Presented by GRAHAM JOHNSON
with video editing by JAVIER ARREBOLA
World-renowned pianist and scholar Graham Johnson travels more than 200 years back in time to explore the roots of Western art song as we know it. In this video lecture, collated & edited by pianist Javier Arrebola with abundant illustrations and manuscripts, Mr. Johnson takes into consideration the historical, social and musical factors that shaped the song output of 1821. He dedicates the final part of his lecture to Franz Schubert and three of the songs composed in 1821 at the height of his mastery: Suleika I, Geheimes, and Versunken.
RESOURCES
SongFest 2019: Journey through Schubert Lieder master class series and concert.
Brief lectures from SongFest 2020 Auf den Airwaves zu Singen, Song of the Day Series:
Goethe 1821
Recommended Texts
Check your local university libraries for Mr. Johnson’s Franz Schubert: The Complete Songs three volume text!
A collection of books by scholar Susan Youens:
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s Schubert’s Songs: A Biographical Study
Charles Rosen’s The Romantic Generation
Isaiah Berlin’s The Roots of Romanticism
Recordings
Mr. Johnson’s extensive volume of recordings on Hyperion, specifically his complete songs of Schubert and detailed liner notes.
In addition to Schubert, Mr. Johnson also has the complete songs of Schumann and liner notes.
Suleika' in Goethe’s handwriting
Gesellschaftspiel der Schubertianer
About Mr. Johnson
"That peerless song accompanist” (Daily Telegraph) Graham Johnson formed the Songmakers' Almanac and has appeared in recital with Sir Thomas Allen, Victoria de los Angeles, Elly Ameling, Arleen Auger, Ian Bostridge, Brigitte Fassbaender, Matthias Goerne, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager, Philip Langridge, Serge Leiferkus, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, Edith Mathis, Ann Murray, Lucia Popp, Christoph Prégardien, Dame Margaret Price, Thomas Quastoff, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Dorothea Röschmann, Kate Royal, Christine Schaefer, Peter Schreier, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Sarah Walker.
His relationship with Wigmore Hall is a special one; he devised and accompanied concerts for the hall’s re-opening series in 1992 and its centenary celebrations of 2001. As Senior Professor of Accompaniment at GSMD, he has led a biennial scheme for Young Songmakers since 1985. Many recordings for Hyperion include the entire Schubert and Schumann Lieder. He has also recorded for Sony, BMG, Harmonia Mundi, Forlane, EMI and DG. Awards include the Gramophone solo vocal award with Dame Janet Baker (1989), Ian Bostridge (1996), Christine Schäfer (1997) and Magdalena Kozena (2001). He is author of: The Songmakers’ Almanac; Twenty years of recitals in London (Thames Publishing, 1996); The French Song Companion (Oxford University Press, 2000); The Vocal Music of Benjamin Britten; Gabriel Faure - the Songs and their Poets; Franz Schubert: The Complete Songs (Yale University Press, 2014).
Graham Johnson was made an OBE in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours list, created Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Government in 2002, made an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2010, and awarded the Wigmore Hall Medal in 2013. He received Honorary Doctorates from Durham University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. He was awarded the Hugo Wolf Medal in 2014 for his services to the art of song. Most recently, in early 2021, Mr. Johnson was awarded the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany for his services to German art song.