Der Zwerg is a lied

Lied

is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...

 (or ballad) for voice and piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 by Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

, written in the mid-1820s on a text by Matthäus von Collin. In Otto Erich Deutsch

Otto Erich Deutsch

Otto Erich Deutsch was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of the works of Franz Schubert, first published in 1951 in English, new edition in 1978 in German...

's catalogue of Schubert's works, it is Op. 22, No. 1, D. 771.

The singer sings in three different voices: the Dwarf, his mistress the Queen, and the narrator.

Recordings are available by several notable singers, including George London

George London

George London may be:*George London , Canadian operatic bass-baritone*George London *Sir George Ernest London, of the Newfoundland Commission of Government...

, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...

, Lula Mysz-Gmeiner, Thomas Quasthoff

Thomas Quasthoff

Thomas Quasthoff is a German bass-baritone. Although his reputation was initially based on his performance of Romantic lieder, Quasthoff has proven to have a remarkable range from the Baroque cantatas of Bach to solo jazz improvisations.-Biography:Quasthoff was born in Hildesheim, Germany, with...

, and Jessye Norman

Jessye Norman

Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...

.

External links

• Of Dwarves, Perversion, and Patriotism: Schubert's "Der Zwerg," D. 771, by Susan Youens 19th-Century Music © 1997 University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/746897.pdf