"Das Veilchen" K. 476, is a song for voice and piano by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

, written in Vienna on 8 June 1785, to a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

.

Lyrics

Goethe wrote the poem in 1773 or early 1774. It was first published in March 1775 in his first Singspiel

Singspiel

A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...

 Erwin und Elmire which was first set to music

Erwin und Elmire (André)

Erwin und Elmire is a singspiel, described as a Schauspiel mit Gesang, in two acts by the German composer Johann André, with a libretto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, after Oliver Goldsmith's ballad of Angelica and Edwin, The Hermit, in chapter 8 of his sentimental novel The Vicar of...

 in 1775 by the German composer Johann André

Johann André

Johann André was a German musician, composer and music publisher.In 1774, as the patriarch of a Huguenot family, André founded one of the first music publishing houses to be independent of a bookshop, in Offenbach am Main...

, and in 1776

Erwin und Elmire

Erwin und Elmire is a singspiel in two acts by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, with a libretto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, after Oliver Goldsmith's ballad of Angelica and Edwin, The Hermit, in his sentimental novel The Vicar of Wakefield.Goethe moved to Weimar, in circumstances...

 by Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and by Carl David Stegmann

Carl David Stegmann

Carl David Stegmann was a German tenor, harpsichordist, conductor, and composer.He was born in Staucha near Meissen, the son of Johann Ehrenfried Stegmann and Anna Christiana Bretzner, and married Karoline Johanna Eleanore Linz producing two sons and four daughters...

. This was followed in 1785 by Ernst Wilhelm Wolf

Ernst Wilhelm Wolf

Ernst Wilhelm Wolf was a German composer.-Life:Wolf was born in Grossen Behringen in Thuringia, today part of the Hörselberg-Hainich municipality. His elder brother Ernst Friedrich was a composer and organist who studied under Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel...

 and Karl Christian Agthe

Karl Christian Agthe

Karl Christian Agthe was a German organist and composer.Born in Hettstedt, Agthe served as court organist to Frederick Albrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg. Among his compositions are six Singspiele, a ballet, and piano sonatas. He died in Ballenstedt; a son, Albrecht Agthe, was a music...

.

In 1771, Goethe had written the poem "Heidenröslein

Heidenröslein

"Heidenröslein" or "Heideröslein" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1799. It was written in 1771 during Goethe's stay in Strasbourg when he was in love with Friederike Brion, to whom the poem is addressed...

" which tells of a young man's rejected love, the female represented by a rose. "Das Veilchen" reverses the situation and describes a woman's love rejected by a careless man, the woman represented by a violet.

Ein Veilchen auf der Wiese stand, gebückt in sich und unbekannt; es war ein herzigs Veilchen. Da kam ein' junge Schäferin mit leichtem Schritt und munterm Sinn daher, daher, die Wiese her und sang. Ach! denkt das Veilchen, wär' ich nur die schönste Blume der Natur, ach, nur ein kleines Weilchen, bis mich das Liebchen abgepflückt und an dem Busen matt gedrückt, ach, nur, ach nur ein Viertelstündchen lang! Ach, aber ach! Das Mädchen kam und nicht in acht das Veilchen nahm, ertrat das arme Veilchen. Es sank und starb, und freut' sich noch: und sterb' ich denn, so sterb' ich doch durch sie, durch sie, zu ihren Füßen doch! Das arme Veilchen! es war ein herzigs Veilchen.

A violet in the meadow stood, with humble brow, demure and good, it was the sweetes violet. There came along a shepherdess with youthful step and happiness, who sang, who sang along the way this song. Oh! thought the violet, how I pine for nature's beauty to be mine, if only for a moment. for then my love might notice me and on her bosom fasten me, I wish, I wish if but a moment long. But, cruel fate! The maiden came, without a glance or care for him, she trampled down the violet. He sank and died, but happily: and so I die then let me die for her, for her, beneath her darling feet. Poor little violet! It was the sweetest violet.

Music

This song is Mozart's only setting to a text by Goethe. It not clear where exactly Mozart encountered the poem, but is likely through one of its settings by other composers of the time. Mozart made a telling addition by adding his last line.

The poem is written in three stanza

Stanza

In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...

s, but instead of using strophic form

Strophic form

Strophic form is the simplest and most durable of musical forms, elaborating a piece of music by repetition of a single formal section. This may be analyzed as "A A A..."...

, Mozart creates a through-composed

Through-composed

Through-composed music is relatively continuous, non-sectional, and/or non-repetitive. A song is said to be through-composed if it has different music for each stanza of the lyrics. This is in contrast to strophic form, in which each stanza is set to the same music...

 work, demonstrating his careful attention to the words of the poet by creating a different mood for each verse. At the end of the song, the composer adds his own words in a touching 2-bar coda

Coda (music)

Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...

.

The piece is 65 bars

Bar (music)

In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...

 long and a performance lasts about 2 1/2 minutes. Its key signature

Key signature

In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental...

 is G major

G major

G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...

; its meter

Time signature

The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....

 is 2/4. The vocal range

Vocal range

Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...

 covers only the interval

Interval (music)

In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...

 of a ninth

Ninth

In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is a larger than a second, its sonority level is considered less dense.-Major ninth:A major ninth is a...

, from F⁴

Scientific pitch notation

Scientific pitch notation is one of several methods that name the notes of the standard Western chromatic scale by combining a letter-name, accidentals, and a number identifying the pitch's octave...

 to G⁵.

The piece starts with a 6-bar introduction of the melody of the first line by the piano. The first stanza takes up the next 15 bars. The entry of the shepherdess is marked by a modulation

Modulation (music)

In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest...

 to D major

D major

D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....

; this is followed by a four-bar segment which summarises the violet's happy mood – and a general pause which precedes the mood swing of the second verse, a change of key to G minor

G minor

G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....

 to describe the violet's longing. This changes to the parallel key

Parallel key

In music, parallel keys are the major and minor scales that have the same tonic. A major and minor scale sharing the same tonic are said to be in a parallel relationship...

 of B major

B major

In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....

 in the latter part of that verse when the violet expresses hope of being loved back, but ending in a falling phrygian

Phrygian mode

The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...

 lament

Lament

A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...

. The narration of the third verse is a recitativo accompagnato in E-flat minor culminating in the trampling of the violet which is emphasised by a following general pause. The dying flower is described by a chromatically

Chromatic scale

The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...

 falling line, before the final modulation back to G major changes the pain into jubilation: to die at the beloved's feet. Then Mozart adds two phrases of his own as a coda; in recitative, in free time and using only two notes: "Das arme Veilchen!" (Poor little violet!), a long general pause, and closing the song a tempo with a quotation from the third line: "es war ein herzigs Veilchen." (it was the sweetest violet.)

By other composers

Other composers, besides those mentioned above as composers of Goethe's singspiel, who have set this poem to music, include Philipp Christoph Kayser (1776), Anton Schweitzer

Anton Schweitzer

Anton Schweitzer was a German composer of operas.He was a child prodigy who obtained the patronage of the duke of Hildburghausen, who sent him to study in Bayreuth in 1758, then Italy , and made him Kapellmeister enabling him to tour Europe...

 (1777), Joseph Anton Steffan

Joseph Anton Steffan

Joseph Anton Steffan or Josef Antonín Štěpán was a Bohemian classical era composer and harpsichordist.Steffan was born in Kopidlno, Bohemia in March 1726, the son of a schoolmaster and church organist. In 1741 he fled from the Prussian army to Vienna...

 (1779), Johann Friedrich Reichardt

Johann Friedrich Reichardt

Johann Friedrich Reichardt was a German composer, writer and music critic.-Early life:Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and Stadtmusiker Johann Reichardt . Johann Friedrich began his musical training, in violin, keyboard, and lute, as a child...

 in 1780 and in 1783, the latter to praise by Clara Kathleen Rogers

Clara Kathleen Rogers

Clara Kathleen Rogers , was an American composer, singer, writer and music educator.-Biography:Clara Kathleen Barnett Rogers was born into a musical family...

 and Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

, Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff (1779), Friedrich Heinrich Himmel

Friedrich Heinrich Himmel

Friedrich Heinrich Himmel , German composer, was born at Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg, Prussia, and originally studied theology at Halle before turning to music....

 (c. 1807), Peter Josef von Lindpaintner

Peter Josef von Lindpaintner

Peter Josef von Lindpaintner was a German composer and conductor.Born in Koblenz as the son of a tenor, he studied with Peter Winter and Joseph Graetz. From 1819 onwards he was based in Stuttgart...

 (1815), Václav Tomášek

Václav Tomášek

Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek, was a Czech composer and music teacher.-Life:As a pianist, he was an autodidact, becoming one of the most important piano teachers of Prague for a century. Until 1824 he worked as a piano teacher in aristocratic families...

 (1815), Carl Gottlieb Reissiger

Carl Gottlieb Reissiger

Carl Gottlieb Reißiger was a German Kapellmeister and composer.-Biography:...

 (1827), Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...

 (1853), Nikolai Medtner

Nikolai Medtner

Nikolai Karlovich Medtner was a Russian composer and pianist.A younger contemporary of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, he wrote a substantial number of compositions, all of which include the piano...

 (1909), and Othmar Schoeck

Othmar Schoeck

Othmar Schoeck was a Swiss composer and conductor.He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs and song cycles, though he also wrote a number of operas and instrumental compositions including two string quartets and...

 (1915). Musical settings in other languages include the composers Halfdan Kjerulf

Halfdan Kjerulf

Halfdan Kjerulf was a Norwegian composer.Kjerulf was born in Christiania . He was the son of a high government official. His early education was at Christiania University, for a legal career, but his studies ended in 1839 as a result of illness, and the next year he spent some time in Paris...

 to a Danish translation by Adam Oehlenschläger, Johan Erik Nordblom to a Swedish text, and an English version by Clara Kathleen Rogers

Clara Kathleen Rogers

Clara Kathleen Rogers , was an American composer, singer, writer and music educator.-Biography:Clara Kathleen Barnett Rogers was born into a musical family...

.

External links

• Mozart: "Das Veilchen“ – im Kontext verschiedener Vertonungen, Hubert Wißkirchen, 25 May 2011
• "Das Veilchen", translations, list of musical settings, at recmusic.org