Vincent Kusters, Roger Braun

In 1823, Schubert was deeply touched by Wilhelm Müller’s Die Schöne Müllerin cycle, which had been published a few years prior. By the end of the year, he had written music on twenty of the twenty-five poems, creating his first major song cycle, which would become one of his most beloved works.

The story of a millworker’s unrequited love for his master’s beautiful daughter is the very soul of romanticism. The spurned protagonist ultimately finds his death in the millstream, which itself is an important “character” in the cycle. As such, the stream ultimately has the final word in a hauntingly beautiful lullaby.

In this concert, the song cycle is performed by the young Dutch tenor Linard Vrielink, who studied in Germany, and pianist Peter Nilsson.