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Chapter 27
Franz Schubert
Chapter at a Glance
Listen to This First
Connect Your Playlist: The Ballad
Modified Strophic Form
Word-Music Relationships: Creating Characters
Listening Guide
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter and listening to the work, students should be able to:
27.2 Define modified strophic form.
27.4 Listen for the ways in which melody, harmony, and rhythm differ from strophe to
Key Concepts
modified strophic form, ballad
Chapter Highlight: Ballad
d piano is a setting of a ballad, a poem that tells a story. The
music enhances the twists and turns of the plot and calls for the singer to serve not only
Chapter Summary
Sc
pianist. The text is based on a poem by Goethe in which a father is riding on horseback
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as he carries his feverish child through the night. The child speaks to his father about the
presence of the Erlkönig, a legendary figure from the realm beyond that only the dying
can see. The father comforts his child by telling him that the visions come from the
wind and the clouds, while the character of the Erlkönig becomes more persistent and
Listening Guide
Guide helps navigate through the strophes, which can include between one and three
characters each. The Erlking usually sings a strophe alone, until the specter grabs the
boy in his last appearance in the song. The Melody column focuses on register, assisting
MyMusicLab Resources
Automated Listening Guide
Chapter Audio: Chapter 27
Animated Notation: Dynamics: Loud versus Soft
Watch: Inside the Orchestra (woodwinds, brass, strings)
Discussion Topics and Critical Thinking Questions
1. What musical devices did Schubert use to enhance the emotional meaning of the text?
How does the piano part increase the dramatic effect?
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Activities and Exercises
1. Using a list of nineteenth-century poets such as Browning, Keats, Kipling, Tennyson,
Wordsworth, Bryant, Dickinson, Emerson, Longfellow, Thoreau, and Whitman, assign
one poem to each class member. Ask the students to prepare to read their poems in
class. Sharing these poems should provide a glimpse into the wealth of creative work
that inspired Schubert.
Journaling Prompt
The ballad has been a standard song type for centuries. What about the ballad
contributes to its popularity?