In my previous post I mentioned that I was slightly inclined as a student to look down on the Magic Flute because it seemed so much simpler than the Da Ponte operas. It was only with the wisdom (?) of age that I have come to see that simplicity is no bar to musical greatness.
As I was thinking about this another , even better, example came to mind,
I still remember my first encounter with Schubert's Schwanengesang, especially the late Heine songs. They made a tremendous impression on me. But I also remember the sense of anticlimax after the end of Der Doppelgänger - and surely the C major chord 5 bars from the end is the most chilling moment in all music - when I heard the opening "rum-ti-tum" chords of Taubenpost. It seemed if not a move from the sublime to the ridiculous at one from profundity to triviality.
Now I see things very differently. Taubenpost is a truly wonderful song - different in character and mood of course but still at an exalted level of inspiration. I appreciate now as I didn't then that it takes genius to achieve a true level of simplicity.
Here is Gerhard Husch showing how it should be done. I chose his performance not only because of its excellence but also as a memento of the fact that he came to talk to us in my first year at University (1974).
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