Franz Schubert - "An die Nachtigall" for Soprano and String Trio

An die Nachtigal (To the Nightingale) (D. 196) of May 1815 is one of Schubert's most impulsive and romantic songs. Although he sets Ludwig Hölty's two-verse poem strophically, the song has nothing of the staid qualities of a strophic setting. Schubert's tempo indication, "Restless, plaintive. Growing faster in tempo until the end of each verse," fits the extravagant quality of the song. The vocal line is literally wild, an extremely emotional line which is both recitative and aria, surging across the entire tessitura of the singer's range. The piano accompaniment is no secco recitative accompaniment, either, but a flurry and a flutter of notes with a cadenza at the end of each verse. In hearing An die Nachtigal, one is reminded that Schubert was only 18, an extremely passionate 18, when he composed it.
 
Lyrics:
 
He is lying and sleeping by my heart,
My good protecting spirit sang him to sleep;
And I can be happy and playful,
I can take pleasure in every flower and in each leaf.
Nightingale, oh nightingale!
Do not wake this Cupid with your singing!