another essay (sorry i don't have the original, "Lieder (with Analysis)" piece)
Claire Lewis November 28th, 2006
Lieder Essay AP English Literature
Duff Allen's "Lieder (with Analysis)" clarifies its goal from the beginning; it promises to be what it was titled. Lieder, or "art songs," are music created solely to please the senses. Franz Schubert is best known for his cyclic Lieder, or "Liederkreis," that are repetitious and have a general theme. The piece "Lieder (with Analysis)" is exactly that: a cyclic composition that's goal is to be enjoyable. By incorporating many forms of repetition into the piece, Allen writes his own art song to make a stimulating and successfully Lied-like piece.
Almost every sentence in "Lieder" is said twice. The subtle difference between "Without a singer, many of his barroom songs fall flat, they are nothing; they are bars and bars of repeated musical chords repeating for almost an entire song" and "(F)or an entire song, some of Schubert's most melodiously sung songs bang on and on with almost no variation in the piano music at all" (2) is not only ironic because of the subject of the two sentences, but also alike to an actual Lied. The same idea is reworded to create a variation, attempting to mimic the repetitive quality of the art songs it intends to reincarnate. Again, he varies on the idea "while I played Schubert, many of my old schoolmates have gone on steadily with their lives" by writing "(a)ll of my friends have gone on in this or that for twenty-seven years, while I, on my cheap piano, have banged out Schubert's song cycles with a candle lit" (1). He does this because he has more than one word for everything. His "old schoolmates" are also "all of (his) friends," while the act of playing Schubert is really just "bang(ing) out . . . song cycles with a candle lit." In this way Allen gives each of his ideas two slightly different definitions, creating a discrepancy between truths. When one is unoccupied, it is often amusing to say a single word over and over until it no longer sounds like the original word. "Dog" slowly becomes "tonk" or "clock." This change is brought about only through the act of repetition. The nature of repetition is not to copy, but alter. Allen slightly alters his ideas when he repeats them, and by doing so realistically creates the effect of repetition in Liederkreis.
Whether it is Allen's or the Schubert-player's goal to make a piece of literature that sounds like a Lied is unknown, allowing the reader to choose who is telling the story. The point where the writer steps into the character's shoes and where he is purely writing for his own sake is very foggy. The piece as a whole could be seen as one or the other, or a mixture of both. The double presence of a narrator offers clay for the reader to play with and ponder over. The variable narrator allows for multiple interpretations and therefore the potential to be a hundred different stories. It may be a purely whimsical and creative facet of Allen's imagination, or a very real element of his life and experience. Allen may feel that Lieder are an appropriate metaphor for all of his own writing, or perhaps just an interesting way to approach how people are in general. In this way, "Lieder" has another quality of the music it imitates, the potential for endless variation.
By writing the analysis for "Lieder," Allen placed himself between two mirrors. The author's reflections on why he wrote the piece imply that "Lieder" existed first, but at the same time suggest that "Lieder" was the product of an original thought. Allen is caught in infinity, and the starting point of his thought process is deeply concealed, if not nonexistent. It seems as though there is no beginning or end to the train of thought. Maddening and intense, it causes the reader to focus and explore the possibilities. It is here that Allen first suggests a cycle. There is no beginning or end to this story, even as the story makes an attempt to stop. The ending note of "Lieder" is a mournful admission that the cycle is beginning all over again. "I swear to myself that I am going to quit this fanatical Schubert-playing extravaganza . . . (b)ut it is too late, I think to myself, it is too late, and I am no less afraid to do so." (3) As a whole, the train of thought in "Lieder" promises to start all over again, much like a Lied.
The metaphor of Schubert-playing to writing is another source of repetition in "Lieder." Suggesting that "(b)y playing Schubert, (he) really probably means: to write" (4), Allen allows the reader to read "Lieder" as two different stories: the story about a man who loves to write and the story about the man who loves to play Schubert. If the character loves to play Schubert, then the piece is pointless. If playing Schubert is all he truly enjoys, there is no special meaning behind the act of writing the story. If his true joy comes from writing, then "Lieder" becomes a primary document of the character's writing, and the product of his real passion. But to make Schubert-playing an appropriate metaphor, the songs must have importance and meaning to the author. Therefore, writing and Schubert-playing must somehow be metaphors for each other.
It is impossible to ignore that writing, like the vocals of a song, is built with words. Allen and the Schubert player observe that Schubert's song cycles "sound plain and almost terrible without a singer (and) fall flat" (2). Much like the song cycles, this story would be flat if it were not for the words themselves that allow for variation. Allen uses language as if it is the "rich baritone of Fischer-Dieskau" (2) to bring life to his story.
Overall, "Lieder" is Lieder. It repeats ideas like the measures played by the left hand, two slight variations cycling in the background, with words to vocalize life. The piece ends with a promise to begin the cycle all over again, the cycle of obsession and thought. His words are carefully chosen to imply two definitions for all of his thoughts, and overall makes the reader think and imagine all the possibilities suggested by them. It is enjoyable for the brain to be given something to ponder and ruminate like the intention of an abstract painting. Allen has succeeded in transferring the qualities of music to his own writing.
By the way, these are the comments my english teacher gave me:
"This is a deep and masterly interpretation of the piece. You word clearly ideas which are, in truth, hard to express. You have a profundity of mind and an ability to articulate what you hear in your own words that is as rare as the nightingale's song."
I was dumbfounded, and I smiled a lot.
Lieder Essay AP English Literature
Duff Allen's "Lieder (with Analysis)" clarifies its goal from the beginning; it promises to be what it was titled. Lieder, or "art songs," are music created solely to please the senses. Franz Schubert is best known for his cyclic Lieder, or "Liederkreis," that are repetitious and have a general theme. The piece "Lieder (with Analysis)" is exactly that: a cyclic composition that's goal is to be enjoyable. By incorporating many forms of repetition into the piece, Allen writes his own art song to make a stimulating and successfully Lied-like piece.
Almost every sentence in "Lieder" is said twice. The subtle difference between "Without a singer, many of his barroom songs fall flat, they are nothing; they are bars and bars of repeated musical chords repeating for almost an entire song" and "(F)or an entire song, some of Schubert's most melodiously sung songs bang on and on with almost no variation in the piano music at all" (2) is not only ironic because of the subject of the two sentences, but also alike to an actual Lied. The same idea is reworded to create a variation, attempting to mimic the repetitive quality of the art songs it intends to reincarnate. Again, he varies on the idea "while I played Schubert, many of my old schoolmates have gone on steadily with their lives" by writing "(a)ll of my friends have gone on in this or that for twenty-seven years, while I, on my cheap piano, have banged out Schubert's song cycles with a candle lit" (1). He does this because he has more than one word for everything. His "old schoolmates" are also "all of (his) friends," while the act of playing Schubert is really just "bang(ing) out . . . song cycles with a candle lit." In this way Allen gives each of his ideas two slightly different definitions, creating a discrepancy between truths. When one is unoccupied, it is often amusing to say a single word over and over until it no longer sounds like the original word. "Dog" slowly becomes "tonk" or "clock." This change is brought about only through the act of repetition. The nature of repetition is not to copy, but alter. Allen slightly alters his ideas when he repeats them, and by doing so realistically creates the effect of repetition in Liederkreis.
Whether it is Allen's or the Schubert-player's goal to make a piece of literature that sounds like a Lied is unknown, allowing the reader to choose who is telling the story. The point where the writer steps into the character's shoes and where he is purely writing for his own sake is very foggy. The piece as a whole could be seen as one or the other, or a mixture of both. The double presence of a narrator offers clay for the reader to play with and ponder over. The variable narrator allows for multiple interpretations and therefore the potential to be a hundred different stories. It may be a purely whimsical and creative facet of Allen's imagination, or a very real element of his life and experience. Allen may feel that Lieder are an appropriate metaphor for all of his own writing, or perhaps just an interesting way to approach how people are in general. In this way, "Lieder" has another quality of the music it imitates, the potential for endless variation.
By writing the analysis for "Lieder," Allen placed himself between two mirrors. The author's reflections on why he wrote the piece imply that "Lieder" existed first, but at the same time suggest that "Lieder" was the product of an original thought. Allen is caught in infinity, and the starting point of his thought process is deeply concealed, if not nonexistent. It seems as though there is no beginning or end to the train of thought. Maddening and intense, it causes the reader to focus and explore the possibilities. It is here that Allen first suggests a cycle. There is no beginning or end to this story, even as the story makes an attempt to stop. The ending note of "Lieder" is a mournful admission that the cycle is beginning all over again. "I swear to myself that I am going to quit this fanatical Schubert-playing extravaganza . . . (b)ut it is too late, I think to myself, it is too late, and I am no less afraid to do so." (3) As a whole, the train of thought in "Lieder" promises to start all over again, much like a Lied.
The metaphor of Schubert-playing to writing is another source of repetition in "Lieder." Suggesting that "(b)y playing Schubert, (he) really probably means: to write" (4), Allen allows the reader to read "Lieder" as two different stories: the story about a man who loves to write and the story about the man who loves to play Schubert. If the character loves to play Schubert, then the piece is pointless. If playing Schubert is all he truly enjoys, there is no special meaning behind the act of writing the story. If his true joy comes from writing, then "Lieder" becomes a primary document of the character's writing, and the product of his real passion. But to make Schubert-playing an appropriate metaphor, the songs must have importance and meaning to the author. Therefore, writing and Schubert-playing must somehow be metaphors for each other.
It is impossible to ignore that writing, like the vocals of a song, is built with words. Allen and the Schubert player observe that Schubert's song cycles "sound plain and almost terrible without a singer (and) fall flat" (2). Much like the song cycles, this story would be flat if it were not for the words themselves that allow for variation. Allen uses language as if it is the "rich baritone of Fischer-Dieskau" (2) to bring life to his story.
Overall, "Lieder" is Lieder. It repeats ideas like the measures played by the left hand, two slight variations cycling in the background, with words to vocalize life. The piece ends with a promise to begin the cycle all over again, the cycle of obsession and thought. His words are carefully chosen to imply two definitions for all of his thoughts, and overall makes the reader think and imagine all the possibilities suggested by them. It is enjoyable for the brain to be given something to ponder and ruminate like the intention of an abstract painting. Allen has succeeded in transferring the qualities of music to his own writing.
By the way, these are the comments my english teacher gave me:
"This is a deep and masterly interpretation of the piece. You word clearly ideas which are, in truth, hard to express. You have a profundity of mind and an ability to articulate what you hear in your own words that is as rare as the nightingale's song."
I was dumbfounded, and I smiled a lot.