Spooky Song Share: Franz Schubert "Erlkönig"

Today's Spooky Song Share selection is "Erlkönig" composed by Franz Schubert in 1815.  The lyrics are from a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written circa 1782. 

The song tells the story of an frightened little boy being carried by his father on horseback through a dark night.  

As the poem progresses the boy claims to see the Erlkönig (Elf-King), while the father says he cannot see or hear the entity.  He tries to comfort the child by telling him that it's just fog, or rustling leaves or other natural phenomena.  

The Erlkönig attempts to lure the child away offering amusement, treats and the attentions of his beautiful daughters.  When this doesn't work, the Erlkönig takes the child by force causing the boy to shriek that he is being attacked and causing the father to spur his horse to run faster.  

Unfortunately, when they reach home, the little boy is no more, having been spirited away by the Erlkönig.  

I really like Schubert's setting of this song (performed in this instance by tenor Daniel Norman with pianist Sholto Kynoch).   The insistent piano part suggests the wild horseback ride through the night and there are three distinct characters (the father, the son, and the Erlkönig) portrayed vocally!  The animation (by filmmaker Jeremy Hamway-Bidgood) used in the video I picked to link is delightfully atmospheric and done to look like a creepy shadow puppet performance.  

I remember being introduced to this piece as a wee freshman music major and have only grown to appreciate it more over the years.  I hope you, dear readers, will enjoy it too. 

Here is a different artistic take on the Erlkönig, a c. 1830 painting by Austrian artist Moritz von Schwind (1804-1871).