Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Schubert’s Winterreise
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Schubert’s Winterreise
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Pitch
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: An Endless Winter Journey
- Part I Schubert’s Winterreise and Its Musical Heritage
- Part II Die Winterreise: Poetic Cycle
- Part III Cultural and Historical Contexts
- Part IV Winterreise: Song Cycle
- 9 Identification in Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise
- 10 Text–Music Relationships
- 11 A Winter of Poetry: Connections Among the Songs in Schubert’s Winterreise
- 12 Discontinuity in Winterreise
- Part V Winterreise After 1827
- Appendix
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
12 - Discontinuity in Winterreise
from Part IV - Winterreise: Song Cycle
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2021
- The Cambridge Companion to Schubert’s Winterreise
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Schubert’s Winterreise
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Pitch
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: An Endless Winter Journey
- Part I Schubert’s Winterreise and Its Musical Heritage
- Part II Die Winterreise: Poetic Cycle
- Part III Cultural and Historical Contexts
- Part IV Winterreise: Song Cycle
- 9 Identification in Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise
- 10 Text–Music Relationships
- 11 A Winter of Poetry: Connections Among the Songs in Schubert’s Winterreise
- 12 Discontinuity in Winterreise
- Part V Winterreise After 1827
- Appendix
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
Summary
This essay explores the distinction between “continuity” and “discontinuity” in the poetry and music of Winterreise. In a continuous poetic cycle, the poems progress in a logical, recognizable process where we know where we begin and end, and everything in between relates to the whole. Musical continuity likewise involves a clear sense of motion forward and reaching a goal – such as beginning and ending in the same key, or tonal coherence. In a discontinuous poetic or musical cycle, on the other hand, there is no clear motion forward from beginning to end, no clear end point, and a lack of cohesion or interconnectedness (recurring elements) over the whole. But the distinction is not altogether clear. Within a continuous cycle, interruptions do occur, and within a discontinuous cycle, elements of continuity occur as well. Ultimately, a cycle is experienced primarily one way or the other based on a number of factors, including the presence of repeated elements (continuous) or lack of repeated elements (discontinuous).
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- The Cambridge Companion to Schubert's ‘Winterreise' , pp. 206 - 224Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021