SERENADE - Standchen (Swan Song)

Schwanengesang (Swan Song), D 957, is a collection of 14 songs written by Franz Schubert at the end of his life and published posthumously. Named by its first publisher, Tobias Haslinger, who presumably wished to present it as Schubert's last testament, Schwanengesang differs from the earlier Die schone Mullerin and Winterreise song-cycles by including settings of more than one poet. Seven texts by Ludwig Rellstab (1799 - 1860) are followed by six by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856); inclusion of the last song, to words by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804 - 1875), may or may not reflect Schubert's wishes. In any case, all 14 songs were composed in 1828 and the collection was published in 1829, a few months after the composer's death. The song "Standchen" ("Serenade") the singer exhorts his lover to make him happy. Here we present an arrangement for piano solo.