All my favorite colors song

Unifying America Through "Colors": Black Pumas Inspire Rising in 2021

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“We’re looking forward to a new sense of optimism, unity and peace for all American people,” said Eric Burton, frontman of Black Pumas at the livestream of “America United”. This event from Saturday, January 16th kicked off the countdown to the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden. It served as a celebration for change in America’s future. What better way to celebrate than with music? 

The group, started by singer/songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Eric Quesada, formed in 2018 in the state of Texas. Their 2019 self-titled album picked up traction with the single “Colors”. From performances on Jimmy Kimmel to acoustic renditions, “Colors” caught on like a wildfire. What sounds like a lost tune by the Muddy Waters lives on through the modern R&B soul of Black Pumas. 

Given the current circumstances, livestream concerts are relieving for music fans. Black Pumas streamed their performance from a room with light peeking through dark curtains, practically resembling a sunrise. Each musician was stylized in urban outfitting providing a solid color palette. 

The performance had blues running through its veins. Burton and Quesada both seasoned the rhythm with telecaster guitars that echo the sound of blues. The difference that made it stand out from the studio recording was replacing the organ solo with a guitar solo. While the organ was still present in the performance, Quesada provided a strong solo to escalate the mood of the group’s performance. 

In the groove of it all, there was a small window beside the performance of a woman communicating the lyrics in sign language. This was a smart approach to breaking a sensual barrier. Now, even the deaf can participate in the musical experience. 

This style of writing is especially consistent with the Harlem Renaissance, a revolution of African-American artists in 1920s America. Those artists found an identity and independence in the color of their skin. Their value of color had a special presence in their creations and proved to be more lively than the Jazz Age, a cultural rival during the time. Writers like Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois and Zora Neal Hurston have inspired many generations of African-American artists to spiritually embody the color of their skin. 

“Colors” sends the message that color is natural and should not be taken away in our environment. Throughout the song, Burton recounts the colors that stick out to him. He walks amongst “… a meadow of green” brought by the trees. When he starts to fly, “Gray clouds or white walls or blue skies” cannot prevent his spirituality from rising up. 

This song was a great choice to be performed on the livestream. It is a modern blues song; a genre that has been fading away in mainstream music. The spirit of the tune emphasizes rising. Burton lyrically describes a “good day” for himself, from rising up in the morning and eventually working his way up to the birds and the clouds. All this time, he is not alone. The chorus informs us that he is, “With all my favorite colors…/ My sisters and my brothers”. The colors are a physical presence just as much as the people around him. The colors unite the people as a community. 

Music is the universal language of mankind. Black Pumas use it to unite the people of color. If this art form can unite people as a community of fans, it can be applied to help unite the American culture. Even if they cannot tour around America to spread the good word, the opportunity that livestream concerts bring can spread the message of uniting America arguably quicker. When all is said and done, it may truly be a good day for Black Pumas. 

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Matthew Lannon

Writing & Editorial Intern at Beyond the Stage Magazine

Matt is currently a Senior at Merrimack College pursuing a major in English/Film with a minor in Performing Arts. He is also a Writing & Editorial Intern for Beyond the Stage Magazine this spring. He spends his spare time learning in a vast range of topics whether it be in film, music, or writing.

Latest posts by Matthew Lannon (see all)

Matthew Lannon

Matt is currently a Senior at Merrimack College pursuing a major in English/Film with a minor in Performing Arts. He is also a Writing & Editorial Intern for Beyond the Stage Magazine this spring. He spends his spare time learning in a vast range of topics whether it be in film, music, or writing.

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Black Pumas: Everyone's Favorite 'Colors'

As Black Pumas performed their breakout hit song “Colors” for the 63rd Grammys one could see Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and HAIM rhythmically nodding along with the audience of more than 9 million at home, further crystalizing what Team Pumas has continuously felt over the last two years: This is special.

While the last 12 months have been terrible for the touring side of the music industry, Black Pumas have somehow grown several magnitudes larger, having played the Grammys, the 46th Presidential inauguration, taking in seven late night show appearances, “The Ellen Show,” CBS’ “This Morning,” and NPR’s “Tiny Desk” concert series.  

“Colors” had already hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Triple A Airplay chart in 2020, and with the wave of national exposure the song is now charting on its Rock & Alternative Airplay chart and the band is charting on the Billboard Artist 100. 

Pollstar profiled Black Pumas in January 2020, when the band was plotting its first major tour through Europe and the U.S. to promote its eponymous debut album, which was released through ATO Records in June 2019. 

The promise of that tour – which was planning to hit Thalia Hall in Chicago, Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, and multiple nights at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin – has yet to be fulfilled, but Black Pumas co-founder Adrian Quesada told Pollstar the band really never slowed down during the pandemic, continuing to move from project to project. 

“We were fully expecting to be on pause for a while but things didn’t really seem to slow down for us. They did in terms of touring and traveling, but we’ve still had a lot of really amazing opportunities,” Quesada said. “We’ve stayed busy for sure and that has culminated with the Grammys. This is our second year in a row being nominated. We got to perform, which was an amazing experience, and now, in April 2021, we finally get that little bit of a pause.”

How did they stay so busy during such a down period for the live sector? Manager Ryan Matteson of Ten Atoms said he would have weekly meetings with the band’s agent, label, and publicist and they would brainstorm, follow every lead, send cold emails and make cold calls, and just generally do everything they could to create opportunities to get the band in front of people. 

“Sometimes [these opportunities] worked out instantly and sometimes we had to work for several months to get them,” Matteson said. “I look back fondly on the inauguration performance because that was [months of] cold calling and emailing strangers. We would say ‘Hey, I think this person might be working for the inauguration’ and we were literally cold calling people left and right.  

“That’s been the history of our work with Black Pumas. We know how great they are on record and live, and it was always about trying to get a stranger to understand what we already knew to be true. With the inauguration, how quickly that came together, we finally found the person who knew who they were, got approved and were taping within 48 hours of knowing that was going to happen.

“In the moment of how fast that came together, no one appreciated the magnitude of it until it had happened, but the discovery of the band on that day was absolutely life changing. Same thing with the Grammys. The amount of new fans and relationships the band has made, it is incredible.”

Matteson said a key part of the band’s success has been its capacity for high-quality digital content, shouting out Amos David McKay of Two-Headed Boy in Austin, who has handled virtually all of the Pumas’ video content. 

He also gave kudos to ATO and Jon Salter –  who count Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard, My Morning Jacket, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Primus, Drive-By Truckers, and Rodrigo y Gabriela as clients. Matteson said Salter & Co. have been true collaborators in every sense of the word. 

“I can remember those early days of the pandemic and thinking ‘This is terrible, this is absolutely devastating to a band that is on a rocket ship trajectory and everything is going to grind to halt,’” Matteson said. “I can remember the meetings with our team and ATO, saying ‘We’ve got to maintain momentum, we’ve got to continue this, we have to have this song, this album, this band cut through. We don’t know if that’s going to be three months, so let’s put one foot in front of another every week, let’s build a story, have the guys continue to be engaging online, let’s make great content and let’s just continue one week after another for as long as this lasts.’”

That step by step approach meant that sometimes Ten Atoms would look more like a tee shirt or livestreaming company Matteson said, but the company added staff during the pandemic and avoided layoffs.

“I think our [goal] was that we could still sell out our shows when we get to the other side of this. But we’ve had some No. 1 songs. We’ve played more late night TV shows than maybe any band has played on a debut record. … Those milestones, those moments kept our entire team and the band motivated.”

And the Capitol performance certainly had an impact on millions, including the inauguration’s director of talent and external affairs Adrienne Elrod, who previously told Pollstar she counts herself as a “huge fan of theirs” and that working with them on the performance was a “labor of love.”

Salter said he knew Black Pumas was special the moment he heard the demo and jumped at the chance to work with Matteson, who he had known for years prior, when the latter was writing the blog “Muzzle Of Bees” and working with C3 Management.

“I’ve been running ATO for ten years. The type of long campaign that we’ve had, where it’s been this mixture of really high highs and, at the beginning, hard work, heads down, slogging it out, it’s kind of a once in a career, once every five to ten year story, something like the rise of the Pumas. And God, I feel lucky. I pinch myself.”

Salter said the band is also unique because it has very organically combined the incredible songwriting and musicianship of Black Pumas founder Eric Burton with the production and musical prowess of industry veteran Quesada, who previously won a Grammy for his work with Grupo Fantasma. When ATO signed Black Pumas, Quesada and Burton had already written, recorded and mixed the first album with the rest of the band, and handed him what was essentially a finished album. 

“I think these guys are real artists. They have real, true artistic talent,” Salter said. “I trusted them when I did that deal originally. I knew they would deliver a debut album that was fully fleshed out. With an artist like the Black Pumas, I step in and say ‘I’m here to be a facilitator, a partner, a collaborator if you want. I’m here to execute your vision as an artist.’”

While the Pumas trajectory has remarkably risen through the pandemic, Quesada said he is excited to have a few months of respite to revisit the songwriting process. Burton recently took time to record some of his ideas for the next Black Pumas album at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and Quesada said he is feeling “1,000% confident” in the new material they are working with. Burton said he is excited to begin working with Quesada on the production to try and find his voice in the studio as well as on the microphone.

The band’s agent, Joe Atamian of Paradigm, said the proper touring plans will be pushed to 2022 while the band works on its sophomore album, but the Pumas will be looking to honor all tickets sold for the postponed 2020 North American tour in 2021. This may mean blocks of two or three shows scattered throughout the year as different markets open back up, but everyone felt it was important to honor the tickets purchased (and held) by fans before and during the pandemic.

Most notably, the band has still four nights booked at Stubb’s Bar-B-Que in Austin May 26-29,  carry-over dates from last year which, by all measures at press time, were moving forward with an additional night to be added on March 30.

“A lot of those 2020 dates were sold out in advance,” Atamian said. “A good chunk of those fans have held onto their tickets, so it will be good to be able to finally deliver those shows to people who have had their money tied up for that long.” 

The European leg of Black Pumas’ 2020 tour did show some serious promise, with Pollstar Boxoffice showing more than $30,000 grossed on multiple stops for that tour. One of the Pumas’ strongest showings was Feb. 9, 2020, when the band grossed $52,490 on 1,900 tickets at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Netherlands.

One thing Atamian has noticed in representing the Black Pumas during the pandemic is that his negotiations have been much less contentious.

“We were booked at a lot of festivals in 2020 and something that has been good to see is the industry’s commitment to the comeback has not been lip service. We’re not getting into the normal battles we always fight. The band has obviously taken some big steps this past year, profile-wise, and at some of the festivals we had confirmed the slots we had confirmed wouldn’t necessarily be appropriate. And to a lot of festivals’ credit, they have stepped up, they have changed our slot and money, they are paying the band what they’re worth and giving them the appropriate slot on these festivals when they ultimately do happen,” Atamian said. “A lot of the rules have gone out the window, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It feels like everyone is working on a common goal right now, between promoters, agents, managers and the bands themselves, to really come back out of this and do it safely and the right way, which feels great, hopefully that continues.”

Atamian, Salter and Matteson all told Pollstar one of Black Pumas’ most striking gifts is the energy of its live performance. The magic of Quesada’s guitar and Burton’s vocals have opened doors at every stage of the band’s journey, Matteson said, and the key has been getting them in front of people.

Perhaps the secret to the band’s success has been that its magnetic performances have translated well into the digital and broadcast formats. When asked if he found it more challenging or very different performing for cameras instead of rooms full of people, Burton said not really.

“We’re just a couple of real dudes who really love music and it’s felt onstage,” Burton said. “The process of the performance and where it comes from is the exact same thing. It’s harder doing it on the Santa Monica Pier (where he busked before moving to Austin and forming Black Pumas), performing in places where people aren’t expecting live music because they are on their way to do something else. When I was doing that, those people didn’t come to see a show on the corner of 6th and Congress, they came to get a coffee from Starbucks. Engaging with people like that and being able to hold them in such a space, for an extended period of time, I now understand that was my [training]. Playing at 6th and Congress and being able to hold a crowd, that was like playing in the Parish or Antone’s and being able to hold the entire room, the process has never changed, it has just gotten bigger. I’ve grown a bit as a performative artist, but for the most part, it feels the same. But now the chains are taken off and I’m able to really fly with the nuances that the band brings to the live performance.”

“You come to our live performance, everyone is going to believe. At the end of the day, you may not believe in the album, but if you come to our live show you will believe that show because that is where it started. And for me, it started in the streets.”

Burton, who just a few years ago was busking in Austin and Santa Monica, has been smiling throughout the dramatic ascent of the Pumas – from meeting Quesada and working on a few songs with him, to taking on a residency at C-Boys Heart & Soul in Austin and turning what he assumed would be a weekly hang out with friends into the hottest musical event in town, to recording an album, to becoming one of the U. S.’s most televised bands during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

One thing Burton said he truly appreciates, though, is how natural and organic the band’s growth has been, moving from stage to stage in a way that made sense personally and artistically, and that he has seen the same growth in the team that represents the band’s business interests. 

“We’re extra thankful for our team. It seems like the team has come together in the same way Adrian’s and my own relationship did, it has been very organic, symbiotic. I believe the way management thinks and moves is reflective of the way our label thinks and moves,” Burton said. “When have all of these things aligned you get Black Pumas and we’re looking to take over the world.” 

Choose your color – Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art

what color means

the color wheel and Goethe's mystical color theory

what color means

Many of us are unaware of what is well known to artists: each paint has its own unique character and charm and interacts with other paints in a special way. Psychologists believe that it is this inherent specificity of paints, and not our aesthetic needs, that determines our individual color preferences. Answering the question about his favorite color, a person reveals a lot about himself.

Does your favorite color belong to primary colors, secondary colors, or the colors of the following derivatives of primary colors? Is your favorite color warm or cool? Can you always name just one color as your favorite, or are there more? If there is more than one color, does your “palette” consist of close (derivative) or complementary (opposite) colors? What is the favorite color of the people you spend your life with? These questions are worth asking yourself at least once, and you will learn a lot of interesting things. Yes, all this is not science (at least not yet), but it is not an empty phrase either: the subjective aspects of color perception are studied by color science, and the psychological aspects of color perception are studied by psychology, and both of these disciplines have accumulated a lot of statistical data.

For example, here are some interesting facts:

• According to Max Luscher's theory, a person's endocrine system affects his color preferences (which, in particular, makes it possible to judge changes in hormonal levels by changing taste preferences), and therefore color preferences change throughout a person's life. According to statistics, the most favorite color of children (regardless of the country of the survey) is orange, and the most favorite color of the adult population (also regardless of the country of the survey) is blue. For other colors, the color preference chart varies from country to country.

• The theory of Alexander Schauss states that the opposite is also true: the color effect of the environment affects the hormonal background. For example, a light shade of pink slows down the heart rate and breathing and thus suppresses aggression. After the publication of the works of Schauss, prisons with cells appeared in the USA, Switzerland and Germany, where the walls were painted pink.

• German scientists, after conducting a series of psychological tests, came to the conclusion that the color of the athletes' uniforms affects the decisions of the referees: a football team wearing a red uniform has an increased chance that the referees make decisions in its favor.

• According to a study commissioned by Hewlett-Packard, text color can also influence decision making: Green text is more likely than others to generate agreement.

blue

Psychologists believe that the blue color is perceived as the most noble and is associated on a subconscious level with something majestic. This is the color of self-confident, determined and purposeful people, capable of selfless deeds. Those who love blue tend to be highly intuitive, patient, compromisers, and seek the truth, but are also emotionally cold and depressed. The craving for blue means the need for peace and the desire for life stability. Blue color is not loved by those for whom the material side of life prevails over the spiritual, those who are frivolous, as well as insecure people. This color symbolizes loyalty and constancy.

yellow

In humans, yellow is associated primarily with two things: the sun and gold. This is the color of the maternal principle, vitality, happiness, wisdom and harmony. According to psychology, those who love yellow value status, strive for privileged position and wealth, and for this they are ready to challenge society. Yellow is the color of the leader. It activates mental activity, improves memory, promotes the assimilation of a large amount of new information, rapid learning and decision making. Those who love yellow are looking to the future, ready for change and open to the outside world. The tendency to yellow is observed during periods of life, when the need for freedom and in achieving harmony with the world is aggravated. Yellow color is rejected by people who are disappointed, feel isolated, unable to see a perspective and a positive future.

green

Green is perceived by people as the color of life, growth, security and stability. People who love green are active and friendly, ready to cooperate and not prone to conflict, although they often suffer because they cannot defend their point of view. They clearly and rationally go through life, take any task seriously, readily provide assistance to others, for which they enjoy the sympathy and trust of others. The problem is that being in the world of green, a person is not inclined to take active actions, it is enough for him to feed on the energy of this color. From here come the associations of green with youth, inexperience, immaturity and even stagnation, hence the expression "green melancholy" comes from. This longing, however, will seem like happiness to many: psychologists know that immersion in green softens negative emotions, soothes a headache, brings peace and gives a feeling of trust and hope for the best. In a moment of mental tension or devastation, imagine the color green - and peace and balance will return to you.

red

On a psychological level, red is perceived as the color of passion, intensity and strength. It is associated with physical activity, sensuality and aggression. It is the color of fire, action and lust for life. Just as fire can warm, but it can also scorch, red has opposite meanings: on the one hand, beauty and love, on the other hand, hatred and war. In full accordance with the nature of fire - a flaming, uncontrollable element - the transition from one state of a red lover to another can be instantaneous; it is said about them "One step from love to hate" . Psychologists believe that people who gravitate toward red love power and do not consider intolerance, stubbornness, or cruelty to be vices. They are characterized by a craving for adventure; such people are always on the move, they cannot stand boredom and monotony. They actively seek justice, but are content with its appearance and consider an authoritarian style to be the only viable one. They are maximalists and good reformers in situations requiring radical and even painful measures.

purple

Psychologists believe that on a subconscious level, purple is perceived as a symbol of everything mysterious and beyond. Purple robes indicate the uniqueness of the wearer and reflect their need for subtle and sophisticated sensations. Being a mixture of red and blue, violet combines the unity of multidirectional energies, and the fact that it closes the color spectrum allows us to consider it the crown of the development of the entire color gamut. Purple is known to be able to put a person into a deep trance. One of the main meanings of this color is transformation; immersion in this color can accelerate the regeneration and restoration of the body. Under the influence of purple, a person tends to go deep into himself, he is more often visited by insight, but at the same time, purple implies infantilism, suggestibility and the need for support. Purple is not liked by mundane and rational people; scholars, poets and artists have a penchant for it.

orange

On a psychological level, orange is perceived by most people as a symbol of energy and health. It is the color of optimism, endurance and ability to work. It works like an antidepressant, uplifting just by looking at it. The abundance of orange around inspires an active lifestyle, relieves unnecessary shyness and strengthens self-confidence. It is useful for anyone who wants to motivate themselves in some way and add cheerfulness to themselves. Those who love orange are unshakable optimists, able to successfully deal with many things at the same time. As a rule, they love to eat. Many of them are prone to egocentrism, spoiled and rarely think about sublime matters. Phlegmatic people do not feel sympathy for the orange color and just calm people, as well as those who do not like to be in sight and attract the attention of others. Orange is the favorite color of children.

color wheel and Goethe's mystical color theory

The color wheel appeared as a result of studying the nature of the interaction of dyes when they are mixed; further, with its help, they began to study the nature of color and issues related to its perception by humans. The most famous work on this topic is the theory of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, published in 1810, who, in addition to being a great writer and author of the immortal Faust, studied plant and animal morphology, mineralogy, meteorology, acoustics, as well as the physiology and psychology of vision. . About his achievements in various fields, he said the following: “Everything that I have done as a poet does not fill me with special pride. Excellent poets lived at the same time as me, even better ones lived before me and, of course, will live after me. But the fact that in my age I am the only one who knows the truth about flowers gives me the consciousness of superiority over many.

According to Goethe's mystical theory of color, colors come from the struggle of light and darkness (which, as we know, is quite true: color as such does not exist; it is the result of the refraction of light), and red, yellow and blue were the first to appear from this conflict. They are still called as Goethe called them - primary. The imposition of two primary colors, according to Goethe, gives a secondary color located between them; thus, the secondary colors are derived from the primary ones. Pairs of colors located opposite each other in the color wheel, Goethe called "opposite" or "complementary" (green - red, yellow - purple, blue - orange).

Even earlier, in 1676, Isaac Newton discovered that white is a combination of all colors: using a trihedral prism, he decomposed sunlight into a color spectrum containing all colors from red to violet, and passing them after that through a converging lens, again received White light. It is curious that if one of the colors is removed from the color spectrum, and all the rest are passed through a converging lens, then they will be collected in the color “opposite” to the removed one (for example, if green was removed, they will turn into red).

Modern color theory is represented by several color models and their corresponding circles, but painters still consider red, yellow and blue to be the main or basic colors.

buy a book

Schubert. The Beautiful Miller's Woman (Die schöne Müllerin, Op. 25, D. 795)

Vocal cycle

History of creation

The 1820s were the heyday of Schubert's work. Hundreds have been written songs that are gradually beginning to win recognition from music lovers are performed at home evenings. In the last 5 years of his short life, the composer creates a new major romantic genre - a vocal cycle consisting of 20 or more miniatures. Schubert has two such cycles, and both are written in texts Muller.

Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827) - modern German for Schubert a romantic poet who lived an almost equally short life. Son craftsman, he studied at the University of Berlin, but, keen common patriotic impulse, at the age of 19 he volunteered for army to fight Napoleon. Returning after exile French to the university, Muller, like Schubert, became a member youth circle, which included poets and scientists. They admired folk song, discussed novelties of poetry and often arranged literary games. At the end of 1816 it was the game "Rose, miller's woman, where the hands of a beautiful miller's miller, hunter, gardener, fisherman; she first responded to love miller, and then gave preference to the hunter. Each of the members mug wrote poetry on behalf of his hero. Muller, according to surname, played the role of a miller. In the winter of 1816-1817 he wrote 8 poems and sketched several more. His poems were recognized as the best in the circle, the teacher of young Mendelssohn is a composer Ludwig Berger set 5 of them to music. All this prompted Muller to separate his own poems from those of others, supplement them with new ones, and in 1818 publish a cycle of 16 poems entitled "Beautiful miller's wife." Preparing for publication a collection of "Poems from papers, left by a wandering horn player,” the poet expanded in 1820 a cycle of up to 25 poems, including a prologue and an epilogue. Two parts collection (77 poems) were published in 1821 and 1824 with dedication to Weber - "the master of the German song, as a sign of friendship and admiration. "

Müller's poems are written in a folk spirit, a model for them served as the famous collection of folk texts "The Miraculous Horn boy", compiled by famous German romantic poets Achim Arnim and Clemens Brentano. Popularity of Müller's poetry highly appreciated Heine. Muller's poems are very musical. "I can't either play or sing,” the poet wrote, “but when I compose poetry, I nevertheless I sing and play less. If I could express those tunes that sound in me, my poems would be liked more than they like now ... Maybe be, and there will be a sympathetic soul who will discover the tunes, hidden in words, and bring them back to me."

Such a sympathetic soul was Schubert, who met Müller's poems by chance. According to not quite reliable memories friend, the composer somehow went to him and, waiting for the owner freed, began alone to leaf through the first available book. The poems immediately captured him so much that Schubert thrust the book into pocket and hurried home, where he immediately set to writing. Only a few days later the composer confessed to the theft. Schubert included 20 poems by Müller in his cycle and worked on him in Vienna, presumably in the summer of 1823, having completed at the beginning next. In the summer of 1824 he went to Zeliz, a Hungarian estate Count Esterhazy von Talant, again, like 6 years ago, invited him as a home teacher. Here Schubert met a close friend of the Esterhazy family, 25 amateur tenor Baron Karl von Schoenstein, who Accompanied in home concerts. An ardent supporter of the Italian opera, Schoenstein, however, became interested in the songs of Schubert and subsequently became one of the best performers of his music. I especially liked Schoenstein "The Beautiful Miller", which was dedicated to him. Although the first public performance of the cycle took place in Vienna only 32 years after its creation, songs from it immediately entered the repertoire amateur music making. This was facilitated by the Vienna edition, carried out immediately after the composition, in 3 notebooks on during February-August 1824.

Music

The Beautiful Miller's Woman is the first romantic vocal cycle. it a kind of romance in short stories: each song is independent, but included in the general line of development of the plot, which has an exposition, ending, climax and denouement. The songs are different unpretentious, immediately memorable melodies in the folk spirit, in a simple, most often couplet form. piano accompaniment often paints pictures of romantically animated nature: along with the main character the most important place is occupied by the image of his friend and stream comforter.

The first songs are youthfully joyful and carefree, full of spring hopes and unspent forces. No. 1, "On the Road" ("On the move, the miller life leads") - one of the most famous songs of Schubert, a real hymn to travel. The same unclouded joy, anticipation adventures are embodied in #2, "Where?". Other shades of light feelings captured in #7, "Impatience": swift, breathless melody with great leaps draws a joyful confidence in the eternal love. In No. 14, "Hunter", a turning point occurs: in the rhythm of the race, melodic turns, reminiscent of the sounds of hunting horns, lurks anxiety. Full of Despair #15, "Jealousy and Pride"; storm of feelings the mental confusion of the hero is reflected in an equally stormy the murmur of the stream. The image of the stream reappears in #19, "Melnik and stream". This is a dialogue scene where the sad minor melody of the hero its major version opposes it - the consolation of the stream; at the end, at confrontation between major and minor, the major is affirmed, anticipating the final conclusion of the cycle is No. 20, "Lullaby of the Stream". It forms arch from No. 1: if there a hero, full of joyful hopes, went to path following the stream, now, having passed the mournful path, he finds peace at the bottom of the stream. Infinitely repeating short chant creates a mood of detachment, dissolution in nature, eternal forgetting all sorrows.

A. Konigsberg

The Beautiful Miller's Woman (1823) is the result of a huge previous work and the beginning of a new promising stage of creative maturity.

Müller's poems are a simple story about the life, love and suffering of a young apprentice miller. During his wanderings around the world, the young man is hired as a worker at a mill. Having fallen in love with the daughter of the owner, he gives her all the power of the first selfless feeling. But his love and devotion do not find a response in the soul of a beautiful miller - she prefers a brave hunter. In anguish and grief, the young apprentice wanted to throw himself into the bright waters of the stream and find the last peace at its bottom.

This naive and touching story about the love and suffering of a common man resonated deeply in Schubert's soul. Much in Müller's poems coincided with the experiences and fate of the composer himself. With great enthusiasm, Schubert worked on composing these songs, extracting treasures of true poetry from Müller's texts.

"The Beautiful Miller's Woman" is framed by two songs - "On the Road" and "Lullaby of the Stream", which are a kind of introduction and conclusion. The first reveals the structure of thoughts and feelings of a young miller who is just embarking on the path of life, the latter reveals the moods with which he ends his life path. Between the extreme points of the cycle is the story of the young man himself about his wanderings, about love for the daughter of the owner-miller.

The cycle seems to fall into two phases: the first of the ten songs (before "Pause", No. 12) are the days of bright hopes; in the second - already other motives: doubt, jealousy, sadness. The successive change of moods, determined by the movement from joy to grief, from transparent light colors to gradual darkening, forms an internal line of development. There is a secondary, but very important line that depicts the life of another "character" - a brook. Faithful friend and companion of the young man, the brook is invariably present in the musical narrative. His murmur - sometimes cheerful, sometimes disturbing - reflects the psychological state of the hero himself.

The musical means of the song " On the Road " are extremely simple and closest to the methods of folk song creation. The couplet structure, the reliance on tonic-dominant harmony, the diatonicity of the melody arranged according to chord sounds, the repetition of individual chants give the song an energetic, cheerful character:

The last song - " Lullaby of the Stream " - is filled with a feeling of quiet sadness and melancholy. The monotonous rhythmic swaying and tonicity of harmony, the major scale, the calm pattern of the song melody create the impression of peace, reconciliation:

In the final song (as in all the songs of this cycle) there is still no tragedy of the "Winter Way". However, a lot of grief fell on the shoulders of the young man, in order to come from the cheerful inspiration and energy of youth to elegiac reconciliation and thoughts of death.

Two songs in the first section of the cycle are indicative of the emotional and psychological state of the young man: “ Where to? " and " My ".

In the first of them, an apprentice miller tells how, obeying the cheerful call of a brook, he follows him into an unknown distance.

Unpretentious, unpretentious vocal melody, just like the introductory song, is built on the intonations and turns of the folk warehouse. Soft non-stop movement of accompaniment imitates the quiet murmur of a stream. The beauty of this song is in its naive simplicity, youthful freshness:

The song “ My ” is the culmination of joyful feelings. It closes the first section of the cycle. With its juicy texture and cheerful mobility, the elasticity of the rhythm and the sweeping pattern of the melody, it is similar to the initial song "On the Road":

The song " Curiosity " breaks into the festive mood of the songs of the first section as a lyrical digression. Its special penetration and depth introduces an emotional contrast that sets off the bright serenity of the surrounding songs. Naturally, the musical language of the song "Curiosity" and its form are distinguished by a greater subtlety of artistic techniques. Schubert departs from the couplet form prevailing in the cycle, unfolds the musical material freely, following the development of the poetic text.

(The song consists of two sections. The first, a repeated period, can be considered an extended introduction; the second section (it begins with a slow harmonic figuration) is presented in a simple three-part form.)

soft endings, chromatic intonations; small phrases are often interrupted by pauses, stops:

In the middle of the second section, the melody takes on a recitative character, which highlights the significance of this moment:

The piano part follows the text freely. The flexible change of its shape reflects the flow of thoughts and moods contained in poetic images. At first, the character of presentation and sounding of the piano accompaniment - a light chordal touch of the keys - are close to the simplest accompaniment of stringed instruments: guitars, harps. Then, in the second section, the texture changes, passes into a smooth harmonic figuration (slow play of a stream) or, supporting the recitative phrases in the vocal part with compact chords, sounds in unison with the voice:

The expressiveness of the song "Curiosity", its purely romantic specificity largely depend on the modal-harmonic nuances. The colorful juxtaposition of the keys of the same name, when the tonic of the gloomy h-moll falls like a shadow on the tonic H-dur, is caused by some kind of internal uncertainty, alertness. In the text, this moment coincides with the appeal to the brook: “The source of my love, how you have become now ...”. In the middle part, the tonal shift emphasizes the significance of the moment. When moving from H-dur to G-dur, Schubert lingers on the subdominance of the future tonality, emphasizing the "hardness" of C-dur sounding with a sharp change in texture. So the fatal word “no” is highlighted, on which the fate of a young man in love depends.

Schubert's new techniques of modal-harmonic expressiveness are scattered throughout various songs and instrumental compositions. Such techniques subsequently form a system inseparable from the musical thinking of the romantic composer.

In the songs of the second section of the cycle, Schubert shows how pain and bitterness grows in the soul of a young miller, how it erupts in violent outbursts of jealousy and grief. Previously vague guesses, suspicions are confirmed: the miller has a rival - a brave hunter. In the song " Okhotnik » Schubert in the description of this new character uses the techniques familiar in the so-called "hunting music": meter 6/8 in fast movement, close to the natural intervals of the hunting horn "empty" fourths, fifths or moves in parallel sixth chords:

In the development of the plot, the song "Hunter" helps to understand the spiritual fracture, which the following songs gradually reveal. Each new psychological nuance is embodied in a vividly impressive musical and artistic image.

Three songs - "Jealousy and Pride", "Favorite Color", "The Miller and the Stream" - constitute the dramatic core of the second section. The growing anxiety of the previous songs results in "Jealousy and Pride" in the confusion of all feelings and thoughts. The song "Favorite Color" is full of elegiac sadness. For the first time, the thought of death is expressed in it; now it runs through the rest of the story. Here, as before, the constant companion and friend of the miller, the brook, is invariably present. But if in the song "Where?" he murmured merrily, in “Curiosity” his jets flowed slowly and melancholy, then in the song “Jealousy and Pride” he seethes rebelliously and noisily, sympathizing with the spiritual confusion of the hero.

Fast figuration with unexpected turns, the swiftness of its movement, as if whipped up by short impulsive beats (the image of rushing streams of water) - an expressive background that, together with the excited rhythm of short speech turns, makes up a single emotional stream:

" Favorite color " - one of the most expressive songs of the cycle. Outwardly, it looks very simple. But this small couplet construction (an invariably repeated period of 16 measures) contains musical images that are amazing in terms of capacity and expression. “Favorite Color” is the only song in the cycle that sounds like an anticipation of the tragic motifs in “Winter Journey”.

The main key of the song is unusual - h-moll. In the works of the classics, it is extremely rare. Beethoven called it the "black" key. (A number of outstanding works of the 19th century were created in this key: Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony", his own song "The Double", the sonatas of Chopin and Liszt, the Sixth Symphony of Chaiklovsky. The tragic coloring of h-moll was first felt by J. S. Bach, choosing this key for the grandiose "High Mass" and for some fugues.)

The feeling of depression is aggravated by the ostinato movement, accompanied by the invariably repeating fifth sound. In the music of the Romantics, the expressive interpretation of the ostinato or organ point is often associated with gloomy tragic images, as if frozen in mournful immobility. (Similarly, the use of ostinato in the song "The Organ Grinder" from the cycle "Winter Way", in Chopin's prelude Des-dur.)

The same psychological functions apply to modal-harmonic means. Frequent juxtaposition of the minor and the major of the same name causes constant modal fluctuations, introduces a sense of instability, and the soft minor harmonies of the side steps are additional shadows that exacerbate the melancholy mood.

Lyrical excitement, wide chant of the vocal melody is supported by the lower voice of the piano accompaniment. He echoes the melody, sharpens its mourning with a descending intonation of an increased second or immersion in the dull sound of low registers:

The song " Miller and stream " is built in the form of a dialogue. The brook answers the sad questions of the miller with a quiet enlightened speech. Both characters are musically opposed. The miller's part is in minor, the accompaniment is limited to mean chords, the brook's response (middle section) is shaded by the eponymous major and calm wavy figuration:

The plasticity of the lines, the soft roundness of the phrases in the miller's part are amazing. The second low degree of the minor mode fits into the diatonic chanting of the reference sounds of the melody, setting off its sad melodiousness with an emotionally colorful spot.

With the transition to major (to the answer of the brook), the nature of the melodic sound noticeably changes. Somewhat more mobile and lively, with an extended range compared to the first part, this melody contrasts with its light color.

In the third section - the reprise - there is an interpenetration of contrasting images. The transition to the minor key is a new appeal of the miller to the stream, but it already takes place against the background of the harmonic figuration associated with the outline of the stream. In the final phrases and in the postlude, the light coloring caused by the return to major, to calm harmonies, despite the words about eternal peace, speaks more of sad reconciliation than of death:

V. Galatskaya

Schubert's song art was most fully expressed in the 1920s in two cycles to the words of the contemporary poet Wilhelm Müller. Müller's poems, dedicated to the eternal romantic theme of rejected love, were distinguished by artistic features akin to Schubert's lyrical gift. The first cycle - "The Beautiful Miller" (1823), - consisting of twenty songs, is called a musical "novel in letters". Each song expresses a separate lyrical moment, but together they form a single storyline with certain stages of development and climax.

The theme of love is intertwined with the romance of wandering, sung by many poets of the Schubert generation (most vividly in Eichendorff's poems). A large place in the cycle is occupied by romanticized pictures of nature, colored by the emotional experiences of the narrator.

Undoubtedly, the dominant mood in Schubert's music is lyrical. Nevertheless, the composer reflected in his work the original, theatrical intention of Müller's poems. It clearly outlines the dramatic plan. A wide range of moods distinguishes this cycle and finds expression in a dramatic storyline: cheerful naivety at the beginning, awakening love, hope, jubilation, anxiety and suspicion, jealousy with its suffering and quiet sadness. Many songs evoke stage associations: a wanderer walking along a stream, a beauty awakening from a dream (“Morning Greetings”), a feast at a mill (“Festive Evening”), a galloping hunter. But the following circumstance is especially noteworthy. Of the twenty-five verses in the poetic cycle, Schubert used only twenty. At the same time, the most striking theatrical device - the appearance of a new "actor", which causes a sharp change in the development of events - coincided in the musical cycle with the golden section point (The golden section point is one of the classical proportions of architecture, in which the whole is related to the larger as the larger is to the smaller.) .

The composer also felt the folk character of Müller's poetry, not knowing that the poet wrote "The Beautiful Miller's Girl" according to a certain model, namely, according to the famous collection of folk poems "The Miraculous Horn of a Boy", published by the poets Arnim and Brentano in 1808. In the Schubert cycle, most of the songs are written in simple couplet form, typical of German and Austrian folk songs. Even in his early years, Schubert rarely addressed such simple strophicity. In the 1920s, he moved away from couplet as a whole, preferring the form of a free miniature created by him. The folk character of the poems was clearly reflected in the melodic structure of the songs. On the whole, “The Beautiful Miller’s Woman” is one of Schubert’s most striking embodiments of the images of folk poetry in music.

A mill journeyman, a young man in his prime, sets out on his journey. The beauty of nature and life uncontrollably beckons him. The image of a brook passes through the whole cycle. He is like a double of the narrator - his friend, adviser, teacher. The image of seething water, calling for movement and wandering, opens the cycle (“On the way”), and the young man, following the course of the stream, wanders to no one knows where (“Where”). The even murmur of a stream, which forms the constant sound-pictorial background of these songs, is accompanied by a joyful, spring mood. The view of the mill attracts the attention of the traveler (“Stop”). The outbreak of love for the beautiful daughter of the miller makes him linger. In expressing gratitude to the brook for bringing the hero to her (“Gratitude to the brook”), the thoughtlessly happy mood is replaced by a more restrained and concentrated one. In the song "Festive Evening" lyrical outpourings are combined with genre-descriptive moments. The subsequent group of songs ("Wish to Know", "Impatience", "Morning Greetings", "Miller's Flowers", "Rain of Tears") expresses different shades of naive cheerfulness and awakening love. All of them are very simple.

The dramatic pinnacle of this part of the cycle - the romance "My" - is full of jubilation and happiness of mutual love. Its sparkling D-dur tonality, heroic contours of the melody, marching elements in the rhythm stand out against the background of the soft sound of the previous songs:

interlude between the two "actions" of the cycle. The turning point occurs when an opponent suddenly appears (“Hunter”). There is already a threat in the musical characterization of the galloping rider. The pictorial moment of the piano accompaniment - the sound of hooves, the hunting fanfare - evokes a feeling of anxiety:

The song "Jealousy and Pride" is full of confusion and suffering. These feelings are conveyed both in the stormy melody, and in the impetuous movement of the piano part, and even in the mournful key of g-moll. In the songs “Favorite Color”, “Evil Color”, “Dried Flowers”, mental anguish is intensifying more and more. The musical image of the narrator loses its former naivete and becomes dramatic. In the final numbers of the cycle, the acute intensity of feelings turns into quiet sadness and doom. The rejected lover seeks and finds consolation at the brook ("The Miller and the Stream"). In the last song (“Lullaby of the Stream”), the image of sad peace and oblivion is created with laconic techniques.

Schubert created here a special type of lyrical musical drama, which did not fit into the framework of the operatic genre. He did not follow Beethoven, who as early as 1816 composed the song cycle To a Distant Beloved.

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