Songs of Desire with Jacobine van Laar and Ilya Chetverikov

When bringing a program about the many appearances of desire, there is one song that simply cannot be missing: Schubert’s well-loved Margaret at the Spinning Wheel.

Schubert wrote this song aged 17, inspired by Goethe’s Faust. Faust made a pact with Mefistopheles (the devil): if Mephistopheles can grant Faust an experience of transcendence on earth then he will instantly die and serve the devil in hell. Mephistopheles accepts the wager. With Mephistopheles’ aid, Faust seduces Gretchen (Margaret), a young girl representing the pinnacle of innocence and piety. In this song Gretchen is sat behind the spinning wheel, which can be heard in the repetitive circular movements in the piano, mirroring her increasing despair. She reminisces about Faust’s beautiful tall figure, his eyes, his smile and above all: his kiss (und ach… sein Kuss!). Gretchen is totally confused as everything she feels and does goes right against all she had been taught and knew. From this point onward she is only heading for further disaster and total destruction, leading to the death of her mother, her brother, her baby and ultimately her own execution.

The image is Gretchen discovering Faust’s Jewels, painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who incidentally also features on the program as the poet in Vaughan Williams’ musical setting of the House of Life (also known as the Kelmscott Love Sonnets).