Kennst Du Das Land Analysis

Like most forms of art, poetry can warrant varying responses from different people. These responses could include visual or audial perceptions, or even literal interpretations of the text. The same stanza could inspire one to paint a scene and another to set it to music. In the case of Goethe’s “Kennst du das Land,” we see a plethora of musical interpretations of the same text. Although the vocalists for Schubert’s and Schumann’s settings are singing the same text, the different melodic lines and harmonic patterns offer two versions of the same story. With the addition of both Reichardt’s and Wolf’s settings, it will be interesting to examine the four ways that the text was implemented and compare them to one another. Rhythmically speaking, these settings are all quite similar. One of the first things I noticed was the usage of a slow tempo and both triplet rhythms and meters. Schumann, Wolf, and Reichardt all set the text in triple meters which, in respective order, are as followed: 3/8, 3/4 (as well as 9/8), and again in 3/4. Although Schubert’s setting is in duple meter, he frequently uses fast triplet rhythms in the piano accompaniment, as seen in starting in …show more content…
While Reichardt’s and Schumann’s settings are both completely strophic, the other two are more complex in their own ways. Schubert’s is mostly strophic because the A and B sections repeat after measure 40, however, the material is slightly altered when in enters a minor mode following the repeat. This shows that it is in a modified strophic form. Wolf’s setting is by far the most unique of the four, as it is through composed. Given the constantly changing key areas and meters, there are only a few similarities between verses. The latter halves of each verse are nearly identical beginning at the first “Belebt” markings at measures 21, 58, and 99. However, the first halves of the verses are greatly different from one