Walter Meyer <[log in to unmask]> replies to me:

>Mats Norrman wrote:
>
>>...  Of course interpretations are all ones own, which we prefer, but
>>I lend more towards an interpretation thats says that the persons in
>>"Erlkoenig" are just symbols, and it has nothing with homosexuality to do.
>
>How about:
>
>"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schone Gestalt;
>Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt."
>
>(I love thee, I'm aroused by thy beautiful form;
>And be thou not willing, I'll take thee by storm.)?

First of all it is a nice translation (I assume I am saying that to the
right person and the real reason he posted is he wanted to hear that ;-)

But, if you knew for example this times artists way of writing letters, you
wouldn't be so sure.  So when Lord Byron writes to a male friend a letter
beginning with "My dearest love,...", this doesn't need to be an expression
of homosexuality.  Still I think I recognize coding for homosexuality when
I see it, for example I think "The Squires Serenade" is an expression for
homosexual love, and the composer had two wives in his life.

Of course homosexuality could be one possible interpretation, and might be
one intended interpretation by others, as I have seen manifold meanings in
other Schubert works, as in Wagners, and others...

What you say reminds me about why Beethovens 9th is said to illustrate a
rape:

   "Wer ein holdes Weib errungen..."

    ("He who captures a lovely woman...")

It is just never said that it is the body that shall be captured and not
the soul.  Though it could sound like a "code".

Mats Norrman
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