Gretchen am Spinnrade Op. 2

About this work

Gretchen am Spinnrade D.118, composed in 1814 to a passage from Goethe’s Faust, follows Gretchen’s thoughts at the spinning wheel. The piano’s circling semiquavers suggest the wheel while low pulses recall the regular motion of the treadle.

As memories of Faust take over the text, the vocal line rises in register and intensity. At the recollection of his kiss the wheel stops abruptly; its hesitant return shows that work resumes, although the obsession remains.

At the piano, shape the figure in flexible groups and keep the bass independent. The voice may broaden phrases without rushing syllables; rehearse the central stop and restart carefully so that the silence belongs to the drama rather than to technical difficulty.

What the document containsDocument: The document contains 8 pages in PDF format. A MIDI file also helps locate the continuity and entries. The PDF contains the complete work for voice and piano with German text across 8 pages.The historical record marks the work and file as public domain but does not document the editor or exact provenance of this copy. The file preserved by LesPartitions.info can be compared with the reference catalogue. Following that check, LesPartitions.info separates established facts from information that remains incomplete.