Winterreise: 1. Gute Nacht,
Franz Schubert: Winterreise (1828): 1. Gute Nacht (Good Night)
poems by Wilhelm Müller, English translation by Celia Sgroi
Finnish translation / suomennos: Lotta Emanuelsson
Martti Anttila, tenor, piano, recording, video
(piano played on Noire by Native Instruments)
Recorded at home in Helsinki, April 2020
during the coronavirus pandemic
#WinterreiseAtHome
TL;DR: I recorded the first movement of Schubert's Winterreise alone at home, for all of you to enjoy
Winterreise and the pandemic
I've had this one thing on my to do list for a long time: to start rehearsing Schubert's Winterreise with a pianist. And when the current state of emergency started I thought that it will be once again postponed at least for months. After pondering for a while, I realized I could actually start working through Winterreise in my home by myself. I have everything I need for recording and editing audio and video. This is of course not at all the same as working with another musician, but this is something I can do right now and only my laziness can stop me :D
Winterreise starts with the main protagonist leaving a former lover's home in the dead of night and starting a journey alone in the cold. He cries tears that immediately freeze, and comes across a village, a cemetery, croaking ravens, barking dogs, a frozen stream, a rushing storm, and a tree that reminds him of happier days. "Over the course of the cycle, grief over lost love progressively gives way to more general existential despair and resignation and the literal winter's journey is arguably at least in part allegorical for this psychological and spiritual one. Wintry imagery of cold, darkness, and barrenness consistently serve to mirror the feelings of the isolated wanderer." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterr...)
Right now during the ongoing pandemic, even the people who haven't fallen ill are making a long journey, self-quarantining at home, many of us alone. And this journey is definitely mostly a mental and a psychological one. And like the wandered in Winterreise, we don't know how long this will last. But I'm also happy to find that right now there is so much art freely available online. In fact there's probably never been such an abundance of recordings, films, TV shows, opera, theater, and live music streams available than at this moment! In these troubled and confusing times I hope that people can find some significance and comfort in art.
Anyway, these were my thoughts recording this first song, Gute Nacht. Piano (it's a software instrument :)), singing, recording, editing, and video are all my doing. And I was lucky enough to get some snow on this video. I hope you enjoy! And I'll try to make the next one at some point :)
Wash you hands, people!