Overview and Publication

This song cycle differs in character from other song cycles such as Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise in that Schubert himself was not involved in its publication. The composer passed away prematurely, leaving behind the manuscript of this song cycle. After his death, the publisher Tobias Haslinger added “Die Taubenpost” (composed October 1828), based on a poem by Johann Gabriel Seidl, to a group of songs based on poems by Ludwig Rellstab (1799–1860) and Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) (composed August 1828). He then gave the collection the title “Schwanengesang” and published it in April 1829. The title is based on the myth that swans sing their most beautiful song just before they die.

Cataloging and Structure

O. E. Deutsch, who compiled Schubert's catalogue of works, assigned a single catalogue number (D 957) to these 13 songs, pointing out the possibility that they were conceived as a continuous song cycle. This was based on the fact that the six Heine songs were written consecutively after the seven Rellstab songs in the autograph manuscript, and no composition date was noted for the Heine songs. In contrast, the 14th song of the first edition, “Die Taubenpost,” was assigned a separate number (D 965A) as it was added by the publisher.

Rellstab's Poems

Rellstab's original poems were initially sent to Beethoven. Rellstab later recalled that Beethoven personally handed them to Schubert just before his death, but Beethoven's secretary Schindler stated that Schubert obtained them from Beethoven's estate; the details remain unclear. Furthermore, since Schubert left another Rellstab song, “Lebensmut” D 937, unfinished, it can be assumed that he intended to compile a song cycle by the same poet.

Heine's Poems

Regarding Heine, the possibility of a plan to compile a song cycle has also been pointed out. All the original poems were taken from “Heimkehr” in Buch der Lieder, published in 1827, and Schubert attempted to sell the Heine song group to a Leipzig publisher in October 1828.

"Die Taubenpost"

“Die Taubenpost,” based on a poem by Seidl, is the last song composed by Schubert among his extant works, and in this sense, it was the true “swan song.”