Pieces › Franz Schubert

Du bist die Ruh

Op. 59 · No. 3

Franz Schubert · 1823 · E♭ major · 82 bars · 101 chords analysed

A setting of Friedrich Rückert: “You are rest and gentle peace”. The slow, hushed climb to its high point is one of Schubert's most famous moments.

Schubert wrote more than 600 songs in a short life, turning the German Lied into a major art form. A song (in German, a Lied) sets a poem for voice and piano. The piano is a full partner: it paints the scene, the weather and the singer's mood. This score comes from the OpenScore Lieder Corpus, a free collection of 19th-century songs that includes many women composers.

Keys visited: E♭ major, B♭ major, C♭ major, A♭ major.