Franz Schubert was literally centuries ahead of what we now consider to be some of the earliest pop musicians - Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Al Bowlly. Instead of the random composition of disconnected songs, he saw sense in the collective compilation of songs - a song cycle, or by modern terms - an album. Schubert’s 3 to 5 minute ‘Lieder’ served as the precursors to modern pop music - pop music’s familiar chords and sequences have in fact been around since the 18th century.
Indeed, should Schubert hear the work of Adele, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, nothing would seem alien about its structure - the verse-chorus, voice and piano, simplicity of message. What would strike him as odd in certain cases, would in fact have nothing to do with the actual music - rather that a woman has created it, as opposed to being the object of it.
Schubert was an incredible prodigy; he wrote 600 songs before his death at only 31, and, like today’s pop stars, his intention was to write music that would be instantly enjoyable. He never tries to catch out the listener or require you to listen to the song multiple times just to ‘get’ it; much like pop, he wants you to understand it the first time.
And if you strip all the technicalities away, the key theme that is maintained throughout Schubert’s Lieder, which trails into the earliest pop and through rock and even punk music too, is that these composers are trying to grapple with the idea of unrequited love. The painful naivety felt through ‘Die Schöne Mullerin’ reflects the anguish of impossible, youthful love, and there exists a delicacy and poetical sensitivity which is for some, incompatible with the modern world. This is not really very different from what modern pop music hopes to achieve - instantly enjoyable and thought-provoking listening, with the exploration of often either painful or profound emotions.
And if this isn’t enough to persuade you, look up a translation of the lyrics and give ‘Schwanengesang: D957 No.4 Ständchen’ a listen and try to pick out differences between that and Adele’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’. Go on - I dare you.
Lyrics and Translation: https://www.oxfordlieder.co.uk/song/988
Adele Make You Feel My Love: https://open.spotify.com/album/5awrJZBt3rP9RO5hlYdZB0?highlight=spotify:track:273QnyCvJB65rScHJ1nPZb
Bea Wood©
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