A new collection of illustrations painted in response to Schubert’s Schwanengesang.
Schubert’s final collection of songs is not a continuous narrative, but there is a theme running through the poems and the music, which is of a deep yearning and melancholy. Yet there is a great beauty too, which can be of great comfort.
The poem Pigeon Post by Johann Gabriel Seidl is somewhat pertinent in these times of isolation and separation:
I send it many thousand times
daily away with messages,
past many dear places
until it reaches my sweetheart’s house.
In at the window there it furtively looks,
observes her face and her step,
cheerfully gives my greetings
and brings hers back.
And from Ludwig Rellstab’s Longing in Springtime a reflection of eerie melancholy in the midst of the hope of springtime.
Glancing gold of the sun that greets me,
you bring the bliss of hope.
How your greeting soothes me!
It smiles gently in the deep blue sky,
and fills my eyes with tears – but why?
The paintings have been compiled into a book, along with the poems, translated into English by William Mann, and is available to purchase from my SHOP.
The original paintings, and giclee reproductions are also available, contact me for prices and details.
You can view more of these illustrations, along with a compendium of information about Schwanengesang on this fantastic website: https://schwanengesang.online/
David Armitage 