Hearing an Old Story in a New Way: An Analysis of Loewe's "Erlkönig"

Carl Loewe is relatively unknown today, but he was well respected throughout Europe during his lifetime. Loewe's setting of Goethe's "Erlkönig," dating from 1817–1818, became his best-known composition; of the approximately 100 known Erlkönig settings, it is second only to Schubert's in fame. Unfortunately, Loewe's Erlkönig setting has often been denigrated simply because it is not Schubert's. Rather than engaging in a misguided attempt to prove the inherent superiority of either setting, this article will address Loewe's music on its own terms. As Loewe himself reportedly proclaimed, there is more than one way to set a text.