Song 28 ( Franz Schubert - Der Erlkönig, Op. 1 ) "The ErlKing"

For song 28 of my list, I decided on Der Erlkönig (The ErlKing) by Franz Schubert.
This is what is called a Lieder, which basically is a small operatic piece written for the piano and voice where one vocalist plays all of the parts of the story. This one is based on the poem written in the late 1700s by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe of the same name. This piece was written during the Romance Period of music from about 1850 to 1910. During this period of music either everything was sugary sweet and happy or everything was horrific and everyone died. This can be noted in the opera La Bohème, which is centered around the death side of the Romantic Period. In this piece, Der Erlkönig, it also goes toward the death side.
In this Lieder there are three characters: the Father, the Son, and the Erlking. The setting is a horse ride through the spooky woods with the father holding on to his son and the Erlking (who is a villainous elf) tempting the child to come with him, needless to say it ends in tragedy. The music of this piece reminds one immediately of a silent film where you see the villain tying the damsel to the train track with the train coming; very anxious music.

Here is an excellent performance of the piece by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau on YouTube.

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