Schubert's song Auf dem Strom shares a special kinship with Beethoven's cycle An die Ferne Geliebte. Both concern the union of loved ones despite separation, and this general similarity of spirit and sentiment is reinforced in specific musical terms. The coda of Schubert's song appears to have been modeled on that of Beethoven's cycle, and the central strophes are an almost literal quotation of the funeral march from the Erioca Symphony. This latter allusion is particularly appropriate, as the song was written for, and first performed at, a concert held on the first anniversary of Beethoven's death; this song can therefore be seen as Schubert's musical 'memorial' to his great predecessor.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: J. Sterling Lambert