The Songs of Schubert

Abstract

not trained composers. In consequence their tunes have an individuality, an original, unlooked-for charm, that one finds ordinarily only in folk-songs. Occasionally, of course, such innocence leads to melodic crookedness and awkwardness, as in the approach to the cadential tonic now and then. At those moments the writers probably grew conscious that they were composing. In the main, however, the tunes gain only strength and originality from the lack of conscious "composing" effort: and one can omit the tunes that are crooked and still have an exceptionally large number left for use, for the little, inexpensively printed book contains eightyfour songs. It remains to be said that the words are as good as the tunes, and in the same way. As the authors and Mr. Giddings are right in their preference for brevity, this adds to a list of virtues quite sufficient to lift the unassuming volume to a very high place among late rote-song books.