Schubert and Johann Michael Vogl: A Reappraisal

Author(s): Walther Dürr

Source: 19th-Century Music, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Nov., 1979), pp. 126-140
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/746284
Accessed: 27-02-2020 05:14 UTC

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 Schubert and Johann Michael Vogl:
A Reappraisal
WALTHER DURR

Since the publication of Max Friedlaender's

friend of the composer and an important figu
in Viennese
1893 essay, "Failschungen in Schubert's Lie- musical life during Schuber
dern,"' Johann Michael Vogl's interpreta-
time-compiled for Ferdinand Luib in 1857
tions of Schubert songs, as well as (Luib
his alleged
intended to write the first detailed bio
compositional influence on Schubert, have
raphy of the composer, one which, howev
never
been judged by virtually all writers as appeared.)
harmful.
It has been maintained that Vogl freely Regarding
altered Vogl, Sonnleithner wrote:
many Lieder, especially those of Die sch6ne
Among to
Miillerin, and that he induced the composer those who recognized and promoted Sc
bert's genius early on, Michael Vogl stands witho
make changes and alterations in his
a doubtsongs
in the front rank. As far as musical declama-
when preparing them for publication. These Schubert was certainly indebted
tion is concerned,
alterations seem to have consisted principally
greatly to his style of performance and his ad-
of introducing special ornamentsvice .... The
into composer was frequently forced to ac-
the
commodate
voice-parts of the songs. Friedlaender's himself to him, and the complaint that
severe
many Schubert songs do not really completely suit
judgements are foreshadowed in Leopold
any vocalvon
range has its root cause in Vogl's
Sonnleithner's "Notizen zur Biographie des
influence. Vogl often produced a momentary effect
Franz Schubert," which Sonnleithner-a close
via a spoken word, a sudden outburst, or a note in
falsetto, but these could not be justified artistically
or imitated by anyone else.2
1Max Friedlaender, "Filschungen in Schubert's Liedern,"
Vierteljahrsschrift ffir Musikwissenschaft 9 (1893), 166-
85. 20tto Erich Deutsch, Schubert: Memoirs by his Friends
(London, 1958), pp. 111ff and 116ff. (For the original Ger-
0148-2076/79/110126+15$00.50 O 1979 by the Regents man text see Deutsch, Schubert: Die Erinnerungen seiner
of the University of California. Freunde, 2nd edn. [Leipzig, 1966], pp. 130ff and 135ff).

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In a postscript to his essay, Sonnleithner con- a more intelligent conception of the poems set WALTHER DORR
Schubert and Vogl
tinues: to music. Through his performances Vogl
created an interest not only in the music but in
As regards the manner in which Schubert's songs
the poem as well .... There are only a few still
should be performed, there are very strange opinions
living who enjoyed the experience of hearing
today among the great majority of people. ... I heard
him [i.e., Schubert] accompany and rehearse his Vogl, but these few will never forget the impres-
sion he made. They have heard nothing like it
songs more than a hundred times. Above all, he al-
ways kept the most strict and even time, except in
since."
the few cases where he had expressly indicated a Spaun emphasized that Vogl's influence on
ritardando, morendo, accelerando, etc. Furthermore,
he never allowed violent expression in perfor- Schubert did not affect the actual composition,
mance. . ... Michael Vogl, it is true, overstepped the even the melody line, but rather (as Sonn-
not
permissible limits more and more as he lost his leithner attests) the vocal range for which
voice, but nevertheless he always sang strictlySchubert
in conceived his songs:
time; and where his voice and strength did not
suffice, he merely helped himself out as well as he
It has been suggested that Vogl exerted an influence
could in the manner of an experienced opera singer.
on Schubert with regard to his style of composition,
Schubert would certainly not have approved his but this is quite incorrect. No one ever exercised the
manner of performance as it developed in his last
slightest influence on his manner of composing,
years. though attempts may have been made here and
there. At the most he made a few small concessions
The proviso in Sonnleithner's evaluation of to Vogl out of consideration for the range of his
Vogl has little to do with Friedlaender's voice, but even this he did only seldom and un-
willingly.
"Filschungen"-there is indeed no reference
to falsification. Vogl's influence might be seen,
This view conforms entirely to statements
following Sonnleithner's view, in the use of de-
clamation and in the characteristic voice made by Eduard von Bauernfeld, Anton Schind-
ler, and others, who reiterate that Schubert
range-that is, in performance features com-
never tolerated any interference in his compo-
mon down to our day. Moreover, Vogl's
sition.4 Although apparently timid in social
influence cannot have been of great impor-
ways, Schubert was fully conscious of his
tance, for Schubert's style of declamation after
worth as a composer. To be sure, he followed
1817, the year he made Vogl's acquaintance,
from time to time the advice of his friends, and
was essentially unchanged; in fact his earlier
also of Vogl, but only when he was personally
songs conform perhaps less to the traditional
convinced they were right-for example, when
range of voices than the later ones. Finally, he shortened the last movement of his Trio in
Vogl's manner of singing in his later years,
Eb Major, D. 929.5
which Schubert probably would have found
Falsifications, as Friedlaender understood
unacceptable, was characterized not by me-
them, dealt with composition and not with
lodic alteration but by a certain affected man-
performance. There can be no doubt that Schu-
ner of performance, including the use of cries
and falsetto. bert's written ornaments in his vocal parts reg-
ister his own declamatory intentions, but this
Indeed, many of Schubert's intimate
is not equally true for the embellishments sung
friends found only words of admiration for
by Vogl. Written or "wesentliche" (essential)
Vogl's style of singing. Josef von Spaun, in his
ornaments, as they were called by the theorists
comments to Kreissle's biography, noted that
of Schubert's time, are part of the composition,
Vogl's merits with regard to Schubert included
and only the composer answers for them; im-
those of an especially "sensitive" perfor-
mance.3 Sensitive performance, however, did provised or "willkuirliche" (non-essential) or-
naments are an aspect of performance, and
not translate necessarily into "emotional in-
terpretation," but rather into the right expres-
sion of the musico-poetic structure. Vogl's
4Schubert: Memoirs, p. 310ff (Schindler) and p. 234
"classical education," Spaun wrote, "made for (Bauernfeld).
sWerke Fiir Klavier und mehere Instrumente, Neue
Schubert-Ausgabe, ser. VI, vol. 7, ed. Arnold Feil (Kassel,
3Schubert: Memoirs, p. 364 (German edn., p. 420). 1975), p. x and pp. 70-77.

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I9TH Such non-essential
here it is the singer who bears the entire re- ornaments are defined
CENTURY
MUSIC sponsibility. With such improvisedbyornaments
Schilling as "all those free changes and addi-
it was surely Schubert who influenced
tions byVogl,
which the performer of a composition
and the singer was free to accept orintends
decline to the
embellish it, or a part of it."' They
composer's advice. There were discussions,
include freelyofadded turns, mordents, tremolos,
course. Eduard von Bauernfeld alludes to thesearpeggios, trills, "or any other embellishments,
in his memoirs: "Small alterations and embel- that is: notes augmented in number by which
lishments which this skilful singer, a past mas-
the player or the singer strives to give more ex-
ter of effect, allowed himself, received the pression or life to a movement or to a part of
composer's consent to some extent, but not in-it. The special non-essential ornaments are,
on the one hand ... accelerando and ritar-
frequently they also gave rise to friendly con-
troversy."66 dando, crescendo and decrescendo, mezza voce
The result of these controversies, however,
and portamento, legato and staccato etc., on
must have been largely satisfactory to Schu-the other hand, free passages, runs and similar
bert. The composer himself wrote to hisfioriture. "
brother Ferdinand in the summer of 1825, dur- It is clear from this definition that the
ing a journey with Vogl: theorist of music in Schubert's time did not in-
tend to discuss whethel freely improvised em-
The manner in which Vogl sings and I accompany,
bellishments might be permitted, but only the
how we appear in a given moment to be united into
one, is something quite new and unheard-of for manner and the moment in which they should
these people.7 be introduced. "What about those ornaments
which are harmonically pure and completely
There is no reason to doubt Schubert's com- successful in performance?" asks Friedrich
plete frankness in these words addressed to Rochlitz.10
his He answers himself:
brother. The ornaments, doubtless discussed
earlier by the two performers and certainly
First we apply common sense and natural taste, then
sung by Vogl during the concerts of this jour-the sense of art and artistic taste, and finally musical
ney, apparently did not disturb in any way technique
the and experience. Common sense and
natural taste respond to the questions: "To which
deep unity in performance of the singer andmusical
the species does the composition belong and of
accompanist. which kind therefore are its embellishments? What
In his article "Manier," written in 1837 for
is its meaning? For what setting is it written?" Artis-
his Universallexikon der Tonkunst,8 the fa- tic sense and experience, furthermore, teach the
right way to make and perform successful embel-
mous theorist Gustav Schilling affirmed that
lishments. This, however, cannot be reduced to brief
non-essential ornaments
rules, for to learn it one needs an experienced and
thoughtful artist and an accurate and attentive
contribute immensely to the embellishment of the
teacher.
melody; they animate the voice-part and give it
coherence; they hold our attention; they add expres-
sion to the notes; they bring light and shade into the Some information about freely improvised
embellishments, equally applicable to the
composition. On the other hand, they may prove
equally disadvantageous if used in excess. This hap-singer of today, may be found in songbooks
pens when they are introduced only as proof of vir- used by students of Schubert's time, such as
tuosity. They have to be dictated by sentiment, as
Sulzer states in his Allgemein Theorie der schbnenAnna Maria Pellegrini Celoni's Grammatica o
Krinste. If they stem from this source, they may siano regole di ben cantare, printed in Leipzig
really become a characteristic mode of expression.about 1813 with the title translated into Ger-

6Schubert: Memoirs, p. 226 (German edn., p. 259). 9Gustav Schilling, Musikalische Dynamik oder die Lehre
7Deutsch, Schubert: Dokumente (Kassel, 1964), p. 314 vom Vortrage in der Musik (Kassel, 1843), p. 254.
(Neue Schubert-Ausgabe, ser. VIII, vol. 5). loFriedrich Rochlitz, "Beytrag zur Lehre von den Ver-
8Encyclopiidie der gesammten musikalischen Wis- zierungen," Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (23 Feb-
senschaften, oder Universal-Lexikon der Tonkunst, vol. ruary 1814), XVI, col. 125.
IV, 2nd edn. (Stuttgart, 1841), pp. 515-20.

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man as Gesangmethode oder Anweisung zum referred to as "Scheletro" by the author-from WALTHER DORR
Schubert and Vogl
regelmiissig-guten Gesange."1 At the end of one to eight variants are given. Hence, for an
this Grammatica we find a chapter "Come si eight-measure Andante sostenuto, Pellegrini
debba rifiorire la musica" (How music is to be Celoni suggests the following embellishments
embellished), where for every melody-- (ex. 1):

oN

- 3. L.'
At- D% iAIAsI' .
IPJ~

!~ 7 I'i"t
,i-,
114i Ir-
. F I
Scheletro.

. .An
;. ".. dla
-.' "n--""-te sostenutoo a3 5- ,, i . l
. L' -.. " ...P?
.LJ6
.. . . .. . ... . - ..... ...
-
A d. .. . ..' . . . ...' ... . ..
1.Vat.

17 L.-T dd a a

._ .A& As

_i --, N An ..
,.,,-
,._~ ~ ~ -"
~~A-'iA.......'.
. - .... . ' ...
---. ,. .. _! .. ...
-a A, W+ fO Elm..... t .. ... . . i
gm r!,,, - ... . '

"" f + ....i. " - i

? . _ P .... ...... , r , ... . - .......... .. , ,' ...... . ....... : ... . ..

L 6 4 [ ... .],

Example 1

11Grammatica o siano regole di ben cantare di Anna Maria Anweisung zum regelmiissig-guten Gesange ... Leipzig,
Pellegrini Celoni Romana dedicata a S. A. Serenissima il bei C. F. Peters. Example 1 is reproduced from this volume
Principe Federico di Sax-Gotha. / Gesangmethode oder by courtesy of the Newberry Library, Chicago.

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19TH
CENTURY
It is clear, however, that the vocal conven-
"The first and third stanza should be sung pithily,
with
tions described by Pellegrini Celoni a certain
are those fierceness, the second and fourth sof-
MUSIC ter, because there a new sentiment is to be felt.
of opera. Heeding the suggestions of Rochlitz,
Look, in this way (marking clearly): Da ramm! da
we must inquire as to what degree this ramm!manner
da ramm! da ramm!"
of singing might also apply to the performance
of songs, and especially to those of Schubert.At that he indicated the tempo with both his
These tend to be of two rather different arms, singing the "da ramm" with a low voice.
kinds. They are either of an intimate character, At the end of the second stanza of Goethe's
written for a private room (as Rochlitz tes- Der Gott und die Bajadere, Schubert himself
tifies12) rather than for a concert hall, or they notes, "NB. In these stanzas, as well as in the
are dramatic and scenic. Songs of the first kind others, the content determines the piano and
are uniform in expression and material, fre- forte.,"14
quently strophic. Those of the second type con- The manner in which both strophic and
tain several different parts and movements, dramatic songs were sung by Vogl is revealed
with a variety of effects and expression. Both generously by his numerous Singbiicher. In
kinds are clearly distinct in terms of the theory these Vogl wrote down the embellishments he
of embellishment. deemed most suitable for a representative
The lyrical song in its strict sense justifies selection of Schubert songs. Although impro-
only a few ornaments, and only those that vised embellishments are free alterations of the
serve declamation. "Whenever you are singingwritten melodic line, they were by no means
in the chamber and are accompanied by the always improvised spontaneously-neither in
piano," we read in Rochlitz's recommen- Schubert's time nor in earlier centuries. Sing-
dations, "you are doing so in order to give the ers prepared cadenzas for opera arias,15 they
audience an idea of the pieces themselves, andadded ornaments to their written voice parts in
of the style of performing them .... This kind madrigals as well as in sixteenth-century mas-
of song, and especially every good song of this ses, in Handel's oratorios,16 and in songs.
kind, is firmly wedded to the text.... To giveHence, Vogl transcribed Schubert's Lieder first
only two well-known examples: Klopstock's of all into a convenient transposition, and then
Cidly or Mattheson's Opferlied, both com-he ornamented them precisely. Some of his
posed by Zelter, would be ill-served if embel-Singbiicher were once in Max Friedlaender's
lished with ornaments-even very beautiful possession,17 and a great deal of the material
ones-as would leaving nude and dry the majorFriedlaender used in his article about Vogl's
part of Paer's or Blangini's Canzonettas." "falsifications" was from these very Sing-
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that biicher. They are now lost, but fortunately
strophic songs required some alterations-not a copy of them, entitled Lieder von Franz
real embellishments, but variants between the Schubert, veraindert von Michel Vogl (Songs by
several stanzas-even if they were composed Franz Schubert, altered [meaning "embel-
by Zelter. Goethe's recommendations to the lished" in Schubert's time] by Michael Vogl) is
singer Eduard Genast are well known.13 When preserved as vol. 80 of the Witteczek-Spaun
Genast sang to the poet Reichardt's composi-
tion of his Jigers Abendlied, Goethe sat on his
armchair, covering his eyes with his hand. At 14"NB. Bei diesen Strophen sowohl als bei den fibrigen
the end of the song he sprang up, exclaiming: muss der Inhalt derselben das Piano und Forte bestim-
"It is a bad way of singing this song," and then, men"; Franz Schubert's Werke; Kritisch durchgesehen
Gesammtausgabe, ed. Eusebius Mandyczewski (Leipzig,
striding up and down the room, he hummed 1895), ser. XX, vol. 3, p. 33.
and continued: 15See, for example, Benedetto Marcello, "Alle Cantatrici,"
in Ii Teatro alla Moda (Venice, 1702?); Walther Diirr,
"Formen und Moglichkeiten des musikalischen Vor-
trages," Die Musikforschung 21 (1968), 186.
12Rochlitz, "Beytrag," col. 128. 16Max Seiffert, "Die Verzierung der Sologesange in Haindels
l3Heinrich W. Schwab, Sangbarkeit: Popularitiit und 'Messias,"' Sammelbdnde der Internationalen Musikge-
Kunstlied (Regensburg, 1965), p. 69 (Studien zur Musikge- sellschaft 8 (1907), 581-615.
schicte des 19. Jarhunderts, Band 3). 17Friedlaender, "Filschungen," p. 70.

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collection in the archives of the Gesellschaft the melody by adding all the declamatory var- WALTHER DiRR
Schubert and V
der Musikfreunde in Vienna. iants he believed necessary for the different
One of the strophic songs included in this texts. Thus, in the fifth line of the first
copy is Schubert's well-known Der Fischer stanza ("und wie er sitzt und wie er lauscht")
(D. 225). Typically, Schubert supplied melodyVogl sustained the final note with a fermata fol-
and accompaniment for only the first stanza of lowed by a sixteenth note instead of an eighth.
this song. Vogl, however, copied it out four In this way Vogl expresses the specific attitude
times; for each of the four stanzas he alteredof the listening fisherman (ex. 2):

Schubert

Und wie er sitzt, und wie er lauscht, teilt sich die Flut em - por.
Vogl
I rL1!1I

Example 2

In the same way, Vogl adds a pause to the last mata on "Weib" expresses the fisherman's sur-
lines of stanza 1: "aus dem bewegten Wasser prise at her sudden appearance even more viv-
rauscht ein feuchtes Weib hervor." The fer- idly than does Schubert's melisma (ex. 3):

Schubert

.,. ,. j _,.. . - j ? -

Aus dem be-weg - ten Was ser rauscht ein feuchtes Weib her-vor.
Vogl

Aus dem be-weg - ten Was ser rauscht ein feuchtes Weib,

Example 3

However, the pause on "Weib" does not allow with new syllables, as one finds frequently at
the singer to continue with the last rhyming the end of a song or a stanza.
word, "hervor," as does Schubert. Here Vogl In the last stanza, Vogl's alterations reflect
forces the music to give way to the dramatic the action, now drawing swiftly to an end. To
tension produced by the hold, and he repeats the line "Sie sprach zu ihm, sie sang zu ihm,"
the entire line. The stanza is thereby prolonged he adds a seductive rallentando. With a fermata
by half a measure. In Vogl's transcription this at the end of the same line, Vogl stops the con-
repetition seems a falsification: the final chord tinuous sixteenth-note motion for the first
now stands at the beginning of a measure, not time in the song, symbolically sealing the
at its mid-point. But the written verse is some- fisherman's fate. A diminuendo-leading ul-
thing of an illusion; performed or sung, the timately to ppp-accompanies the words
half-measure extension, based on the same pro- "halb zog sie ihn, halb sank er hin." Finally,
longed harmony, sounds like nothing but the end of this line introduces a digression
another fermata, this time troped and supplied from the song's harmonic framework (ex. 4):
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 19TH Schubert
CENTURY
MUSIC

halb zog sie ihn, halb sank er hin und ward nicht mehr ge-sehn.

Vogl d

halb zog sie ihn, halb sank er hin und ward nicht mehr, und ward nicht mehr ge - sehn.

, : ; ---,---x---- - - -_ ',_1 -

Example 4

The piano part does not at first cadence in the tions are to be found only rarely in the
tonic, but instead in the relative minor; this through-composed songs contained in Vogl's
reflection of the fisherman's unexpected Singbuch.
change in plans provides a very rare instance of Some of Vogl's embellishments in Der
harmonic ornamentation. Fischer differ from those we have encountered
With yet another halt in the sixteenth-notethus far. In the third stanza, for instance, to the
motion and another metric shift in the final phrase "kehrt wellenatmend ihr Gesicht nicht
phrase, it should by now be clear that freedom doppelt schdner her?," "schdner" elicits from
of tempo brought about by rallentandos, fer- Vogl a suspension combined with a turn and
matas, and perhaps even dynamic changes, is mordent,
a painting in this graphic way a single
word. This is a compositional impossibility in
basic requirement of the strophic Lied. It is in
a strictly strophic song, where details of de-
no way contradicted by Schubert's insistence
clamation which fit only one of the several
on rigidity of tempo as described by Vogl and
Sonnleithner. Such freely added tempo indica-stanzas may not be added to the others (ex. 5):

Schubert

Kehrt wel - len-at-mend ihr Ge-sicht nicht dop-pelt sch6 - ner her

Vogl

Kehrt wel - len-at-mend ihr Ge-sicht nicht dop-pelt sch6 - ner her

Example 5
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 WALTHER DiRR
A denser application of such alterations her image becomes "schnell verrauschendes,"
Schubert and Vo
can be found in Vogl's version of Jigers Vogl reduces the expressive turn in the first
Abendlied" (D. 368), also a strophic song. The measure to a passing appoggiatura. The second
third line of each stanza is embellished in a dif- measure, however, corresponds closely to that
ferent way. In the first stanza the image of the of the first stanza (ex. 6b). Finally, in the third
"liebes Bild" is expressed by Vogl with a turn stanza, the first measure remains unaltered;
in the first measure and a free ornament on the words "stiller Frieden" do not suggest em-
bellishment (ex. 6c):
"liebes" (ex. 6a). In the second stanza, where

6a

6cON

da schwebt so licht dein 'ie - bes Bild, A .

6 b j-r C-
53 ein stil - ler Frie - de kommt auf mich,

und ach,mein schnell ver - rauschend Bild,

Example 6

The ornaments in the final cadence of each second he substituted the fourth above the
stanza belong to a third species of embellish-tonic and, again, a turn (ex. 7b). In the third
ment. In the first stanza, instead of the leadingstanza, we find an embellished fermata com-
tone, Vogl added an ascent to the fifth abovebined with a descent to the lower octave
the tonic, followed by a turn (ex. 7a). In the(ex. 7c):

Schubert Vogl (a)

dein sui - sses Bild mir vor. dein sui - sses Bild mir vor.
stellt sich dir's nicht ein-mal?
weiss nicht,wie mir ge-schehn.
Vogl (b) Vogl (c)

stellt sich dir's nicht ein-mal? weiss nicht, wie mir ge-schehn.
stellt sich dir's nicht ein-mal? weiss nicht, wie mir ge-schehn.

Example 7

These various embellishments cannot be ex- admonition, especially considering the modest
plained by the text, but follow a fundamental dimensions of this kind of composition.
rule known to the theory of embellishmentRicher embellishments can be found in
since the sixteenth century. Schilling explains: those more dramatic works of Schubert, where
the singer, again in Schilling's words, assumes
It is important to avoid the frequent repetition of the
same ornament or the same manner of ornamenta-
"the rights of a stage singer."" In the Viennese
tion; ... otherwise the result is all too easily a man- copy of Vogl's Singbuch the dialogue Antigone
nered performance.... There must be a pleasing und Oedip (D. 542) is one such song.
variety and a certain gradation in the use of individ- The embellishments in this and similar
ual ornaments, saving the best, the brightest, the Lieder are the legacy of an old tradition. The
longest and the most ardent additions and altera-
tions for the conclusion of the composition.18

In both of the strophic songs we have exam- s1Schilling, Musikalische Dynamik, p. 255.
ined, Vogl's ornaments adhere faithfully to this 19Ibid., p. 264.

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 19TH
CENTURY
precise representation
distinctions made by Christopher Bernhard in of the words and th
MUSIC character
his treatise Von der Singe-Kunst oder Manier("cantar alla napolitana" or "can
some 150 years earlier,20 allow for three
d'affetto").
kinds Every one of these three species o
embellishments
of improvised ornaments: those that give a is to be found in Vogl's ve
specific musical accent to single notession of Antigone und Oedip.
( "cantar
alla romana" or "cantar sodo"), those that In m.en-
11, for instance, Vogl adds a suspen-
rich the musical line by characteristicsionfigures
to "-strahl" in "Rachestrahl," anticip
ing
or fill in intervals with scalar passages immediately afterward the highest not
("cantar
Eb onand
alla lombarda" or "cantar passaggiato"), "vernichte" and D on "tief"--of t
finally, those that use certain figuresphrase
for a (ex.more
8):

Schubert

und euer Ra - che-strahl ver-nich - te die tief - be-triib - te Dul - de-rin.

Vogl A 4k__________

Example 8

In m. 17, to the words "glatt und rein," parallel suspensions-producing the effect of a
Vogl embellishes a stepwise rising third with portamento-and a trill (ex. 9):

Schubert Vogl
Recit. Adagio

*jfl r bleibt
das Fir - ma-ment I glatt
N r'
und rein *w
das Fir - ma-ment i
bleibt glatt und rein

Example 9

These ornaments alla romana, as understood certain that for Schubert such nonessential
by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century theo- ornaments were also beyond discussion.
rists, did not affect musical notation. The per- Pure figuration in the sense of cantar pas-
formance of a composition "as written" natu- saggiato, without any evident relation to the
rally included the embellishments of cantar text, is found at the beginning of the song. Vogl
alla romana;21 they were obvious additions; fills in the leap of a fourth on "hohen" with a
composers surely counted on them. It seems simple scale (ex. 10):

Schubert Vogl
Langsam Antigone Langsam Antigone

Ihr ho - hen Himm-li-schen, er- Ihr ho hen Himm-li-schen, er-

Example 10

20Walther Diirr and Ulrich Siegele, "Cantar"Nell'opere con un violino il suonatore ha da su

d'affetto: zumrn
Vortrag monodischer Musik," in Kongressbericht
giusto comeLeipzig
stA"; but "adornandolo con trilli et se
saggi." From Hugo Riemann, Handbuch der Mu
1966 (Kassel and Leipzig, 1970), pp. 208-15.
21See, for example, P. Quagliati in Sfera schichte,
armoniosavol. II (Leipzig, 1912), p. 120.
(1623):

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 WALTHER DORR
Similar figures can be found as scalar passages have seen in the examples from the strophic
Schubert and Vog
in m. 44 to "schwang nicht dein Zepter," and songs, grow out of the text. The words "herz-
in m. 64 to "golden Licht." But the major por- entstrdmtes Flehen" in m. 4 are portrayed by a
tion of Vogl's ornaments and alterations, as we suitably flowing figure (ex. 11):

Schubert Vogl

herz - entstr6m-tes Fle-hen, lasst herz-ent - str6m-tes Fle-hen, lasst

Example 11

To the words "und Hbrnerschalle," a long underlines the allusion to musical instruments
melisma, again resonant of much earlier times, (ex. 12):

Schubert 3 3

beim Hel-den-sang und H6r ner-schal

VoglA
?A 1 k 1 -2 i

Example 12

Sometimes Vogl evenher

offers enriches
life to m
th
ready supplied father
by Schubert,
(ex. 13):as wh

Schubert Vogl

siih-nen, dies . .un - ge Le-ben, nehmt es hin,

suih-nen, dies jun - ge Le-ben, nehmt es hin,
siih-nen, dies jun- ge Le-ben, nehmt es hin,

Example 13

or when she observes her father awakening

(ex. 14):

Schubert

ich ahn's, ein furcht-ba-res Ge-sicht verscheucht von ihm den leich - ten Schlummer,

Vogl (furcht - bar) 3

Example 14
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19TH
CENTURY
These examples demonstrate thatshould
evenbe plain and at the service of the poet's
MUSIC written embellishments-essential ones-
intentions--demands a singer
may be altered by the singer, and the reason is
who on the one hand embellishes a simple melody
easy to understand. Whenever a singer enriches
with taste, adding a turn or two to the original form
a song by his own ornaments, as did Vogl
to with
produce a pleasing variety but who, on the other
Antigone und Oedip, those parts the composer
hand, does not succumb to licentious fantasy or to
underlined by his own, much plainer,amelis-
desire to excel by sheer mechanical ability; in-
mas appear colorless by comparison. In stead he relies on reason, sensibility and taste,
these
cases, written coloraturas are only an which are the prerequisites for every dramatic
indica-
singer. Frequently a single suspension, a well-
tion of the composer's intentions, of the
expressed mordent, an ornament of three, four, or at
character he would like expressed. In the
mostpre-
six notes, every time new and gracious in its
vious two examples Schubert endowed chro-
form, every time pure and clear in its performance,
everyand
matic progressions with their traditional time appropriate to the sense of the text, to
the character of the song, the singer, and the
specific affect of devotion and deep emotion.
accompaniment-these may genuinely embellish
This special character is preserved admirably
the melody, intensify its expression, and increase
in both instances by Vogl. the overall effect.
The full extent to which the text was deci-
sive for Vogl is shown by the end of the song. At the conclusion of his article Mosel
Oedipus, dreaming, experiences his lost power exhorts his readers, especially the skeptical
for a brief moment. But once awakened, he is ones, to go hear "our Vogl, singing the parts of
left only with resignation: Almaviva, of Orestes, of the patriarch James,
of Creon, of Astyages, and especially of the
Zerst6rung ruft, von allen Seiten: prophet Daniel!" Recent research has shown
"Zum Tode sollst du dich bereiten,
dein irdisch Werk ist abgetan." that Schubert shared Mosel's presuppositions
about dramatic composition,24 which were
Destruction calls from all sides: anyway not far from those of his own teacher,
"You should prepare yourself for death, Antonio Salieri. Thus Schubert, like Mosel,
Your earthly work is done." understood Vogl's singing and embellishing of
his songs; moreover, it is also clear that the
Vogl left this portion of the song-some
composer's understanding of ornamentation in
twenty measures composed by Schubert in a
songs is the same as Vogl's.
broad and often psalmodic manner-com-
At the outset, we pointed out that Schubert
pletely unaltered, while in the other sixty-four
himself, in second and even third versions of
measures it is difficult to find even two succes-
his songs, frequently added and sometimes
sive bars unchanged.
Given the extensive embellishments in
canceled ornaments in his voice-parts. The last
line of the first stanza of Wer sich der Einsam-
Vogl's version of Antigone und Oedip, one
keit ergibt (D. 478.1), "und lasst ihn seiner
might suppose that his manner of singing was
Pein," for instance, is embellished in the sec-
extremely virtuosic; the contrary was actually
ond, printed version of the song by a kind of
true. In the Taschenbuch fur Schauspieler und
mordent in the style of cantar sodo (ex. 15):
Schauspielfreunde auf das Jahr 1821, we find
an essay by Ignas Franz von Mosel, a theorist
First version
with whom Schubert was connected and with
whom he studied Handel's scores.22 In an essay
entitled "Ober die gew6hnliche Anwendung und lisst ihn sei-ner Pein.
der Worter: Methode und Kunst auf die Leis-
tungen dramatischer Singer,"23 Mosel-here
as elsewhere fighting for an opera where music Second version
Second version

Example 15
22See Karl Holz's entry in a Beethoven conversation book,
and Deutsch's comment in Schubert: Dokumente, p. 352.
23Andreas Liess, Johann Michael Vogl (Graz-K61ln, 1954), 24George R. Cunningham, Franz Schubert als Theater-
pp. 112ff and 216ff. komponist (Ph.D. diss., University of Freiburg), p. 146ff.

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 As we noted above, these embellishments most probably based on a Vogl's version of theWALTHER DORR
Schubert and Vog
have been said to be the fruit of Vogl's song.25 At "und liisst ihn.. ." and several other
influence. Apart from general considerations points we find slightly different ornaments,
which make it improbable that Schubert wrote some even simpler than Schubert's. The moti-
ornaments simply to satisfy the ambitions ofvation may well have been variety: the figure
the singer, there are in this specific case furtherused by Schubert had already occurred three
reasons for attributing the printed ornaments times shortly before; its quasi-thematic
to Schubert and to Schubert alone. In vol. 33 of
character contradicted the designated function
the Witteczek-Spaun collection in the Gesell-of embellishment. Vogl endeavored to remedy
schaft der Musikfreunde, there is preserved what
a probably seemed to him a distortion (ex.
copy of Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt, one 16):

Vogl()

und lisst ihn sei-ner Pein.

Example 16

At the end of Greisengesang (D. 778) we

find substantial additions by Schubert which
clearly do not arise from the text; these are,
then, embellishments in the sense of cantar
passaggiato (ex. 17):

First version . .
gib Dach und Fach dem Duft der TrAu me, gib Dach und Fach.
Third versionb d d A

gib Dach und Fach dem Duft der Trau me, gib Dach und Fach.

Example 17

Only seldom did Schubert add embellish-

specific singers26-but also to the same kind of
ments of the species cantar d'affeto; embellishments
he had, of witnessed in Vogl's Singbuch.
course, already supplied virtually all essential it is not only Schubert himself
Furthermore,
who
ornaments in the first versions of his indirectly
songs. A validates Vogl's alterations:
rare example can nevertheless be found in Wer
they also seem to have been largely accepted by
sich der Einsamkeit ergibt. At the Schubert's
end of thefriends. This is evidenced first by
lines "Ach werd ich erst einmal einsam im the copy of Schubert's Singbuch itself, prepared
for
Grabe sein," Schubert specifically notates an his friend Josef Wilhelm Witteczek and
accent on the word "Grabe" in the printed ver-
supplied generously with alterations by Vogl. It
sion. That is the key word, although stressed
only in the second half of the measure.
25Neue Schubert-Ausgabe, ser. IV, vol. 1: Lieder, ed.
Walther Diirr (Kassel, etc., 1970), p. xxv; and id., "Quellen
und Lesarten," p. 26ff.
From all of these examples we learn that Schu-
26Arnold Feil and Walther Diirr, "Die Neue Schubert-
bert was not only open to changes and alter-
Ausgabe: Ober einige Probleme des Herausgebens von
ations arising from the specific qualitiesMusik,"
and Osterreichische Musikzeitschrift 24 (1969), 553-
63; id., "Die Neue Schubert-Ausgabe: Zum editorischen
capacities of the performer--alterations found
Konzept einer kritischen Gesamtausgabe," Musica 32
in special versions of his works transcribed (1978),
for 131-36.
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19TH
CENTURY
The songbooks
is also evidenced by other copies of Vogl's ver- now found in the
MUSIC Peterskirche
sions, handed down in songbooks assembled by give rise to a final problem, one
members of the same circle. The copies of the
which was theprincipal impetus for Friedlaen-
der's
"Harper" songs (D. 478), found in vol. 33 original
of the article about Vogl's "falsifica-
tions": Anton
Witteczek-Spaun collection, have already Diabelli and his edition of Schu-
been
mentioned. Other copies are preserved in the
bert's song cycle Die sch6ne Miillerin (D. 795).
songbook of Franziska Tremier,This
who knew
cycle was first published by Sauer &
Schubert in his last years. This particular
Leidesdorf vol-
in 1824 in its original version, partly
ume, preserved in the Viennese Stadt-
correctedund
by Schubert himself and partly by his
Landesbibliothek, contains a version of Ferdinand
brother An during Schubert's temporary
Emma (D. 113) identical with Vogl'sabsence from
version ofVienna. In 1829 Diabelli bought
this song in the Witteczek Singbuch.
the rights to the cycle and published a new edi-
tion, with
Embellished versions of songs surface fre-many of the songs containing altera-
tions to
quently in a family of books recently the musical text.28 According to the
discov-
ered in Vienna; these songbooks once belonged
singer Josef Ginsbacher in 1864, these altera-
to the library of the Peterskirche. A number
tions came from Vogl:
are now housed in the Austrian National Li-
When, following Schubert's death, a new edition of
brary, while others remain in private hands. It
Die sch6ne Miillerin was judged necessary in the
is quite probable that the first of these books1830s, the new proprietor of the rights [Anton
was once in the possession of Schubert's prin- Diabelli] believed it would please the public to print
them with all the variants so frequently sung by
cipal editor, Anton Diabelli. Indeed, part of the
Schubertiana in the Peterskirche collection Vogl to the general delight of his audience. If the ex-
was originally Diabelli's personal property, perienced editor Diabelli ... himself "corrected"
several points, the major share of the alterations are
coming into the Peterskirche throughcharacteristicthe of an opera singer.29
intercession of Diabelli's son-in-law Josef
Greipel, who served as the choir director until A great number of the alterations found in
1897.27 Since Diabelli frequently collaborated Diabelli's version of the cycle correspond di-
with Vogl after Schubert's death in the editing rectly to Vogl's manner of embellishment. We
of Schubert songs for publication, the embel- find, for instance, his typical clarification of
lished versions are likely to be copies of Vogl's musical declamation (ex. 18):
versions.

Schubert

und der Meister sagt zu al - len: eu-er Werk hat mir ge - fal - len,
Vogl(?)
A Recit.L

Example 18

Or there are melodic ornamentations (ex. 19):

Schubert Vogl(?)

vI.F, M -v - I - nu
voll-auf ge - nug, voll-auf ge - nug. voll-auf ge-nug, voll-auf ge - nug.

Example 19

For footnotes 27, 28, and 29, see p. 139.

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But with regard to another type of alteration it for instance, the athletic buoyancy and agility WALTHER DURR
Schubert and Vogl
is difficult to believe in Vogl's authorship. required at the words "Durch den Hain aus
These are not even embellishments, but rather und ein" is replaced by a much plainer version
simplifications of the melodic lines. In Mein, with the eighths reduced to quarters (ex. 20):

Schubert

Diabeli(?)Durch den Hain aus und ein, schal-le heut ein Reim al-lein.

1,, MAiIi,

Example 20

It is barely conceivable
the voice part are abolished, the that
agent is proba- such
would have bly the publisher, whowith
originated strove to meet his pub-
Vogl. Tr
years Vogl's lic halfway. Thislost
voice hypothesis issome
further con- of i
power and hewas forced
firmed by copies to
of several songs from breath
the cycle
quently within phrases-but that would in Franziska Tremier's songbook, mentioned
scarcely have necessitated simplifying the above. These songs are embellished in a man-
melodic line, as is sometimes supposed.30 As ner quite similar to Diabelli's versions, but
Sonnleithner observed, Vogl's technical ex- with one important difference: there are no
perience rescued him whenever his voice and simplifications of melodic lines with respect
strength did not suffice. Such technical tricks, to Schubert's original versions. On the other
however, might well take the form of some- hand, embellishments do occur which are not
what richer embellishments, using the agility found in Diabelli's edition, especially at those
of the voice to cover a lack of steadiness. points where Schubert himself had already
We are therefore induced to modify supplied them. In Der Miuller und der Bach, for
Gdinsbacher's supposition: those embellish- example, the words "und gehn alle Morgen zur
ments in Die schone Miillerin which corre- Erde hinab" offer a conclusion to the second
spond to the alterations found in Vogl's stanza in a characteristic Vogl-like manner,
Singbuch are almost certainly Vogl's. In other while Diabelli's edition ends identically to
instances, where apparent or real difficulties in Schubert's original (ex. 21):

Schubert/Diabelli

ab, und gehn al-le Mor-gen zur Er - de her - ab.

Vogl(?)
A - r "
.. ..,I'nIL, "fiI; .T IL.-' -

Example 21

ten und Revisionsbericht zum ersten Bande der Lieder von

27Josef Mantuani, "Schubertiana," Die Musik 1 (1901-02),
1374-76. Franz Schubert, (Leipzig, 1884), p. 3ff.
28Neue Schubert-Ausgabe, ser. IV, vol. 2: Lieder, ed. 30Max Friedlaender, Schubert-Album Supplement, p. 2ff;
Walther Diirr (Kassel, etc., 1975), p. xviiiff. against this view see Andreas Liess, Johann Michael Vogl,
29Max Friedlaender, Schubert-Album Supplement: Varian- p. 138ff.

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19TH
CENTURY
We have already mentioned Vogl's version
an interpretation suitable to the work. It is not
MUSIC of An Emma in the Tremier songbook; it is
an Interpretations-ausgabe, and it is not an
therefore very probable that the edition
variedadvocating
songs one, and only one, correct
from Die schbne Miillerin copied for Franziska
interpretation.
Tremier likewise bear Vogl's original It isstamp.
in these terms that our considerations
Diabelli later consulted them for about his edition,
Vogl's embellishments should be under-
partially accepting Vogl's readings, stood. partiallySuch re-
practices were characteristic for
turning to Schubert's text where Schubert's the embel- time, and Schubert surely accepted
lishments seemed to him too virtuosic, his songs as andembellished by Vogl just as read-
even simplifying Schubert's text whenever ily as his friends
he did. But it is also true that
believed it to be overly demanding to Vogl's
the embellishments
gen- were improvised, non-
eral public. The restoration of Vogl's original
essential alterations, and as such would never
versions in the Miiller songs demands, have been then-
written out by Schubert, much less
using the few songs copied for Franziska Tre-
published. This is why Diabelli's edition of Die
mier as a model-the purging of all schdne Miillerin represents the real falsifi-
of Diabel-
li's simplifications of the musical text. cation-but
Onlyon inthe part of the editor, not the
this way will we finally do justicesinger! to Vogl Vogl'sand
versions represented his personal
concede that his "falsifications" of Die schbne adaptation of Schubert songs to the special
Miillerin are nothing but the transcription of character
a of his voice and to his special tastes.
manner of performance perfectly characteristic As personal adaptations, Schubert agreed to
for Schubert's time. them, in much the same spirit that he himself
These conventions of vocal ornamentation altered the voice (as well as the piano) part of
were moribund by the middle of the nineteenth numerous songs in order to meet a singer's or
century. Kreissle, in his 1865 biography, labelsa player's personal abilities halfway.
such improvised embellishments in Schubert The musical impulse behind Vogl's embel-
as "abscheuliche Abiinderungen" ("detestable
lished versions would be lost entirely were to-
alterations").31 Today they are part of all those
day's singers to reproduce them literally, as if
they were authentic versions of Schubert's
vanished traditions, of all those forgotten rules
of performance, without which our under- songs. If the singer is not a reasonable facsimile
standing of what a Schubert song meant in his of Vogl inside and out, and if the circumstances
lifetime remains incomplete. of the performance are not tolerably the same
A modern edition of Schubert's songs, as Vogl's, then Vogl's versions (as well as the
therefore, ought to take into account the few several versions Schubert often wrote of a song)
preserved in their ornamented versions, espe- should serve only as models for individual cre-
cially when the ornamentation was by Vogl. Itation of improvised, non-essential embellish-
is in this spirit that the New Schubert Edition,ments. Contemporary examples can convey
the type and manner of embellishment appro-
aspiring to practical as well as scholarly goals,
has printed Vogl's versions of Schubert's songspriate to Schubert's Lieder, clarifying the prin-
in the appendices to the volumes of Lieder.ciples involved. Simply repeating the orna-
This is not to suggest that the New Schubert ments found in contemporary copies would
Edition is primarily a practical edition, espe- unwittingly raise these alterations to the status
cially if this term is taken to mean an edition of composed ones, and hence would become
offering the musician solutions he is obliged topart of the work itself. The net result would be
a falsification, one not so far from those pub-
accept. It is, rather, an edition which interprets
the performance guidelines of Schubert's time,lished nearly 150 years fO'
thereby aiding the performer in his search for
ago by Diabelli. -

3'Heinrich Kreissle von Hellborn, Franz Schubert (Vienna,

1865), p. 121.

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