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M U S I C T H E O R Y O N L I N E
A Publication of the
Society for Music Theory
Copyright (c) 1995 Society for Music Theory
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| Volume 1, Number 4 July, 1995 ISSN: 1067-3040 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
All queries to: mto-editor@boethius.music.ucsb.edu or to
mto-manager@boethius.music.ucsb.edu
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AUTHOR: Code, David Loberg
TITLE: Listening for Schubert's 'Doppelgaengers'
KEYWORDS: Schubert, doppelganger, Heine, song, analysis, key characteristics
David Loberg Code
Western Michigan University
School of Music
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
code@wmich.edu
ABSTRACT: A doppelgaenger is the ghostly double or wraith of
a living person. This essay adopts and adapts this legend to
an analysis of Franz Schubert's song "Der Doppelgaenger." I
begin by discussing ways in which the myth of the
doppelgaenger might relate to Schubert's personality and
other extramusical features such as affective key
characteristics. Next, these constructions are mapped onto
the piece itself, exploring multiple implications of motivic
pitch structures and binary oppositions among chords and
modalities. After tracing these features through the piece,
I relate this detailed analysis to an interpretation of the
text, and finally, aspects of Schubert's personal life.
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[1] "Still ist die Nacht" is the opening line of an untitled
poem in Heinrich Heine's collection, *Die Heimkehr*. Most of
us know this poem by its inclusion in Franz Schubert's
*Schwanengesang*.(1) Regarding Schubert's setting of the
poem, Jack Stein describes it as "painfully wrong in its
interpretation of the poem." For example, "the first stanza,
which Schubert sets in a darkly atmospheric, highly charged
recitative over somber chords...is in reality the innocuous
opening typical of many Heine poems, revealing absolutely
nothing of the emotional fireworks to come." (Stein 1971, 89)
Stein seems to be concerned that Schubert's music prematurely
gives away something of the ending, thus altering the
narrative structure of Heine's poem. I would agree that
Schubert has dramatically restructured the way in which one
experiences the poem, but it is pointless to chastise the
musical introduction, as the poem has already been altered by
Schubert's lifting of the word "doppelgaenger" from Heine's
third stanza and placing it prominently in the title.
=========================
1. The poem and a rather literal word-for-word translation is
found at the end of this essay.
=========================
[2] Schubert's invocation of "Der Doppelgaenger" brings to
the foreground a host of cultural myths and imagery that
would otherwise be absent from the opening of Heine's poem.
Literally meaning the 'double-goer,' the idea of a "spirit
double, an exact but usually invisible replica of every
human, bird, or beast is an ancient one." (Encyclopaedia
Brittanica 1985, 182) In Schubert's time, the character of
the doppelgaenger was probably best known through the
literary works of Johann Wolfgang Goethe and E.T.A. Hoffmann.
That Schubert was familiar with the myth is evident, not only
due to his choice of title, but even because of his spelling
of the word. In the original poem, Heine uses the word
"doppeltgaenger," (doubled-goer) while Schubert (omitting the
"t") chose the more common form of the word. Furthermore,
Given that Heine uses the word only once in the last stanza
of the poem, he apparently wished to postpone or perhaps even
downplay the mythical associations. In rebutting what he
calls Stein's "often maddeningly wrongheaded study of
Schubert's Heine songs," Richard Kramer (1985, 219) argues
that it is entirely appropriate for Schubert to remake
Heine's poem. "It is in the nature of Romantic art," says
Kramer, "that idiosyncratic, personal style is a deep part of
the message....Heine's poem is no longer Heine's." (Kramer
1985, 219)
[3] Schubert may have identified with the notion of the
doppelgaenger--a shadow-self--because of the double life he
himself apparently led. As his friend Eduard Bauernfeld
described him, "Schubert had, so to speak, a double
nature....Inwardly a kind of poet and outwardly a kind of
hedonist." (Deutsch 1958, 45) Similarly, Josef Krenner
remarked: "Anyone who knew Schubert knows how he was made of
two natures, foreign to each other, how powerfully the
craving for pleasure dragged his soul down to the cesspool of
slime." (Deutsch 1958, 86) Maynard Solomon (1989, 1993)
portrays Schubert as part of a very intimate circle of male
friends engaged in same-sex erotic activities that were
socially unacceptable in 19th-century Vienna. By necessity,
this facet of Schubert's life was kept somewhat concealed from
his public persona. It is known that Schubert suffered from
syphilis, an incurable disease at that time, which he
probably contracted in 1822. (Sams 1980) With his
contraction of syphilis and susbequent hospitalization and
convalescence, however, Schubert's private life became at
least tacitly manifest in his public life. Furthermore,
several of Schubert's circle of intimate friends succumbed to
severe illness, thus contributing to the dissolution of the
'circle' and their lifestyle even before Schubert's actual
death. According to Josef von Spaun, Schubert had intended
the Rellstab- and Heine-songs of *Schwanengesang* to be
published (without "Die Taubenpost") as a yet untitled cycle
dedicated to these friends (Deutsch 1978, 616). "Der
Doppelgaenger" was therefore intended as the last song of
this cycle. While some have suggested that it should more
properly be placed in the middle, following the order in the
poems appear in Heine's *Die Heimkehr* (Goldschmidt 1974, R.
Kramer 1985), it seems a fitting--though tragic--finale.
[4] "Der Doppelgaenger" begins in the key of B minor, evoking
the opening of the "Unfinished" Symphony with which it shares
not only the same key, but a similar bass motive. Susan
McClary (1994, 225) describes the latter as an example of a
victim narrative in which "a sinister affective realm sets
the stage for the vulnerable lyrical subject, which is doomed
to be quashed."(2) One of the means by which Schubert
creates this "affective realm" in "Der Doppelgaenger" is
through his careful choice of keys. Although references to
key qualities abound, the topic has been largely neglected in
our time until Rita Steblin's (1983) *A History of Key
Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth
Centuries*. Historically, the most influential work on this
subject was probably the *Ideen zu einer Asthetik der
Tonkunst* of Christian Schubart, written about 1784, and
published posthumously in 1806. That Franz Schubert was
familiar with the latter is likely, considering that he set
four of Schubart's poems to music, including the famous "Die
Forelle." However, as Steblin (1983, 190) states, "even
composers who did not express their views on the matter might
nevertheless be presumed to represent established tradition
in their creative work."
=========================
2. McClary (1994, 226) further suggests that this type of
narrative might reflect Schubert's "sense of estrangement
from former good times and his immersion in [the] 'miserable
reality' [of his later life]."
=========================
[5] It is intriguing to see how Schubart's key
characteristics relate to the music and text of "Der
Doppelgaenger." Of B minor, the tonic key, Schubart states:
B minor. This is as it were the key of patience,
of calm awaiting one's fate and of submission to
divine dispensation. For that reason its lament is so
mild, without ever breaking out into offensive murmuring
or whimpering. The use of this key is rather difficult
for all instruments; therefore so few pieces are found
which are expressly set in this key. (Steblin 1983, 124)
The affect of B minor, like the opening of the poem, is
relatively calm, but it also foreshadows the "fate" to come.
In contrast, B major represents "anger, rage, jealousy, fury,
despair, and every burden of the heart," emotions well suited
for the ending of the poem. (Steblin 1983, 123) The piece
remains in B minor until the third stanza (m. 47), at which
point it modulates, not to the dominant or relative major,
but to the raised mediant. The modulation occurs at the
precise moment in which the doppelgaenger mocks the love-
sorrows of the narrator. Based upon Schubart's description,
the choice of key could not have been more fitting:(3)
[D#] minor. Feelings of anxiety of the soul's
deepest distress, of brooding despair, of blackest
depression, of the most gloomy condition of the
soul. Every fear, every hesitation of the
shuddering heart, breathes out of horrible [D#]
minor. If ghosts could speak, their speech would
approximate this key. (Steblin 1983, 122-23)
If Schubert had modulated to a different tonic, the affect of
the key would have contradicted that of the poem. F# minor
(the dominant) "tugs at passion as a dog biting a dress,"
while D major (the relative major) is the key of triumph and
hallelujahs. (Steblin 1983, 122-23) As it stands, Schubart's
description of the actual key is hauntingly accurate. While
the narrator addresses his double, the ghost speaks back
through the music, mimicking the narrator's shuddering heart
and brooding despair. If one were attempting to demonstrate
the validity of key characteristics within certain composers
(or pieces), this would make a most compelling example.
=========================
3. Following Steblin, I have appropriated Schubart's
description of D# minor for its enharmonic equivalent.
=========================
[6] Taken as a whole, the opening chord progression can be
clearly heard as a half cadence (or at least an incomplete
progression) in the key of B minor (see Ex.1 - Introduction
to "Der Doppelgaenger" mm. 1-4). Individually, however, none
of the chords are complete, hence each dyad potentially
implies more than one harmony (see Ex.2 - Multiple
implications of each dyad in mm. 1-4). Without their thirds,
the outer chords could be either major or minor triads: the
first being I (B-D#-F#) or i (B-D-F#), and the last being V
(F#-A#-C#) or v (F#-A-C#). Similarly, the thirds of the
middle chords can be filled out in two directions. The minor
third of the penultimate chord (m. 3) could be completed as
III (D-F#-A) or i (B-D-F#).(4) The major third in m. 2
presents a more complex situation. Although it is most
likely heard as part of the major dominant (F#-A#-C#), it
could also be spelled as a mediant. The resulting augmented
triad (D-F#-A#) seems out of place, especially considering
that this chord never occurs in the composition. However, as
of m. 2, it is still possible to consider the piece in B
major (due to the tonal ambiguity of the first measure),
making it conceivable for the missing note to be a D#.
Moreover, unlike the augmented mediant, this sharp mediant
(in relation B minor) is heard later as the tonic chord of
the modulation in m. 47. All of the chords shown in Ex.2 are
heard (in context) later in the piece, thus providing some
justification for my supposition of these eight chords (and
exclusion of the augmented mediant). As the opening
progression is continually repeated and varied, the filling
in of its chords becomes a dynamic structuring feature of the
piece.
=========================
4. It is also possible to consider this chord as a dominant
with 6-5 appoggiatura (i.e., the D behaves like a temporary
displacement of the dominant's 5th, C#).
=========================
[7] In the first part of the poem, the narrator fills in the
picture of the surroundings gradually--night, street, house,
man--just as the empty chords themselves are completed
slowly. In the first stanza (mm. 5-24), virtually no action
takes place in either the poem or the music. Most of the
vocal notes which fill in the chords are set to relatively
insignificant articles (e.g., die, diesem, das), and there is
no harmonic development between the first and second stanzas.
It is only with the appearance (in the poem) of the other man
that the development of the music begins to advance. In m.
25 the voice begins on a new note, D, rather than F#, and its
range is extended to F#5, accompanied by a crescendo to fff.
Harmonically, two more chords are completed, and in m. 32, on
the word "Schmerzensgewalt" (grief-violence) the dominant-
seventh is transformed into a French-sixth chord by the
introduction of C natural.
[8] The climax of the poem occurs at the end of the second
stanza, when the narrator discovers that this other man is
his double ("der Mond zeigt mir meine eig'ne Gestalt"). The
revelation, in a sense, strips the narrator of his own
identity, causing him to shudder ("mir graust es"). More
importantly, this coincides with the first interruption of
the note F#, on the word "Gestalt," the exact moment the
narrator sees his own face in the other man. This is a
remarkable aural event, especially since F# is present
constantly in all but seven bars of the piece.(5) Thus, one
could, perhaps, identify the 'character F#' (along with the
dominant) as representing the narrator, as do Elaine Brody
and Robert Fowkes (1971, 221): "the combination of the
sustained F sharp with the recurrent ostinato effectively
portrays the agitation of the principal character." I would,
in turn, associate the subdominant E with his doppelgaenger.
=========================
5. Richard Kramer (1985, 220) reveals that the original music
accompanying "Gestalt" in the autograph was virtually the
same as that accompanying "Schmerzensgewalt" (mm. 31-33).
Thus, the F# remained and there was no high G. It seems
evident from the preceding analysis that Schubert's revision
was crucial to the structural levels of the piece.
=========================
[9] The relationship between the dominant and the subdominant
forms one of the primary binary oppositions within the piece:
one obsessively present, the other hauntingly absent. As
with their poetic counterparts, the two terms are mirror
images of each other, one major, the other minor. The root
pitches themselves, F# and E, although adjacent in the
diatonic scale, become antithetical figures when reflected
across the axis of the tonic B. Hence, the subdominant
asserts its literal role as the *under-dominant*, or fifth
below the tonic. Furthermore, the narrator, like the
dominant, is portrayed as being weak, for it is he who is
tortured by the absence of his former love, and it is the
doppelgaenger who, like the subdominant in the final cadence,
mocks him. Although stated only once at the end, the effect
of the subdominant throughout the piece is felt strongly,
perhaps more strongly than the dominant itself.
[10] It is a tribute to Schubert's genius that all of the
essential structural elements of "Der Doppelgaenger" are
contained within the opening four bars. The four-note motive
B-A#-D-C# which accompanies the pedal-like F# throughout much
of the piece helps define the universe of harmonies around
that note: all of the chords containing F# in the key of B
minor (tonic, mediant, and dominant) are implied by these
five notes. Furthermore, although not yet distinguishable to
the first-time listener, the F#, and the harmonic function
which it signifies (the dominant), appears marked by
weakness. One could argue that all of the chords appear
'weak' in the introduction because of their incompleteness;
why then should the dominant be singled out? To begin with,
of the three chords surrounding the F# mentioned above, only
the dominant does not appear in root position. The first and
only root-position dominant does not appear until m. 55.
Through the course of the piece, the instability of the
dominant becomes increasingly evident, making its
significance in the introduction, to borrow from Edward T.
Cone (1982, 238), "unforeseen in prospect yet inevitable in
retrospect." Along these same lines, there is an even
subtler motive connoted in the opening by the marked absence
of the subdominant.
[11] The four-note motive, B-A#-D-C#, that both creates and
traverses this opening progression seems to be taken from the
Agnus Dei of Schubert's *Mass in Eb*, written in June 1828,
just two months before "Der Doppelgaenger". It is
interesting that the Agnus Dei uses the motive as the subject
of a fugue. One might expect a fugal treatment of the motive
to have exhausted its musical possibilities, and yet,
Schubert's use of the motive here seems to indicate that
there is some element that has not yet been explored.
Regarding this same motive (B-A#-D-C#), Werner Thomas (1954,
253) has also noted its similarity to the famous B-A-C-H
motive, with which it shares the same contour and symmetry,
and similar compactness and chromaticism. The difference is
that, while the B-A-C-H motive completely fills its span of a
minor third, Schubert's omits the note C natural in filling
in the interval of a diminished fourth (see Ex.3 - Structural
gap showing missing pitch C in opening motive). This type of
missing note is referred to by Leonard Meyer (1956, 130-135)
as a structural gap. In addition, one will notice how the
missing C (and the F# drone as well) serves as an axis of
symmetry for the four-note set. By adding the F# to the
above collection of pitches (B-A#-D-C#), two more structural
gaps can be revealed, one on each side of the dominant.
Arranging the pitches in ascending order, one can see that
they form a diatonic B-minor scale, minus the notes E and G
(see Ex.4 - Structural gaps (missing pitches E and G). The
individual resolutions of all three of these 'gaps' (the
missing notes) form part of a larger sequence directly
connected to the weakening stability I have associated with
the dominant harmony.
[12] Although less significant than the dominant/subdominant
pairing, the dual nature of the chords in the introduction
also provides a complete (and circular) presentation of
another binary opposition: the antithesis of major vs. minor.
William Kinderman (1986, 75) suggests that in some of
Schubert's music "contrast between major and minor may
represent one aspect of a more profound thematic juxtapositon
suggesting the dichotomy of inward imagination and external
perception." In Heine's poem, the latter is present in the
narrator's description of the physical house and street; the
former in his remembrances of his sweetheart. Individually,
each of the chords in the opening might also symbolize this
opposition by implying both a major and minor triad (see
Ex.2). On a larger scale, the opening chord demarcates the
dichotomy between the tonalities of B major and B minor.
With this in mind, the succeeding chords can be interpreted
as belonging to one or the other side of the major/minor
wall: the second chord, because of its leading-tone A#,
belongs to B major; the third chord, with its lowered third
degree D, belongs to B minor.(6) Appropriately, these two
pitches (A# and D) are also symmetrical opposites across the
axes of both C and F#. Finally, the two opposing terms (B
major/B minor) are brought back together with the neutral
dominant (the fourth chord), which belongs to neither, or
both, sides of the wall. I am not suggesting that the
introduction is initially heard as being modally ambiguous
(it is clearly heard in B minor), rather I am trying to
illuminate a dramatic structure imbedded within this opening
that foreshadows larger actions in both the music and text.
==========================
6. I realize, of course, that the pitch A# is present in the
harmonic and melodic forms of the B-minor scale, and that a
major dominant triad is a commonplace diatonic chord in both
major and minor keys. Symbolically, I wish to consider A#
as a modal scale degree because it is not diatonic in natural
minor. Its function as the leading tone (replacing the
subtonic) is essentially borrowed from the major scale (one
might say that its etymological origin is in the major key),
placing it in the symbolic camp of B major.
==========================
[13] Having presented (or, if you prefer, constructed)
several issues in need of resolution, I would now like to
pursue them through the remainder of the composition. All of
the chords in the first section of the piece (mm. 5-40) are
derived from the pitches of the introduction and are likewise
mostly incomplete within the piano part itself. One might
expect the vocal line to supply the missing notes which
complete the sonorities as the opening progression is
repeated over and over. Nonetheless, while Schubert may have
prematurely revealed the somber tenor of Heine's poem, he
defers revealing the 'true' quality of the opening chords as
much as possible. The voice rarely enters on the downbeat
thus creating the effect of a quasi-recitative, and its first
entrance on the second beat of m. 5, of course, provides no
additional information since the F# is already present in the
piano.(7) It is only on the last sixteenth of the last beat
of m. 7 that one of the four chords can be be positively
identified. It is a B-minor chord in first inversion (D-F#-
B).(8) The second half of the phrase (mm. 9-14), however,
presents a variation on the progression in which all of the
chords can be determined. The first two chords are filled in
by the voice part and the rest are presented in their
entirety by the piano: (B minor) i - v - III - V43. The
piano motive is altered to B-A-D-C#, transforming the second
chord (m. 10) into a minor dominant (contradicting the
implications of m. 2), and then reducing it to a bare octave
on the third beat.
==========================
7. Werner Thomas (1954, 260) has proposed that the vocal part
actually begins in a separate meter, starting with a
'downbeat' in 2/4 time on the second beat of m. 6.
8. Lawrence Kramer (1986, 220), however, suggests that the
third chord of the progression is a III chord in B minor.
==========================
[14] Harmonically, the next section (mm. 15-24) is identical
to the first, with the only difference being that the B
natural in m. 17 comes in one-sixteenth of a beat earlier
than its counterpart in m. 7. In the beginning of the second
stanza, the vocal line reveals two more chords: i (m. 25) and
V (m. 28), which correspond to the first and last dyads of
the opening progression. Also of note, is the use of the
piano motive B-A#-D-C# in the voice to fill in the chords of
mm. 27-30, and again in mm. 36-39. With the fourth couplet
("mir graut es") in m. 34, the piano presents all three
notes of the opening tonic for the first time. This also
marks the last time that the introductory progression is
presented unaltered.
[15] In terms of the original progression, only three of the
four chords can be identified. The second chord (the F#-A#
dyad) has been consistently left incomplete. Reviewing the
total harmonic content up until this point, six of the eight
chords implied by the opening dyads (see Ex.2) have been
fulfilled. Only the major tonic and raised mediant remain to
be heard, both of which I have identified with the latter
side of the B minor/B major opposition. Harmonically, the
secondary augmented-sixth chord heard at this point of the
song (mm. 41-42) belongs equally and yet is also external to
both B major and B minor, thus representing a kind mediation
between those opposing pairs. Likewise, this moment
represents a collapse within Kinderman's (1986, 75)
"dichotomy of inward imagination and external perception," as
the narrator's inner thoughts become outwardly manifested in
the person of the double. This collapse is also depicted
musically by the cessation of the narrator's signature pitch
F# in mm. 41-42, and by the modal ambiguity caused by the
presence of D# minor and B Major within the last third of the
piece.(9)
==========================
9. One might also consider the abrupt change in vocal timbre
resulting from the drop from G5 to F#4 in m. 42-43 as a more
overt sonic illustration of this divide between outer and
inner selves.
==========================
[16] Starting in m. 43, one seems to hear the opening
progression starting yet again, but it quickly turns in
another direction. Instead of being abandoned, the
progression begins to retrograde in mm. 45-47. Upon reaching
the third chord (originally the second), the F#-A# is finally
realized as part of the raised-mediant triad. As if to
compensate for its absence in the first half, Schubert
prolongs the chord by modulating to the key of D# minor, the
raised mediant. With only tonic and dominant chords, this
passage represents the most forceful and concise use of
dominant harmony within the song. The fact that this is not
the tonic key, accentuates the instability of the original
dominant. The fact that this is affectively the key of
ghosts intensifies the doppelgaengers taunting effect upon
the narrator. After five bars, the piece returns to B,
completing, in a manner, the last chord of the retrograde
progression. The resolution of this enigma, however, is not
yet complete.
[17] In the end, one might expect for the ambiguity of the
introduction to finally be resolved by filling in all of the
chords. While the progression does seem to return in the
piano postlude, it is not 'filled in', but rather altered to
reveal a different type of resolution. The first three
chords are the same as the opening (except for the added
pitch D completing the first chord), while the last is
replaced by a lowered II chord, (see Ex.5 - Final version of
opening progression, mm. 56-59). There are two important
aspects associated with this change of chord. First of all,
it is in the position of what should have been the dominant.
Secondly, it contains all three of the missing pitches formed
by the structural gaps. Thus, these pitches (C, G, and E)
are also unequivocally bound to the fate of the dominant.
[18] Tracing the disintegration of the dominant harmony, I
propose two separate (although interconnected) paths, both
originating in m. 4, but leading to separate destinations.
The first path is governed by the force of the missing C
natural. There are just four occurrences of this pitch, and
each is directly connected with the dominant (see Ex.6 -
Occurences of 'missing' C natural). Lawrence Kramer (1986,
221) describes the role of C as "an unresolvable long-term
dissonance independent of tonal organization." In my
version, however, the appearance of the C is not
"unresolvable," but rather it is the inevitable resolution of
the structural gap posed at the opening. The first two times
it appears as part of two different augmented-sixth chords
(mm. 32 and 41), both of which function harmonically as
dominant substitutes, and physically replace the dominant-
seventh chord heard in the previous statements of this
progression (mm. 13 and 23). Then, in m. 44, the C-F# dyad
parodies the open fifth of m. 4 by turning it into a
diminished one. The last presentation is, of course, in m.
59, which is an entire triad built on C.
[19] The second path of the dominant's demise, leading from
m. 4 to m. 61, is a gradual transmutation integrating the
missing pitches E and G with the symbolic antithesis of the
dominant and subdominant. As I remarked earlier, from the
beginning of the piece, the dominant is portrayed as weak,
appearing as an empty fifth (m. 4), a minor triad (m. 10),
and even as a bare octave (m. 10). Regarding the piece as a
whole, Lawrence Kramer (1986, 220) notes that "the dominant
triad remains incomplete except when the seventh is added."
The seventh of F#, however, is none other than E, the missing
'under-dominant' of B. I am not trying to make a universal
claim that all dominant-seventh chords represent some
secretive subsersive action. Within the particular harmonic
language created by this piece, however, this interpretation
seems possible. Despite the numerous implied dominants, the
complete triad is heard on only three occasions, each
accompanied by the pitch E. Likewise, prior to the end, each
time the note E appears in the piano (which is not
frequently) it is part of a dominant-function chord.(10) (see
Ex.7 - Transformation of dominant into subdominant.) With
the augmented-sixth in m. 41, the E is joined by G,
interrupting, for the first time, the incessant pedal-tone of
the F#, and forming two-thirds of the subdominant triad. By
the next appearance of these pitches in m. 54, the process is
almost complete. Here we find, as part of a suspension, the
entire subdominant triad enveloped inside the empty fifth of
the dominant (from m. 4). At the point of the final cadence
(m. 61) the dominant has been completely taken over: the
empty shell is discarded and only the subdominant remains.
=========================
10. Furthermore, with the exception of m. 55, the pitch E
never occurs as a chord tone in the vocal part.
=========================
[20] The transformation from dominant to subdominant is a
dynamic movement which structures the piece. It is, like
Elizabeth Bowen's (1974, 170) description of the story, an
"action towards an end not to be forseen (by the reader), but
also toward an end which, having been reached, must have been
from the start inevitable." Looking back, we see the
inevitability of the subdominant harmony first implied by the
augmented-sixth chords shown in Ex.6. Unlike the German-
sixth of m. 51, these chords are not the augmented-sixths one
would normally expect in the key of B. Rather, they are,
respectively, the French- and German-sixth chords derived
from the key of E. Therefore, although they function as
dominant substitutes in the context of B minor, they imply a
dominant preparation in the key of the E minor. Similarly,
the modulation to D# minor in mm. 47-51 seems to point toward
a resolution in E, moving step-by-step, chromatically from
the note B, hanging on the D# leading-tone before it can
reach the pitch E. In the end, this resolution is
irreversibly granted. The C-major chord in m. 59 functions
as VI chord in E minor, this time followed by a proper
dominant-seventh and, at last, in E minor chord, albeit over
a B pedal tone. Furthermore, as the penultimate chord of the
composition, the subdominant appears in the position at which
one most expects to find the dominant.
[21] At the close of "Der Doppelgaenger," the two
antithetical elements of the piece become interrelated to
create an ambiguous ending. Because of the added seventh (A
natural), the B-major triad in m. 60 can only be interpreted
as the dominant of E, thus belonging to the antithesis of the
dominant/subdominant. However, the appearance of this chord
fulfills the expectation for a B-major triad which was
created in the first bar of the piece. This is the last of
the eight potential chords of Ex.3 to be realized and, thus,
it also belongs to the dichotomy of B major/B minor. If the
latter pairing is considered more important than the former,
then the final two chords (mm. 61-63) should be considered a
kind of plagal cadence with a Picardy third. On the other
hand, if the opposition of the dominant/subdominant is
considered more significant, then these same chords might be
construed as part of a cadence in E minor.(11) At the very
least, one can state that the ending does not unambiguously
resolve either of these large-scale harmonic concerns.
=========================
11. I personally hear the ending as a cadential six-four
progression in E minor, which is suspended (by a fermata)
before reaching its final tonic in some netherworld beyond
the double bar. It is also interesting to note that the B-
A#-D-C# motive from measures 1-4 can be found in mm. 59-62
transposed to E minor: E-D#-G-F#.
=========================
[22] Finally, the legend of the doppelgaenger says that "to
meet one's wraith, or double, is a sign that one's death is
imminent." (Encyclopaedia Britannica 1985, 182) Interpreting
the music in this manner, the addition of the subdominant E
(as the seventh of the dominant) in m. 12 might signal the
imminent disintegration and ultimate replacement of the
dominant. Moreover, if the principal character does in fact
die at the end, then the final raised B-major chord could not
be thought of as a positive resolution, but rather as a dark
victory for the subdominant, which succeeds in subverting
even the original tonic into its own dominant. The
anguished, guilt-ridden death portrayed in "Der
Doppelgaenger" is even more poignant when juxtaposed against
the prayer for peace and forgiveness of sins of the "Agnus
Dei" with which it shares the principle motive.
[23] Following the model of other scholars, one could tie
this musico-literary analysis to Schubert's personal life.
(Cone 1982, 1984; Macdonald 1978; McClary 1994; Webster 1978)
In his article, "Schubert's Promissory Note," Edward T. Cone
(1982, 241) asks, "did Schubert's realization of [the
syphilis], and of its implications induce, or at least
intensify the sense of desolation, even dread, that
penetrates much of his music from then on?" Following this
hypothesis, Cone relates the hermeneutic actions of the
*Moment Musical No.6*, to Schubert's contraction of syphilis.
Similarly, one might view the gradual alterations of the
dominant in "Der Doppelgaenger" as representing the gradual
affliction of the disease within Schubert himself. Musically
this process exposes the previously absent pitches of the
opening, fleshing out the dual identities of the chords.
Similarly, Schubert's affliction made public his previously
concealed private life, revealing the two-sided nature of his
personality. The song was dedicated to Schubert's circle of
friends with whom Schubert shared his secret life of pleasure
and for whom a similar fate was likely in store. This
reading of the song also maps well onto Heine's text.
Consider Schubert's self-portrayal in a letter from 1824:
"Imagine a man whose health will never be right
again, and who in sheer despair over this ever makes
things worse and worse, instead of better;...to whom
the felicity of love and friendship have nothing to
offer but pain at best." (Deutsch 1947, 339)
The disease may well have been Schubert's own
'doppelgaenger', painfully evoking the love-torment
('Liebesleid') of days gone by and signaling his imminent
death just a few months following the composition this song.
-------------------------------------------------
Word-by-word translation of text for "Der Doppelgaenger:
Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen,
Still is the night, it sleeps the streets,
in diesem Hause wohnte mein Schatz;
in this house lived my sweetheart;
sie hat schon laengst die Stadt verlassen,
she has already long [ago] the town left.
doch steht noch das Haus auf demselben Platz.
yet stands still the house on the same place.
Da steht auch ein Mensch, und starrt in die Hoehe,
There stands also a man, and stares into the height.
und ringt die Haende vor Schmerzensgewalt;
and wrings the hands for grief-violence,
mir graust es, wenn ich sein Antlitz sehe,
[to] me shudders it, when I his face see,
der Mond zeigt mir meine eigne Gestalt
the moon shows me my own form.
Du Doppelgaenger, du bleicher Geselle!
You double-goer, you pale companion!
Was aeffst du nach mein Liebesleid,
Why ape [mimic] you after my love's-suffering
das mich gequaelt auf dieser Stelle
that me tormented at this place
so manche Nacht, in alter Zeit?
so many [a] night, in old time?
===========================================================
*References*
Bowen, Elizabeth. 1974. *Pictures and Conversations*. New
York: Knopf.
Brody, Elaine and Robert Fowkes. 1971. *The German Lied and
its Poetry*. New York: New York University Press.
Cone, Edward T. 1982. Schubert's Promissory Note: An Exercise
in Musical Hermeneutics. *19th Century Music*, 5(3):233-
241.
____. 1984. Schubert's Unfinished Business. *19th Century
Music*, 7(3):222-232.
Deutsch, Otto Erich. 1947. *The Schubert Reader* (trans.
Blom). New York: Norton.
____. 1958. *Schubert: Memoirs by His Friends* (trans. Ley
and Nowell). London: Dent.
____. 1978. *Franz Schubert: Thematisches Verzeichnis*.
Kassel: Baerenreiter-Verlag.
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1985) "doppelganger." In *The New
Encylcopaedia Britannica*, 15th edition. Chicago:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 182.
Goldschmidt, Harry. 1974. "Welches war die urspruenglische
Reihenfolge in Schuberts Heine-Liedern." In *Deutschers
Jahrbuch der Musikwissenschaft fuer 1972*. Leipzig.
Kinderman, William. 1986. "Schubert's Tragic Perspective." In
*Schubert: Critical and Analytical Studies* (ed. Frisch).
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 65-83.
Kramer, Lawrence. 1986. "The Schubert Lied: Romantic Form and
Romantic Consciousness." In *Schubert: Critical and
Analytical Studies* (ed. Frisch). Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 200-236.
Kramer, Richard. 1985. Schubert's Heine. *19th-Century
Music*, 8(3):213-235.
Macdonald, Hugh. 1978. Schubert's Volcanic Temper. *Musical
Times*, 119:949-52.
McClary, Susan. 1994. "Constructions of Subjectivity in
Schubert's Music." In *Queering the Pitch* (eds. Brett,
Thomas, and Wood). New York: Routledge, 205-234.
Meyer, Leonard B. 1956. *Emotion and Meaning in Music*.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Sams, Eric. 1980. Schubert's Illness Re-examined. *Musical
Times, 121:15-22.
Schubart, Christian. 1806. *Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der
Tonkunst*. (Cited in Steblin 1983, 124).
Solomon, Maynard. 1989. Franz Schubert and the Peacocks of
Benvenuto Cellini. *19th-Century Music*, 12(3):193-206.
____. 1993. Schubert: Some Consequences of Nostalgia. *19th-
Century Music*, 17(1):34-46.
Steblin, Rita. 1983. *A History of Key Characteristics in the
Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries*. Ann Arbor,
Michigan: UMI Research Press.
Stein, Jack M. 1971. *Poem and Music in the German Lied from
Gluck to Hugo Wolf*. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press.
Thomas, Werner. 1954. Der Doppelgaenger von Franz Schubert.
*Archiv fur Musik-Wissenschaft*, 11(3):253.
Webster, James. 1978. Schubert's Sonata Form and Brahms's
First Maturity. *19th-Century Music*, 2(1):18-35.
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