Ex. 8-6: Auf dem Wasser zu singen

Auf dem Wasser zu singen (To Be Sung on the Water) is a song Schubert wrote in 1823, when he was 26. It was a hard year for him. He had become seriously ill at the end of 1822, and in the summer of 1823 he spent some weeks in hospital. The song first came out at the end of that year, as a free page of music in a Vienna magazine. In 1827 a publisher in Vienna printed it again.

The poem is by Friedrich Leopold, Count of Stolberg (1750–1819). As a student he belonged to a well-known group of young poets, and in 1775 he travelled through Switzerland with the young Goethe. He wrote this poem in 1782, the year he married Agnes von Witzleben, and he gave it the title "Song to Be Sung on the Water, for My Agnes."

In the poem, a boat glides like a swan over the shining waves at sunset, and the singer's heart glides with it. In the last verse he sees that time is slipping away too, today as yesterday, until one day he himself will rise on higher, shining wings and leave time behind.

The piano plays fast, flowing notes all the way through, like light moving on the water.

In 1838 Liszt published twelve of Schubert's songs arranged for piano alone. This song is No. 2 of the set, and Frühlingsglaube (Faith in Spring) is No. 7.

Barbra Streisand recorded this song in 1973, with Claus Ogerman at the piano, for her album Classical Barbra. It was left off the album when it came out in 1976, and it was first released only in 2013.

Track 12 from the album Classical Barbra by Barbra Streisand and Claus Ogerman (2013 edition)
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