Schubert’s Winterreise (Winter Journey) is a great masterpiece made up of twenty-four songs written in 1827, based on poems by Wilhelm Müller that tell the story of a lonely traveller who ventures off into the snow to escape the devastation of lost love. The song cycle would normally be performed by a lone singer, an epic task of study combined with stamina in performance.
Last week a hardy band of Oundelians tackled this great work. Twenty-four singers each learned one song, and together they performed the cycle on two different evenings, first in English and then in the original German.
The performances were anchored by Yulia Chaplina, an award-winning international pianist, who led a masterclass with them in the afternoon.
In a collaboration with the Art department, art scholars reflected on the text and music and produced animated films to enhance the performance, capturing the moods and landscapes within the songs.
