The Romantic period of Western classical music is often characterized by the expanding size of the orchestra, the lavish operas of the time, and the complex harmonies they made use of. But in some corners, composers found beauty in simplicity, composing works of immense emotion and expression meant for only two performers.
This is certainly the case with Franz Schubert’s lieder, or German art songs, and the distillation of his vision came in the song cycle Die Winterreise, explained classical singer DeAndre Simmons.
“You have this genius, and I use that word as strongly as it is, and not the flippant word we take genius to be nowadays,” he said. “He died before he was 32 years old, and to have written literally thousands of pieces of music, and to have written this work between the time that he was 27 and 31, that speaks so much to his maturity as a person, as a man, and as a musician.”
Simmons and Santa Barbara-based pianist Robert Cassidy will perform Die Winterreise as the opening concert for the Santa Ynez Valley Classical Music Concert Series. The two have only performed the piece a couple of times together, the first performance of which marked their debut collaboration. Both expressed appreciation for each other as artists, noting skill, technique, and emotive abilities as factors that brought them together.
Playing the piano part for a Schubert song cycle is not like accompanying a singer with an orchestral reduction. Schubert was a respected composer for the piano as well as for the voice, so his lied is anything but simple for the pianist, Cassidy explained.
“A song cycle is very much an equal partnership between the pianist and the singer,” Cassidy said. “And in the case of Schubert, everything he wrote—whether it be piano music, a symphony, a string quartet—everything he wrote was a song. He was the ultimate songwriter. So, when you play the solo piano music of Schubert, you just have to think about the lied that he wrote, and how he was able to create amazing emotion and atmosphere through his very personal writing.”
Die Winterreise translates to “winter journey,” and tells one dramatic monologue through 24 songs. Penned during the last years of Schubert’s life, when he was battling with and suffering from syphilis, the piece is intensely emotional and melancholy, but at times hopeful and tranquil.
A singer like Simmons is used to spending time on an opera stage, with a full orchestra in the pit and a chorus on stage. A piece like Die Winterreise is a distillation of a melodic voice and harmonic accompaniment. Simmons said, “I never feel alone” when playing with Cassidy. This says a lot about Cassidy, Simmons explained, but it also says a lot about Schubert.
“Schubert really understood voices and instruments,” Simmons said. “His harmonies are such that, it’s apropos of ‘Winter’s Journey.’ It’s kind of like a cold winter’s day where you just wrap yourself in a warm blanket; I find that’s what his harmonies are very much like. When you get into those harmonies, and some are relatively simplistic, it creates an atmosphere that really takes you out of wherever you are and puts you right into the heart of that music, that poetry, and in this case, that one man’s journey.”
The two artists are prepared to deliver as much emotion, passion, and skill as possible with their performance. The concert takes place at St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley, the historic church in Los Olivos, which has been a welcome venue for many a concert. Both expressed gratitude at being invited to open the latest season of the Santa Ynez Valley Classical Music Concert Series.
“I’m excited about it, it’s a really nice place to play,” Cassidy said. “St. Mark’s has a wonderful acoustic, great piano, and the audience is very, very with you and attentive and eager to be there. So it’s a pleasure to be there, and I’m looking forward to opening the season as well.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne is ready to be wrapped in a warm blanket of harmony. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2016.