English Language, Literature & Culture

2020; 5(1): 25-35

http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ellc
doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200501.13
ISSN: 2575-2367 (Print); ISSN: 2575-2413 (Online)

Vocal Piano Accompaniment: A Constant Research

Towards Emancipation (2)
Jose Maria Peñalver Vilar1, Luis Valles Grau2
1
Education and Specific Didactics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain
2
Music Department, Valencian International University, Valencia, Spain

Email address:

To cite this article:

Jose Maria Peñalver Vilar, Luis Valles Grau. Vocal Piano Accompaniment: A Constant Research Towards Emancipation (2). English
Language, Literature & Culture. Vol. 5, No. 1, 2020, pp. 25-35. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200501.13

Received: December 30, 2019; Accepted: January 16, 2020; Published: February 4, 2020

Abstract: This is the second and last article in the series dedicated to the investigation of the evolution of vocal piano
accompaniment through history and the role-played by the piano in its relationship with the voice. If the previous chapter
focused from the beginnings of piano accompaniment to Franz Schubert, this one will take up again the analysis of the piano
part from the last lieder of Franz Schubert to Arnold Schoenberg. The research method used continues to be based on the
musical analysis of the piano part, addressing both issues of the piano itself and its link with the text and the vocal part. By
means of musical examples of different composers, the article investigates all those aspects that provide evidence of the change
in the role of the piano in the correspondence of the piano with the voice and its repercussion on the final result of the work. In
this way, we will look at the history of piano accompaniment for voice and see how the influence of Schubert's conception of
vocal piano accompaniment materializes in contemporary and later composers, as well as the crucial change in the history of
the piano as an accompanying instrument introduced by Schubert. The results and conclusions drawn from the evolution
presented in these two articles are presented at the end of the article, based on the different aspects involved in the musical
event, such as rhythm, harmony or texture.
Keywords: Piano, Music, Accompaniment, Voice, Schubert

present Die Stadt. It is confronted with Schubert's temporary

1. Introduction approach. In this new example the nuance added on this
We take up the investigation of the first article, continuing occasion is that the two pillars of his music are made up of
with examples from Franz Schubert to the end of the 20th the voice and the piano. Singing represents the whole time,
century. At the end of the investigation we present the results that is to say, the past, the present and the future. Rhythmic
and conclusions. With the help of a theoretical framework and writing, ostinato, reiteration and the obsessive are provided
the exemplification of scores we can see how it has evolved the by the piano. In this way, the real protagonist of the lied is
voice’s piano accompaniment. Throughout two articles we will time. In Die Stadt the listener never knows what will happen
see how the conception of the piano in its participation in voice- next. In this way, Schubert lays the foundations for the new
piano duo suffered, with Franz Schubert, a turning point that spatial-temporal conception of music in the 19th century [1].
marked his future. To do this we would like to start this article This spatiotemporal consideration is also undoubtedly
explaining what the practice’s accompaniment is because it will influenced by Heine's text, which is sometimes so ironic in
help to understand its historical evolution in relation to the song. considering the present as a past and laughing at it through
metaphors such as that of the lover disillusioned in the past
reviving that situation in the present [2]. Schubert currently
2. Examples uses an ambiguous harmonization, with open chords and
2.1. Franz Schubert distant tonalities. Instead, tonal clarity appears in the scenes
where mirage and memory are unveiled and reality is
In the previous article we examined Der Erlkönig, now we returned. But Schubert always leaves us the doubt when in
26 Jose Maria Peñalver Vilar and Luis Valles Grau: Vocal Piano Accompaniment: A Constant Research Towards Emancipation (2)

the final stanza the tension is diluted and seems to make us

doubt that this illusion really existed, wondering what was
real, if the imaginary or the earthly. This theatricalization
together with the harmonic-tonal game is undoubtedly one of
Schubert's most remarkable characteristics [3].
The beginning, with a single note in the grave and
pianissimo, leaves open the infinite possibility of the entire
universe. This ambiguity remains two measures. In addition,
in the third, an arpeggio of a sensitive seventh chord appears
in the right hand, so we continue with greater uncertainty.
The introduction ends as it began, with only one tremolo note Figure 3. Measure 19.
in the low register.
In the third stanza he has again the material of the first one
with variations both in the voice and in the piano and
concludes the piano as it had begun: pianissimo and with the
tremolo in the left hand and the arpeggioed in the right hand.
The dramatic tension is concentrated on this lied in the
second stanza. We appreciate again that it places this tension
in the moments of more action of the poem. In this it is the
Figure 1. Measures 2 and 3. wind that whips up all the drama of the story. The piano is
impassive. It is not an ostinato, but to maintain the same
We have seen many examples of how Schubert uses the exact model that we have related previously: tremolo in left
tremolo, but at this moment he combines it with silences and hand and chord of seventh of sensible in the arpeggioed right
with a completely open harmony. He has combined a hand or placado. On this pattern it is the voice that agitates
rhythmic ostinato with an open harmony. The result of the the whole speech. It is about redefining a type of recitative. If
ensemble is disturbing, it generates a lot of expectation, since in the Baroque and Classicism it was constituted from a
everything is open, and everything is possible [4]. chord that played the basso continuo or the piano at the same
It is the voice that gives reality to the lied. Therefore, in time or before the voice and later left the voice free to
this lied the piano has a character role within the poem. express itself with total autonomy, Schubert has, through a
Schubert has added narration to the poem by including the rhythmic-harmonic ostinate, the ideal stage for the voice to
piano in the story. The character of the piano character gives perform the same declamatory function, but with greater
another dimension to the poem. When the voice enters, it expressiveness, thanks to the involvement of the piano. All
abandons the tremolo and presents us with the quaver rhythm the notes of the voice are part of the seventh chord of
with semiquaver that we have commented on so much. He sensible, except for a few notes of passage and especially an
will adopt it in a homophonic way between the voice and the appoggiatura in the second measure of this second stanza. At
piano throughout the first stanza. this moment, in 'kräuselt', 'encrespa', in measure 19, Schubert
wants to emphasize it expressively with a dissonance. We can
see this in the previous figure 3. It always enhances in some
way everything that is relevant to the narration, and at this
moment the action of wind frizz is undoubtedly fundamental
because of the effects it produces on the protagonist.
The voice range is one tenth, from low C to high Eb. To a
greater extent it is below the tessitura of the piano, so it
should highlight its lower timbre. Therefore, Schubert's
sound design for this dark stanza is one of total uneasiness
due to the insecurity caused by the wind. The piano we said
at the beginning of this lied, is who embodies the obsession,
the supernatural. In this second stanza it is evident what
unwritten role the piano plays.
Figure 2. Measure 7.
At the end, in the third stanza, he repeats the melody of the
Once the first stanza is finished, he resumes the first. However, as the character of the text does not
introduction and, while the second stanza runs, he maintains correspond to the first, Schubert introduces important
the tremolo of the left hand in the first beat and the arpeggio variations. The first is the indicative of the voice in reference
of the seventh chord of sensible in the right hand. The second to the character. In the first one he indicates 'leine', 'soft',
and third beats have negras (quaver with quaver silence) in while in the third one he demands 'stark', 'hard'. Apart from
the left hand and the previously arpeggiated chord, placado in the fact that both the voice and the piano must impress him,
the right hand, exactly as in the introduction. the most notable differences are the inclusion of triplets in
 English Language, Literature & Culture 2020; 5(1): 25-35 27

the voice, the sixth Neapolitan of measure 32 and the high G miniature opera, condensing in a few seconds the intensity of
that appears in this stanza. This high point is not arranged a drama [6].
anywhere else but in his beloved, having a rhythm in addition The difficulty of the piano writing of Wolf's Lieder is by
to white, the only one in the whole lied both in the piano and no means gratuitous and always responds to an expressive
in the voice. As in the silences, at this moment the whole need. The harmonic complexity expresses poetic symbolism.
motor of the lied stops to express to its beloved, the pain of The line of the piano evolves in the line that Schubert
the protagonist for not remaining next to her. initiated: the equalization of voice and piano. In Wolf's lieder
this union is achieved through a great interest in poetry. For
this reason, the piano must adapt the sound to the colour of
the voice, transforming the text into music and creating a
suitable atmosphere. It should be noted that Wolf was a poet
who thought with reference to music and not the other way
around. Especially Schubert, but also Schumann or Brahms,
had a special sensitivity for poetry; Wolf takes this
conception further. Music feeds on the essence of poetry,
assimilating the rhythms, tones and cadences of poetry and
Figure 4. Measures 32 to 35. language [7]. The vocal melody becomes a part of the whole,
as in Wagner's concept of total work of art. He described the
The two points at which the triplets are placed in the voice text-music relationship based on metaphors of organic unity.
are each unique. The first, in measure 29, refers to the ascent From the interest in the melody itself, Wolf composes the
of the sun, of light, of hope. The second, in measure 33, melody only as one of the elements necessary to underline
refers to the rhetorical place where he thinks his beloved is. the meaning of the poem. We come to the point we have been
On the other hand, the piano remains impassive with the announcing: the piano part has nothing to do with
eighth note meter with a sixteenth note. If in the first stanza accompaniment; it is the dramatic commentary of the poem.
piano and voice went hand in hand, in this second one we see We have seen this statement evolve in Schubert and
how piano and voice in some moments distance themselves. Schumann. If Wagner created the idea of a total work of art
As in the second stanza, the piano functions as an impassive, in the orchestra, Wolf did so in the lied, taking the
obsessive, supernatural character. It takes on a new consequences of chromaticism even further. He added
dimension in Schubert's poem [5]. another dimension to the lyrical line. Like Wagner, Wolf was
the greatest exponent of pictorial expressionism in music,
and more specifically in the lied. His way of expressing
despair, tragedy or irony resulted in a new conception of the
lied as form, starting from the hegemony of the piano as an
accompanying instrument initiated by Schubert [8].
He continued Schubert's theatrical line through the idea of
a total work of art enhancing the dramatic and theatrical
dimension of Lied. He introduced in the lied a form of
melodic declamation, inherited from Wagner, basing the
melodic line on the accents of the spoken language and the
sense of the phrase and not on the metric of the verse as until
Figure 5. Measure 29.
then. The musical symmetry of Schumann or Brahms
disappears. Wolf determines the form of the music through
2.2. Richard Wagner and Hugo Wolf the form of the poem. He was a creator rather than a
conservative, elaborating his own models to express what the
The Wagnerian heritage made the continuity of the lied as verse says. Sometimes he sacrificed melody to expression in
we knew it somewhat problematic. In the following example almost spoken intonations announcing Schoenberg's
we want to illustrate with Hugo Wolff (1860-1903), the language, the Sprechgesang [9].
personification of the reality that Wagner left in the field of The period in which his musical mastery manifests itself
the lied. Halfway between pure romanticism and new begins in 1888 with Mörike's songs. Most of them were
horizons, he follows the lines of Schubert, Schumann, written in Perchtoldsdorf, next to Vienna, where a friend of
Wagner and Liszt. He is the most important composer of his, the lawyer Heinrich Werner, had a country house. There
Lieder since Schubert, and both represent the pillars of the Wolf, as seldom in his life, was happy [9]. We present three
liederistic genre. Wolf presents a few works for voice and lieder from this series of songs: Der Genesene an die
piano, but with greater impact on the lied, later influencing Hoffnung, Um Mitternacht and Lied vom Winde. The first one
Debussy. He crossed the limits of tonality with an intensely talks about hope. For this the piano begins in the bass with
expressive language and integrated the essential elements of unison in pianissimo.
the romantic lieder tradition. Wolf turned the lied into a
28 Jose Maria Peñalver Vilar and Luis Valles Grau: Vocal Piano Accompaniment: A Constant Research Towards Emancipation (2)

From the piano, which had begun this second stanza in E

major with black, some eighth notes sprout with the
dominant F# minor, and from which everything is enlarged.
There are more and more voices, in the same way that we
have noted in the first stanza and the registers are widening
and distancing. We already find bass, middle and treble, and
the eighth notes are no longer made exclusively by the right
hand but by both hands. The first climatic point is in measure
Figure 6. Measures 1 to 5. 13, in the repetition of 'Stegge', 'victory' in German. The next,
in measure 23, has been preceded by no more accumulation
As we have already pointed out, Wolf takes to the of tension, although it is true that the first reaches the
maximum the characteristic of the dramatization that we have fortissimo, and in the second a single f. Wolf puts more
commented so much. From the beginning of the piano to the emphasis on the initial victory than on the eternal saviors.
G# of the voice in measure 13, we have witnessed a fully- From this moment on we begin another process.
fledged progression. From the darkest darkness to which the The interlude between the second and third stanzas brings
voice also joins in a low register, passing through the textures us closer to both Wagner and Debussy. Wolf surprises us with
of unison and chorale of the piano. Harmony accompanies a passage without the bass until the voice is incorporated and
this task. We find it full of appoggiatura, but with only one arranges a whole framework of two voices in dialogue in the
modulation in this first part in E major. The unison of the right hand next to the harmony in quavers of the left hand.
piano, as if it were a cantus firmus, accompanies us six
measures. From then on, the instability increases greatly:
syncopation in the melody, abandonment of the low register,
the appearance of more voices on the piano.

Figure 9. Measures 26 and 27.

It doesn't take much imagination to realize the orchestral

nature of this passage. The different imitations between each
other, also between the piano and the voice, as well as the
syncopations, give us information on how Wolf works the
Figure 7. Measure 10. processes. These are brief developments in which he
condenses the entire content of the poem. Let us remember
In the following verses, the piano acquires a quaver pulse that for Wolf poetry weighs more than music. In this case, the
in the right hand, striking the harmony. Between the first and piano adapts to the text, not to the voice. Therefore, both
second stanzas, the piano has performed a small interlude, voice and piano are servants of words. He is a playwright of
while the third and fourth stanzas are followed. After the music.
harmonic stability we commented on in the first stanza, in the Of the syncopations and setbacks that the piano starts
second part of the lied, where the remaining stanzas are having, then the voice presents them and then both at the
housed, instability is a constant in all senses. The concept of same time, we arrive in the last stanza at maximum
tonality is being diluted in Wolf. From initial F# minor we instability, with syncopations both in the voice and in the
have modulated to E major. On the other hand, the second piano. Wolf writes 'sehr innig', 'very deep', and in a piano
stanza starts the voice returning to F# minor, to change the nuance that culminates in forte, although without the
two measures to Bb minor through harmonization and expressiveness of the previous two points. They are two
chromatic modulations. We are immersed in an absolutely measures of dense anxiety begging, begging to alleviate the
dreamlike atmosphere. pain.

Figure 8. Measures 20 and 21. Figure 10. Measures 34 and 35.

 English Language, Literature & Culture 2020; 5(1): 25-35 29

The piano ends in syncopations in the grave register, as it

did at the beginning. The voice, on the other hand, ends with
the lowest note of the whole lied. The tessitura of the lied
covers practically two octaves, although the most important
thing about the voice is the instrumental character that Wolf
gives it. It is another element next to the piano of dramatic
expression.
2.3. Maurice Ravel

In the following example belonging to Maurice Ravel we Figure 12. measure 3.

can see the bridge built by the Impressionists towards the
Post-Impressionists. He lived between 1875 and 1937 and his Subsequently, to finish it and link it to the second of a
work for voice and piano occupies an important place in his calmer nature, it slows down the tempo and figuration. Here
production. It is not abundant, but it does advance within the we find again a control of the space-time game of which we
line proposed by Schubert. He was able to adapt his style to have spoken so much with Schubert. The whole first stanza is
the text and the poems he selected. He conceived of the lied, a constant agitation in a gloomy sonority. Both the voice and
the mélodie, as a whole, where voice and piano play the same the piano are in a low register that conveys an absolutely
role. For this reason, we affirm that he is heir to the idea that dark sensation to the listener.
Schubert established and that Ravel developed in a very The sea has been a constant source of inspiration for
particular language [10]. Halfway between impressionism musicians. The metaphor of the great winds coming from the
and contemporary German music, we present Les grands ultra sea takes us to the exotic, to the distant, and this is how
vents venus d'outremer.... It was written in 1906. Let's note the voice begins, in a diffuse and grave timbre. Lover of the
that it was composed prior to the one we have commented on middle register does not present great stridency. Except for
by Richard Strauss, considered the latter Romantic and Ravel the fortissimo in measure 17, the rest of the melody of the
Impressionist. The text is from the Tel qu'on songe collection voice is a recitative in declamatory style. Meanwhile, the
of the Symbolism poet Henri de Régnier published in 1892. piano has, up to measure 17, a very wide choral texture with
Its reference writer had been Mallarmé, but on this occasion mordent basses.
he chose Réginer, and at the piano level we are more
interested in showing this example than other pieces [11].
He starts from the premise of making music speak: he is a
poet of music. This is the origin of his approach to an
orchestral piano. Thanks to Beethoven and Schubert's
approach, he makes the piano reach new sonorities. The
entire piano part is based entirely on a romantic
chromaticism. The writing on this page is completely
tormented. He wrote it after the last proposal for the Rome
Prize and after having composed melodies with orchestra.
Already the beginning is a gloomy chromatism that in the
time of a black passes from piano to forte. The piano, in its
introduction, prepares the atmosphere with which the voice
will be found.

Figure 13. Measures 15 to 17.

In the second stanza, the rhythm changes to 'trés lent' in

measure 9, and the writing expands to three staves. We return
to choral texture with chords of eight notes plus bass, i.e.
Figure 11. Measure 1. practically orchestral amplitude. In the first stanza we had
had some simultaneous or displaced unison as a result of
From the coral and vertical texture of the first two opposing movements between voices. For example, in the
measures, it passes in the left hand to move the waters in an third measure the right hand has a descending movement in
arpeggiated ostinato of harmony that collaborates in the front of the ascending voice. We can see it in figure 12. Both
general agitation of this first stanza. are in the E, although rhythmically they do not correspond. In
the next measure, the fourth, they do go in unison, in sound
30 Jose Maria Peñalver Vilar and Luis Valles Grau: Vocal Piano Accompaniment: A Constant Research Towards Emancipation (2)

and pulse. At this point we must add the response of the all contemporary thinking about the lied of the 20th century.
piano in measure 5. At the end of the twentieth century many languages follow
one another, but the lied has lost interest in composers, and
those who do have not brought anything new to the genre.
Therefore, with Schoenberg's exemplification of the concept
of lied, the journey of this musical form ends. The piano
accompaniment that Schubert changed reaches its maximum
evolution [12].
As many other composers did, Schoenberg spreads his
compositional system to all his production, although this lied
is not a faithful example. It is rather an atonal concept, but
Figure 14. Measures 4 and 5.
not a dodecaphonic one. In it we find vertical texture with a
Well, in the second stanza he only outlines a few notes of minor second in the left hand that will be repeated throughout
the voice, such as the first one he starts with or the E-Eb the lied, both in the piano and in the voice. We can find it in a
chromatism of the next measure. more evident way in measures 1, 9 and 10 in the left hand,
but also in the first and second measure in the right hand, or
in the voice in measure 10.

Figure 16. Measures 9 and 10.

Figure 15. Measure 10.
Likewise, Schoenberg uses a lot of motor exploitation, and
On the other hand, in the third, when the 'agité' returns, the the second minor/major interval in different rhythms and
redoubling of the piano to the voice is supported by an placements is a constant. He will use it in the game of
ostinato that repeats the piano to the margin of the voice in imitations, treating voice and piano as complementary
measures 14 and 15. We can see it in figure 13. In this instruments to each other to achieve the final result. This is
ostinato the voice is found to reinforce more if possible the the approach already stated by Schubert and which we have
crescendo and the agitation, obtaining in measure 17 a full seen has been maintained in all languages until the twentieth
burst that gives it the spatial timbre dimension of eight century.
octaves and the disintegration in arpeggios of the right hand, The piano and the voice have separate lines, i.e. they
unfolding all the harmony. It is a very virtuous passage. It is complete themselves in dialogue mode. However, in measure
in this third stanza that he returns to the agitation of the first 16 the only unison of the whole work is produced. This is the
and culminates in the fortissimo of measure 17 that we moment when he is advising what he should not think. It is
commented on. In order to do this, he again resorts to the an important moment that Schoenberg wants to highlight.
texture of placados chords, adding the bass in mordentes. To
finish he prepares a recitative to the voice wrapped in a
sonority characteristic of Ravel and ends with the choral
texture of the beginning, although in a not so deep register.
In our opinion, this lied faithfully reflects Ravel's entire
compositional style, as well as the confirmation of the role
that vocal composition plays for him. In the same way, the
role he gives to the piano is at all times a major protagonism,
although it gives the voice all the expressiveness it can offer.

2.4. Arnold Schoenberg

Figure 17. measure 16.
We have come to the end of the relationship of the voice
with the piano to this day. With Arnold Schoenberg, who All the expressive weight of the poem is carried by the
lived from 1874 to 1951, the sonorous form and conception piano, just as we have seen in other composers. The melodic
of the formation integrated by singing and piano comes to an discourse of the voice in 20th century music is not a
end. He began his aesthetic explorations with Das Buch der conception similar to the romantic one, and, as we said, the
hängenden Gärten. We have selected number 12 to illustrate voice has a more secondary role than then. The instrumental
 English Language, Literature & Culture 2020; 5(1): 25-35 31

music of the piano has surpassed the voice in the distribution concludes with a chord and the lowest C of the piano.
of roles. If in the Baroque we spoke of just the opposite, here The whole atmosphere of the poem has been generated by
it is that the evolution of instrumental music has assumed the the piano, and this will be the maxim in other composers
old roles of vocal music. such as Berg or Messiaen, who adapting to their style will
There are other highlights. On the one hand, the voice reinforce this idea. The brevity will be its maxim, but it is the
begins with an eminently declamatory tone at the beginning, condensation of contemporary expressiveness.
thanks to the low sound density of the piano. The initial
syncopations favour the descending phrasing that dialogues 3. Results and Conclusions
with the bass.
Throughout the previous section we have traveled through
examples of the characteristics of piano accompaniment to
the voice through all artistic styles. Let's see what Schubert
meant in his conception of accompaniment.
In Schubert the idea of space and time is rewritten. We
have already talked about it when analyzing its lieder. It is
the piano part in charge of controlling and regulating this
new format. It’s almost orchestral rank equates the pianist to
that of an orchestra conductor in charge of giving meaning to
Figure 18. Measures 6 to 8. the lied. The little space with which he has1 associated to the
emotional charge that infuses him, gives the impression to
After the first phrase it is the piano who in measure 9 takes the listener of having listened to a work of greater magnitude,
the initiative with the indication 'molto espressivo', leaving the granting him therefore the condition of a greater musical
voice in a colored plane for the piano repeating the interval of form. Schubert's lied can be compared to an opera, an
second ascending or descending in different rhythms. In oratorio or pieces for solo piano. They are great miniature
measure 12, he reappears with an expressive tritone that will works where compositional, vocal and instrumental stylistics
give him prominence in search of the forte that the piano has in we can find everything we would find in a work of greater
the next measure. The next intervention is only by the piano dimensions. The orchestra is reduced to the voice and the
that prepares the declamation of the voice in measure 16 in piano with the sound stage and transferred from the theater to
unison with the piano. From here until measure 21, it is the the home. On many occasions we have seen how the
passage with the highest density of the work. We have difficulty of transferring all the orchestral sonorities to the
distributed between the three voices a continuous rhythm of piano greatly hinders their piano interpretation. Although it is
sixteenths and the directionality of the phrasing of both has pianistically interpretable, Schubert touches the impossible in
changed upwards. Therefore, the sensation is to go further, its sound conception. Without a doubt he announces the
culminating in the 20th bar for opposite movement. Once past, piano and musical concept of Liszt, Wagner and Wolf. In the
the piano remains alone in measure 22 with only one voice in world of opera, the singer must approach the interpretation of
descending order and in pianissimo. a character during the whole work; in the lied, the difficulty
increases since the interpreter must incarnate all the
characters that each one of the songs has to develop, injecting
the necessary color and sense.
On the other hand, Schubert's perfect musical description
of both what the text contains and his imaginative parallel
world leads us to talk about programmatic music. We have
seen examples where the piano evokes equestrian figures,
nocturnal atmospheres or the exaltation of joy.
Theatricalization takes on a new meaning. If, as we have
been narrating, the participation of the piano in the 18th
century lieder was subordinated to the voice in order to
provide it with a harmonic base, with Schubert the instrument
is transformed acquiring a more than relevant role in all
aspects: narrative-descriptive, rhythmic, regulator of
tonalities, generator of sonorities-emotions. It can imitate the
sensation of walking, the wind or the movement of a stream,
Figure 19. measures 19 to 23.
the movements of a storm, the contrasts of joy or crying,
dawn or dusk, but it is not limited to create a kind of
The austerity reigns everywhere in the same way as the background of the voice, but it rises in a symbol or
expressiveness, because this last phrase the piano must
prepare an exquisite canvas to the voice. Finally, the piano 1 The lied is a brief form, however extensive some of Schubert may be.
32 Jose Maria Peñalver Vilar and Luis Valles Grau: Vocal Piano Accompaniment: A Constant Research Towards Emancipation (2)

representation of the poem itself. Sometimes the piano very present, for example in his infinite ability to capture
provides an idea of the landscape and sometimes of the earthly pain. All the themes he chooses for his lieder tend to
character's inner climate or both at the same time. This is deal with problems that torment him personally, so we may
where the conjunction between landscape and innerscape is be talking about a disordered autobiography. Therefore, he
established. This link is none other than that of the union tends to thematize the sad and dark sides of life by
between the popular song and the art song, the landscape and recounting his experiences, his emotions, leaning on his main
the inner world of the character, between the exterior and pillar, the piano. He did not describe the very acts of the plot,
interior of the individual himself. Schubert achieves with this but the feelings of the protagonist having experienced certain
relationship the union of two worlds, the music of the people acts such as exile, loving rejection, loneliness, madness and
and the cultured music. It can be both simple and complex death. Schubert.
when, for example, it absorbs the simplified ideas of folklore Schubert was the first to fuse the word with music in the
and integrates a recitative, more characteristic of an oratory lied. The concept of poetry was provided by Goethe, but
or a cantata. The responsibility of creating the whole Schubert elevated that rank by adding music through the
figurative and expressive scenic atmosphere of the poem piano. Schubert's exquisite and receptive sensitivity to poetry
centred on the conception of sound, and not only the piano was masterfully expressed in the creation of his lieder. The
sound but the final result together with the voice. Schubert's poems achieved levels of expressiveness never imagined
concentration on the identification of the poet, the choice of before when acquiring the sonorous universe. This
the poem, the character and the voice make it the essence that Schubertian sound, his inexhaustible imagination in the
distinguishes him from the lofty. composition of melodies, variety of styles and forms,
Schubert manifests himself as a true modulation artist. The modulations and accompaniment figures, are evidences of the
use he makes of it has no equivalence and it is the piano that expressive result of poetry. So is the fact that there are
is in charge of managing this commission. In classicism, we numerous versions of the same poem, as he was continually
find a dialogue between tonic and dominant, a question- revising what he had composed.
answer game, but faced with the need to musicalize a text The extreme fusion between text and music leads to the
with a great lyrical or dramatic content, Schubert introduces assignment of motifs for each character. We are in the
harmonic irregularities and open structures that somehow anteroom of the Wagnerian leitmotif. These motifs, as we
break with these schemes. It is the moment of unresolved have already seen, are of a melodic-harmonic-rhythmic
dissonances or distant tonalities, characteristics that vindicate nature, and the difficulty lies in the fact that it must be the
the freedom of the subject, maximum expression through same pianist and the same singer who play the different roles,
music in Romanticism. Therefore, concepts such as order, unlike Wagner who, with the orchestra and the numerous
clarity or the regularity sought by Classicism will be broken protagonists, have greater scope for discernment. It is a
by Schubert through popular song. This popular song will be question of deepening the character of the poem and its
the one that will allow him to exalt in musical terms the ideas expression. Fruit of the search of the expressive
and affections of the poem. The changes of affection will be manifestation of the different elements of the lied, it
the excuse for his infinite ability to modulate, never concludes in granting to each character an own design based
exhausting the willingness of the listener to be surprised. The on the sound through the rhythm, the melody, the harmony
listener will be carried away by the different directions that and the accompaniment.
Schubert transports us. For this, it is served not only at a Schubert did not describe the very acts of the plot, but the
harmonic level with the modulations, but as we have seen, feelings of the protagonist having suffered events such as
with the polarity attraction of pedal notes placed both in the exile, a loving rejection, loneliness, madness or death. The
melody and in the piano. This multidirectionality gives the piano stands as the main character and the one who explains
lied a character that is both open and defined. We do not the whole content of the lied, which not only contains the text
think that before Schubert there was no directionality, but of the poem, but also a greater meaning that Schubert gives
that this directionality becomes multifactorial in Schubert. In to it by giving another life, another vision of the poem
Classicism, Baroque or ancient Italian aria, it was the melody through its lieder. On many occasions we have commented
that moved within the tonal language with the attraction of that they seem to be autobiographical works. Schubert
the sensitive or dominant to resolve in the tonic. Schubert, on recognizes himself as a pianist, and as a pianist, despite
the other hand, treats directionality from many perspectives. incorporating the voice, the piano is the main responsible for
As if it were a vanishing point in a two-dimensional image, the expressive discourse of the work. Schubert tells the
Schubert focuses on one point all the melodic, rhythmic and stories in the first person, himself, and he is embodied in the
harmonic lines placed both in the voice and on the piano. The accompaniment of the piano.
effect he achieves is overwhelming. An example of this is the From that moment on, we have seen how all subsequent
progressions that we have seen how he approaches them not composers use the best of themselves. We have commented
only from a melodic, rhythmic or harmonic point of view, but that, although Mozart, Beethoven or Bach have composed
from all of them simultaneously. works for voice and piano, the bulk of their artistic legacy is
Schubert's compositional style raises the question of the not in this form. However, since Schubert's change,
spontaneity of his compositions. However, we think that he is composers such as Schumann, Wolf and Schoenberg have
 English Language, Literature & Culture 2020; 5(1): 25-35 33

made the best of them available to the lied. Schubert left as To sum up, we show you the following table that illustrates
much invention as possible in the genre of the lied and in the the evolution of the Lied, understanding both the vocal and
accompaniment for further development. We refer, for the pianistic part, throughout history considering musical
example, to Wagner's leitmotifs. Schubert, for example in issues, both of a technical, vocal and pianistic nature. In the
Erlkönig, has already assigned rhythmic-melodic motifs to columns we relate the different artistic periods and in the
characters for identification. What Wagner did was to rows we have the elements that we consider relevant to the
develop it and apply it not only in the composition for voice level of study and development. We contemplate a specific
and piano but also in his grandiose operas. These column for Schubert, since it supposes a point of inflection in
circumstances take into account the thematic and harmonic the approach of the lied to all the levels. With this
configuration that Schubert imprints in the lied, and more comparative synthesis it is possible to observe the
specifically in the piano part. In this way, we have been able transformation of the lied through the passage of time
to specify the level of influence of Schubert's ideological through the different composers and epochs, both before and
proposal on composers contemporary to him and we have after Schubert, through the musical components that are
delimited the acquisition of the conception of Schubert's integrated in the lied.
vocal piano accompaniment by later composers.

Table 1. Evolution of the lied throughout the history of music.

Ancient Post-
Baroque Classicism Schubert Romanticism Post-Romanticism Impressionism
Italian Aria impressionism
- Binary/ternary Lied
- Binary/ternary Lied
- Rondo
- Rondo - Ancient forms - Simplicity
- - Free
Form/ - Binary - Free - Free, adapts to the - - Simplicity
- Binary Lied Binary/Ternar - Continuous
Structure Lied - Continuous poem Binary/Ternary - Free
y Lied composition
composition - Cyclic Work Lied
(durchkomponiert)
(durchkomponiert)
- Cyclic Work
- Ostinatos
- Assigment of a
- Regular, - Constant
rhythmic-melodic
static, but metric unit
motif to each
- Regular, with character and Ostinatos - Polyrhythm - Polyrhythm - Free
character - Ostinatos
Rhythm static, long motives - Contrasts - Varied figuration - Varied - Amalgam
- Progressions, - Varied metrics
values - Ostinatos between lines - Ostinatos figuration compasses
increases and
- Varied - Agogic
decreases
figuration balance
- Polyrhythm and
rhythmic variety
- Existence of - Letimotif
three melodic (Wagner)
lines: the - Average register - Sprechgesang
voice and two and tessitura (spoken
- Wide tessitura
- Wider range of the piano - Expressionist language)
- In the same Lied - Separate poetic ideas
- Dramatic of tessitura - Natural language - Declamation - The voice is
plays several - Wide tessitura
weight on - Low phrasing - Relevant weight - Exoticism one more line
characters - Melodism,
Melody/ the voice relevance in - Vocal of the text - Chromatism in the
- Melodism, declamation
Voice - Recitative the set virtuosity - Instrumental - Average counterpoint
declamation - Melodic-harmonic
- Reduced - - Operistic character register and framework
- Melodic-harmonic chromatism
tessitura Chromatisms influence - Wide Tessitura tessitura - Chromatism
chromatism
- Melismas - Distribution - Chromatism - Average
- Different directions
of the main - The voice is one register and
melody more line in the tessitura
between voice counterpoint
and piano framework
-
Modulations, - All types of
- Importance of
progressions, - Complete work of scales and
modulations as an
- Basic with pedal notes - Basic with art (Wagner) chords
expressive resource
triad/four- and triad/four- - Altered harmony - Extension of - New melodic,
- Tension/distension
triad chords dissonances triad chords - Pedal notes moving away from the concept of harmonic,
set
Harmony - Few - Important as - Tonal - Altered harmony tonality dissonance as sonorous and
- All compositional
modulations a contrasting degrees - Chromatisms - Tonal vagueness an expressive rhythmic
resources available to
- Tonal and - Simplicity, - Evolution of the element - languages
the Lied
degrees expressive clarity concept of Abandonment
- Pedal notes
element dissonance of tonal
- Altered harmony
- Tonal polarity
degrees
34 Jose Maria Peñalver Vilar and Luis Valles Grau: Vocal Piano Accompaniment: A Constant Research Towards Emancipation (2)

Ancient Post-
Baroque Classicism Schubert Romanticism Post-Romanticism Impressionism
Italian Aria impressionism
- Basso
continuous
- Adaptation - Basso - Great variety of
of the Alberti patterns
- Endless variety of - Breadth and - Breadth and
accompanime - Harmonic - Operistic and
accompaniment - Great variety of dynamic sound dynamic sound
nt pattern deployment orchestral
patterns patterns - Shared use of - Shared use of
according to - Different conception
- Choral - Relationship - Relationship motifs between motifs between
the expressive contrasted - Relationship
Texture - between texture and between texture and voice and piano voice and piano
moment of accompanime between texture
Homophony character of the text character of the text - Expressive - Expressive
the work nt patterns and character of the
- Orchestral character - Expressive search search search
- Arpegiated - Pianistic text
- Expressive search according to texture according to according to
chords orchestral - Expressive search
according to texture texture texture
- Influence of character according to
the oratorio (Beethoven) texture
on the voice-
piano duo
- Piano orchestral
emulation
- Piano orchestral
- Emulation of
emulation - Choice of sound
other instruments - Exchange of
- Independent - Choice of sound palette according to - Colourful and
- Choice of sound register
registers palette according to the voice and subtle
- Unison of - Redoubling palette according to between voice
between the voice and character of the Lied sonorities of
piano and of the melody the voice and and piano
piano and character of the Lied - Exchange of register both the piano
Tone voice by the piano character of the - Independence
voice - Exchange of register between voice and and the voice,
- Reduced - Reduced Lied voice-piano
- Expansion between voice and piano both
register register - Exchange of -
tessitura piano - individually
register between Dodecaphonic
- Unisons - Unison/independence and together
voice and piano counterpoint
Unison/independence voice-piano
-
voice-piano
Unison/independen
ce voice-piano
- Longer length of the
lieder, introductions
-
and interludes - Sonority and
Introductions,
- - Equipping of the beauty of
interludes and - Descriptive
- Musical Subordination lied to an opera sound
free codas - Longer length of the - New
background of the piano - The piano is in - The
- Gradual lieder, introductions resources such
- No to the voice, charge of providing importance of
expressive and interludes as clusters,
introduction, but with the character of the the piano as an
presence of - Greater relevance of - Theatricalization serialism,
interlude or advances in work accompanying
the piano as a the piano (Schumann) - Symbolism aleatory music,
final or very dialogues - Theatricalization instrument by
Accompa participatory - The piano is just - Dramatic etc.
simple coda with the voice - Text-music fusion equating its
niment element another character in comment of the - Permanent
- First (bass-melody) - Raising of the Lied repertoire with
- Dialogue the text poem dialogue with
approaches - Emergence - Space/temporal that of a soloist
between voice - The piano is in - Piano virtuosity the voice
to of control - Eclecticism
and piano charge of providing - Conception as
theatricalizat introductions - Conception as a - Symbolism
- Different the character of the a whole of
ion with material whole of piano and - All elements
joints work piano and voice
(character) to be used voice collaborate in
- Staging of - Theatricalization
later - Key character in the the formation
piano and
lied, both inside and of a whole
voice
outside the text
- Symbolism
- Description of - Love - Love
- Love
- Love - Love moods - Descriptions - Nature
Theme - Sacred - Love - Society
- Mythology - Descriptive - Love - Nature - Onirism
topics
- Mythology - Customary - Customary

[2] CLARK, S. (2011): Analyzing Schubert. Cambridge

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