Erlkönig

F. SchubertD. 328

Key

Gm

Time

C

Tempo

♩=152

AO focus

AO3

Form

Lied — Schubert's 18-year-old setting of Goethe's ballad 'Der Erlkönig' (the Elf King). A father rides through the night with his sick son; the Erlking lures the boy; the boy dies. Through-composed (no verse repetition), with the singer voicing four characters (narrator, father, son, Erlking).

Teaching points

• Piano-trio in the RH — relentless triplet octaves depict the galloping horse. The pianist's RH gets a workout
• Four characters in one voice — the singer must distinguish narrator, father (low, calm), son (high, frightened), Erlking (seductive). Vocal colour technique
• Modulating dread — the boy's pleas rise in pitch each time (G minor → A minor → B minor)
• AO3: through-composed Lied as the Romantic answer to strophic — discuss Schubert's choice