Schubertreise
The rationale behind the performance of the complete Schubert songs is simple. Thanks to the new Bärenreiter Ausgabe, for the first time Schubert's complete songs are being made available to the public in eleven volumes, of which the first four have already been published. Moreover, and also for the first time, all of the songs are being published in keys suitable to all voice types, high, medium and low.
Prior to the appearance of this edition, the Schubert song publishing market had been cornered by Peters Edition, which published around 75% of the songs in seven volumes, but only the first three were transposed into keys other than the originals, making the choice of Schubert repertoire for the lower voice type distinctly limited. Furthermore, dubious editorial additions by Diabelli were printed, making no distinction between what was Schubert and what was not: this was particularly true of some tacked-on introductions (in fairness to Diabelli, it was current practice in Schubert's time to improvise introductions and even postludes to certain songs, which in itself opens up a fascinating musicological can of worms.)
The first four volumes deal with songs that Schubert published or intended having published during his lifetime. That is interesting for two reasons: the grouping of songs within a particular opus number shows us his desire to impose certain tonal as well as thematic relationships, and the songs he chose for publication reflect his own taste, which does not always coincide with ours. "Erlkönig" was his first published work and is universally popular, but I can think of better candidates for publication that his setting of Zacharias Werner's "Morgenlied".
Volumes five to eleven deal with the remaining songs in chronological order.
The much touted number of 636 songs has gained a hold in the popular imagination, but my tally is rather lower: 577. This is because I don't include songs which have completed by someone else, nor do I include minor variants. Schubert wrote up to five different versions of certain songs, often from memory to please a friend's request. Certain versions of the same song however are quite different: "Meerestille" and "Jägers Abendlied" spring to mind.
These songs will break with the normal hierarchical concert practices which in this writer's opinion have become stale. Calligraphy, poetry readings, philosophical colloquia, photography, a special beer which will ripen over the course of the ten years involved, the use of candlelight...Schubert in a context which is not slavishly 'authentic' but which would have been more familiar to Schubert than some of the stressful, agent-driven concert experiences which are universally today. It is hoped to use a variety of instruments (including fortepiano) in a number of different locations in the Pajottenland (some forty miles or so east of Brussels.)
This project is also quite unique in its use of the same two performers. Over a period of ten years, and at a rate of about three recitals per annum, the public will have an opportunity to appreciate the inevitable musical and physical ageing processes involved. Ideas will be tried out, incorporated, rejected, all with the aim of growing old with these wonderful and still largely unknown masterpieces. The only constants are the fact that the complete songs will be performed, starting with "Die schöne Müllerin" in 2011 and ending with "Winterreise" in 2020.