Erlkonig (The Erl-King)

Erlkonig (The Erl-King) is a dramatic poem by the famous German writer and poet, Goethe, written in 1782. Although it has been set to music by many composers, the most well-known is the 1815 setting by Franz Schubert for voice and piano. The Erl-King is a challenging work for the singer because they must portray four distinct characters; narrator, father, son and the Erlkonig himself. Schubert's writing is different for each character in terms of pitch, harmony, rhythm, key (major and/or minor), and melodic shape. Singers usually alter the timbre of their voice to emphasise the different roles. In this arrangement for wind quintet, the arranger takes the timbre differences a step further by assigning the characters to different instruments in the quintet. The flute plays the role of narrator, the clarinet is the anxious son, the horn plays the reassuring (but then worried) father, and the oboe plays the Erlkonig with his beautiful enticing melodies that try to lead the boy astray. The bassoon plays the ominous bass line that helps set the scene.