Mut!

Mut, translated as "Courage," is a short song that appears near the end of Franz Schubert's song cycle Winterreise, a work that follows the protagonist as he visits sites of a past summer love in what is now the dead of winter. The text of this song describes shaking off the snow to sing cheerfully and to embolden oneself against the wind and weather despite whatever woes might be stirring in one's heart. This transcription for clarinet quartet rotates the melody through the ensemble, giving equal weight to each of its four members. The transcription was originally completed as part of a set of adaptations from Schubert's Lieder; when grouped with the other transcriptions in the set (Gretchen am Spinnrade, Die Forelle, and Der Leiermann) it functions well as the fast emphatic final movement in a suite.