not always set Goethe to music...

As always it is a miracle what Schuberts makes of such weird poetry. A
minor composer wouldn't have the strength to withstand the temptation
of the poem's final lines: "Das Weltmeer grollt, / Und glutrot rollt /
Der Vollmond aus den dustern Fluten" (The ocean roars and gleaming red
the full moon rolls from the dark waves) - let's do the Wagner and double
the gloomy grandeur of the words. But Schubert is Schubert - the Lied,
a strophic song, begins in a kind of calm majesty and ends in a kind of
calm majesty. There is no ecstasy, no uproar, no climax - in contrary
the voice begins the third stanza softly. Schubert, the master of
simplicity, knew pretty well that this is much more effectful than beating
on the piano and letting the singer shout. Another effectful technique
Schubert uses: when the piano plays the opening chords of each of the
three stanzas, the voice simply echoes them - and nothing more is needed
to create an atmosphere of solemnity and greatness. The Lied is not even
three minutes long but it is enough to let us see Tamora rise and vanish.
It's mystical, Tolkien-like (but without the brutality).  Catherine
Wyn-Rogers has a fine mezzo and her simple dignity serves the Lied well.

Robert