|
||||||||||||
|
The friends of the composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) invented the word, ‘Schubertiad’ and today it still refers to a concert made up entirely of his songs. It seemed appropriate therefore to call this exhibition by that name, since all the paintings are derived from his songs. Schubert composed almost six hundred songs before his untimely death at the age of thirty-one. The great songs are astonishing, containing the emotional range and drama of a concentrated mini opera; even the less accomplished songs have at least some interest. I began this project by listening to all of the songs. It took some time to familiarise myself with them - after all there are 37 compact discs to work through! The scores then had to be followed and studied, (as much as I was able, since I am not a musician). Furthermore, the English translations of the original German poets’ texts had to be digested to help me put together the themes and to formulate the visual imagery of the paintings. All this preparation enabled me to assimilate the major themes contained in the songs. Most of us are familiar with at least some of the songs, even if we don’t know they are by Schubert. I thought I knew many of them well but was not prepared for the mountain of rich material offered by the composer in these miniature masterpieces. As I discovered more songs that lent themselves to visual expression, the project grew and developed. The emotional range of the material and the moods and colours that Schubert presents, formed themselves naturally into ten themes which I then developed into pictorial form.
|
© 2007, Gerard Hastings |