Ex. 9-5: Der Schnee ist zergangen

No. 5 of Robert Franz's 6 Gesänge (Six Songs, Op. 6), published in 1846 by the Leipzig firm Whistling. The poem is by Wilhelm Osterwald (1820–1887), one of Franz's favorite poets — Franz set dozens of Osterwald's poems, more than by any other poet except Heine. It is a bright spring song: the snow has melted, winter is gone, and love flies to the beloved faster than the spring wind.

Franz was born Robert Franz Julius Knauth. His father, a carrier, went by the name Christoph Franz in business, so that his letters would no longer be mixed up with those of his brother, who was in the same trade. So the boy grew up as Robert Franz, and in 1848, when he married, the king officially confirmed the name. People liked to point out that "Robert" and "Franz" are the first names of Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert, the two great masters of German song, as if he had been named to become a song composer. But that was just a coincidence, and Franz himself disliked the idea. His father had not even wanted him to study music.

From the album Franz: Collected Osterwald Lieder & Songs by William Searle and Marc Verter (2019)
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