Born in the Himmelpfortgrund suburb of Vienna, Schubert showed uncommon gifts for music from an early age. His father gave him his first violin lessons and his elder brother gave him piano lessons, but Schubert soon exceeded their abilities. In 1808, at the age of eleven, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt school, where he became acquainted with the orchestral music of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. He left the Stadtkonvikt at the end of 1813 and returned home to live with his father, where he began studying to become a schoolteacher. Despite this, he continued his studies in composition with Antonio Salieri and still composed prolifically. In 1821, Schubert was admitted to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde as a performing member, which helped establish his name among the Viennese citizenry. He gave a concert of his works to critical acclaim in March 1828, the only time he did so in his career. He died eight months later at the age of 31, the cause officially attributed to typhoid fever, but believed by some historians to be syphilis.
Appreciation of Schubert's music while he was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased greatly in the decades following his death. Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers discovered and championed his works. Today, Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers in the history of Western classical music and his work continues to be admired and widely performed.
Der greise Kopf
Franz Schubert Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mir übers Haar gestreuet;
Da glaubt’ ich schon ein Greis zu sein
Und hab mich sehr gefreuet
Doch bald ist er hinweggetaut
Hab wieder schwarze Haare
Dass mir’s vor meiner Jugend graut -
Wie weit noch bis zur Bahre!
Vom Abendrot zum Morgenlicht
Ward mancher Kopf zum Greise
Wer glaubt’s? und meiner ward es nicht
Auf dieser ganzen Reise!
Auf dieser ganzen Reise!
The first stanza of Franz Schubert's song Der greise Kopf describes the poet's reaction to the white frost that he finds scattered over his hair. At first, he believes himself to have become an old man already, and he rejoices in the thought. But the frost quickly melts away, and the poet's hair returns to its black color. This leads him to despair, as he is forced to confront the fact that he is still young and has a long life ahead of him. He wonders how much further he has to go before he reaches death's door.
The second stanza of the song goes on to reflect on the phenomenon of aging more generally. Schubert writes that many people have become old and gray over the course of their lives, from the evening of their lives to the morning. The poet is surprised to find that this has not yet happened to him, despite all that he has experienced. The song ends with a repetition of the line lamenting the distance between the poet and the grave.
Overall, the song reflects on the poet's anxieties about mortality and aging. He experiences a fleeting moment of identification with old age, but ultimately realizes that he is still young, with all of the uncertainty and fear that entails.
Line by Line Meaning
Der Reif hat einen weißen Schein
The frost has a white glow, it has covered my hair; it seems like I have aged, and I am very happy
Da glaubt’ ich schon ein Greis zu sein
I thought that I have already grown old
Und hab mich sehr gefreuet
And I was very happy about it
Doch bald ist er hinweggetaut
But soon it melted away
Hab wieder schwarze Haare
And I have my black hair again
Dass mir’s vor meiner Jugend graut -
It makes me fearful of my youth
Wie weit noch bis zur Bahre!
How much further until my burial!
Vom Abendrot zum Morgenlicht
From the sunset to the sunrise
Ward mancher Kopf zum Greise
Many heads have turned gray
Wer glaubt’s? und meiner ward es nicht
Who believes that? But it hasn't happened to me yet
Auf dieser ganzen Reise!
Throughout this whole journey!
Contributed by Grayson I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.