Schubert’s art song Erlkönig is one of the earliest and finest examples of musical romanticism. It is a musical setting of a narrative ballad of the supernatural by Goethe. Goethe’s poem tells of a father riding on horseback through a storm with his sick child in his arms. The delirious boy has visions of the legendary Erlking, the king of the elves, who symbolizes death.

Schubert uses a through-composed setting to capture the mounting excitement of the poem. The piano part, with its rapid octaves and menacing bass motives, conveys the tension of the wild ride.

The piano’s relentless triplet rhythm unifies the episodes of the song and suggests the horse’s gallop.

By imaginatively varying the music, Schubert makes one singer sound like several characters in a miniature drama.

1. The Narrator lies in the middle range and is in a minor mode.

2. The Father lies in the low range and sings both in minor mode and major mode.

3. The Son lies in a high range, also in minor mode, representing the fright of the child.

4. The Erlking's vocal line, in a major key, undulates up and down to arpeggiated accompaniment; a striking contrast as the only break from the triplet figure in the accompaniment until the boy's death. The Erlking lines are typically sung pianissimo.