«Da ward mein Auge wach»

This essay focuses on filmed performances of Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise, in particular on the film version directed by David Alden, with tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Julius Drake. First, the essay delves into the history of the various versions of this cycle and Schubert songs in general. Using the concept of “mixed media” objects as an analytical tool, the essay argues that the many different versions signal that text and music of the original song cycle have come to embody each other’s content to such a degree that even in the absence of one of the constituent parts both can be still conjured up convincingly. The essay continues with an analysis of Alden’s film and its strategies for visualization. It concludes that although this film version is much more ambitious and adventurous than most filmed performances, it simultaneously shuns obvious filmic equivalents such as the road movie, and instead opts for a strategy of visualization that is clearly reminiscent of nineteenth-century traditions of re-mediating and visualizing Schubert songs.