I was unsure about the tone of the poem, but after listening to both musical versions, I assume that it is meant to be somewhat of a playful story. Both pieces have a piano accompanying them and fermata is used when repeating the last lines (word rather) of each section "...Röslein auf der Heiden." But, I prefer to listen to the version by Bonney because it sounds much more fun when she sings it.
I thought the two different versions of the song had the same tempo and melody. The main difference was that it was sung by a man and a women. My first post I accidentally put under the welcome blog part.
ReplyDeleteI think the most important difference between the performances, was how they varied each verse. Schreier treated each verse pretty much the same. Each began with an upbeat cheery tempo and lightness of style, and ended in a slightly slower thoughtful or reminiscent tone. Bonney however, seems to pay more attention to conveying the the text appropriately rather than sticking strictly to the music. I listened to both of the recordings without the translations open. In Schreier's There was no evidence, musically speaking, to hint at what part of the poem he was currently singing. Bonney begins the first verse quickly and excitedly seemingly portraying the excitement of the boy at finding this flower. Later, her tempo and articulation seem to be representing the scuffle of the boy trying to pick the rose, and having his fingers pricked by the thorns. The final verse, she takes slower, which, despite the still-present major key and oom-pah accompaniment usually used to express gaiety, seems to convey the roses dismay of being picked against her will.
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