Hello everyone! I realize it has been a while since I have posted. It's not because I have a lack of material. I have tons of star photos to throw into a video, and I have missed the competition post last week because of the star gazing trip and because of how busy I am with my summer physics class. I will be judging submissions from last week and this week in tomorrow's contest post. I apologize for dropping the ball so much. Anyway, @zzoebee and I got together to record two pieces yesterday. I am going to be posting here about one of them, and you can check out her blog (and mine because I will resteem it) for the other piece. Zoe also posted her introduction post earlier today! Anyway, this week we recorded a masterwork by the 17 year old Franz Schubert called "Gretchen am Spinnrade" or "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel". To follow will be the lyrics (which are also in the subtitles on YouTube), the video, and the context of the song:

Lyrics (source)

German	English
Gretchen am Spinnrade	Gretchen at the spinning-wheel
Meine Ruh’ ist hin,	My peace is gone
Mein Herz ist schwer,	My heart is heavy;
Ich finde sie nimmer	I shall never
Und nimmermehr.	Ever find peace again.
---	---
Wo ich ihn nicht hab’	When he’s not with me,
Ist mir das Grab,	Life’s like the grave;
Die ganze Welt	The whole world
Ist mir vergällt.	Is turned to gall.
---	---
Mein armer Kopf	My poor head
Ist mir verrückt	Is crazed,
Mein armer Sinn	My poor mind
Ist mir zerstückt.	Shattered.
---	---
Meine Ruh’ ist hin,	My peace is gone
Mein Herz ist schwer,	My heart is heavy;
Ich finde sie nimmer	I shall never
Und nimmermehr.	Ever find peace again.
---	---
Nach ihm nur schau’ ich	It’s only for him
Zum Fenster hinaus,	I gaze from the window,
Nach ihm nur geh’ ich	It’s only for him
Aus dem Haus.	I leave the house.
---	---
Sein hoher Gang,	His proud bearing
Sein’ edle Gestalt,	His noble form,
Seines Mundes Lächeln,	The smile on his lips,
Seiner Augen Gewalt.	The power of his eyes,
---	---
Und seiner Rede	And the magic flow
Zauberfluss.	Of his words,
Sein Händedruck,	The touch of his hand,
Und ach, sein Kuss!	And ah, his kiss!
---	---
Meine Ruh’ ist hin,	My peace is gone
Mein Herz ist schwer,	My heart is heavy;
Ich finde sie nimmer	I shall never
Und nimmermehr.	Ever find peace again.
---	---
Mein Busen drängt sich	My bosom
Nach ihm hin.	Yearns for him.
Ach dürft’ ich fassen	Ah! if I could clasp
Und halten ihn.	And hold him,
---	---
Und küssen ihn	And kiss him
So wie ich wollt’	To my heart’s content,
An seinen Küssen	And in his kisses
Vergehen sollt’!	Perish!
---	---
Und küssen ihn	And kiss him
So wie ich wollt’	To my heart’s content,
An seinen Küssen	And in his kisses
Vergehen sollt’!	Perish!
---	---
An seinen Küssen	And in his kisses
Vergehen sollt’!	Perish!
Meine Ruh’ ist hin,	My peace is gone
Mein Herz ist schwer,	My heart is heavy. . .

Recording

I have also added both English and German subtitles to the YouTube video if you want to read along in real time.

Background of the Piece (Source)

You have most likely heard of Goethe's story of Faust in which a Doctor named Faust sells his soul to the devil in order to receive unlimited power for a short period of time on Earth. Part of what Faust does is to bewitch a young girl named Gretchen into falling in love with him. This song comes from Gretchen after this happens. She is sitting in her room at the spinning wheel discussing her love for Faust, and we can see just how unnatural this love is. She is so in love with him that he has become her entire life's purpose, and she cannot handle not being around him. What is so brilliant about the poem (and about the music) is the metaphorical use of the spinning wheel. The spinning wheel represents the unchanging cycle that is Gretchen's suffering love for Faust. You can here it from the first measure of the piece almost all the way through. It begins to stop when she is discussing what she loves about Faust, and seemingly comes to a stop when she finally discusses his kiss. This is as if having him in her life solves all of the craziness, and suffering she is enduring. But then the wheel slowly starts up again reminding us that he is not the cure to her suffering, but rather the source. Here is a video about Faust for those who are interested.

I can still remember that there was a Twilight Zone episode in which a character wished a woman would fall in love with him, and then it came true and he wished it would stop because all she would do was love him because that became her purpose. This episode was a very similar concept to this poem and song.

Previous Recordings

Handel's O care selve (5/20/2021)
Puccini's O mio babbino caro (5/28/2021)

Conclusion

Thanks for reading and listening to this! I hope you enjoyed this performance! I am very thankful to Zoe for learning this song so well so fast (it was my request)! I am also thankful to @bebethlehem for allowing us to use their equipment and facilities, and will be donating 15 percent of this article's rewards to them. Make sure to check Zoe's account this weekend for our other performance! Have an awesome day!