Schubert/Liszt: Der Doppelgänger

Der Doppelgänger is a Lied by Schubert, and a poem by Heine.

The night is quiet, the streets are calm,
In this house my beloved once lived:
She has long since left the town,
But the house still stands, here in the same place.

A man stands there also and looks to the sky,
And wrings his hands, overwhelmed by pain:
I am terrified – when I see his face,
The moon shows me my own form!

O you Doppelgänger! you pale comrade!
Why do you ape the pain of my love
Which tormented me upon this spot
So many a night, so long ago?


The four note theme is used throughout the piece, and usually symbolise death or suffering (as if the text itself wasn't suffering enough), and one can imagine several ways to read this suffering. Is the narrator watching himself from the afterlife? Is The Doppelgänger another version of himself?
As all good texts, there isn't just one way to read it.

Liszt's transcription is not any less impressive.


I hope you enjoy my interpretation. Though, this was more of a test recording, that I ended up being quite happy with. I only worked with the piece for a few days, but I think it's important to not get stuck in the imperfections, but to actually perform the music we're practicing.