"Die schöne Müllerin" (German pronunciation: [diː ˈʃøːnə ˈmʏlɐʁɪn], "The Fair Maid of the Mill"), Op. 25, D. 795, is a collection of songs written by Franz Schubert in 1823. It is based on 20 poems by Wilhelm Müller. This work is the first of Schubert's two important song cycles (before "Winterreise") and is considered one of the most important examples of Lied repertoire, a type of music that combines singing and piano.

The piece is performed by a pianist and a solo singer. The singer usually has a voice similar to a tenor or soprano, though it is sometimes adapted to a lower pitch, a practice Schubert himself used. Since the story's main character is a young man, performances by female singers are less common. The piano part plays a major role in expressing the emotions of the work and is not just background music for the singer. A typical performance lasts about sixty to seventy minutes.

Composition

In 1821, Müller published twenty-five poems in the first booklet of Seventy-seven Poems from the Posthumous Papers of an Itinerant Hornist. These poems were inspired by his unreturned love for Luise Hensel, who was also a poet and the sister-in-law of Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn.

Between May and September 1823, Schubert set twenty of these poems to music while also composing his opera Fierrabras. Schubert was 26 years old at the time. He did not include five poems in his musical work, such as a prologue and an epilogue written by Müller. The completed work was published in 1824 by Sauer and Leidesdorf as Op. 25, titled The Lovely Maid of the Mill, a Song Cycle to Poems by Wilhelm Müller. It was dedicated to the singer Carl von Schönstein. The omitted poems were: "Prolog," "Das Mühlenleben" (after number 6), "Erster Schmerz, letzter Scherz" (after number 15), "Blümlein Vergißmein" (after number 17), and "Epilog."

Narrative

There are twenty songs in the cycle, about half of which are in simple strophic form. The songs show a change from happiness and hope to sadness and tragedy. At the beginning, a young journeyman miller walks happily through the countryside. He follows a brook to a mill and meets the miller's beautiful daughter, known as the "Müllerin" in the title. She is not available to him because he is only a journeyman. He tries to win her favor, but she seems unsure. Soon, a hunter wearing green, the same color of a ribbon he gave her, replaces him in her affection. The young man becomes deeply troubled and becomes fixated on the color green. He then imagines a wild death fantasy where flowers grow from his grave to show his lasting love, similar to a fantasy in Beethoven's "Adelaide." In the end, he loses hope and likely drowns in the brook. The final song is a lullaby sung by the brook.

Editions

The Diabelli edition from 1830, in a copy of the original score with notes by Walther Dürr, was published in 1996 by Bärenreiter. The most widely used version is the Peters Edition, edited by Max Friedlaender. In this and other editions, such as Schirmer, the collection is shown as the first 20 songs of Volume 1. Some versions are in the original high keys, while others are transposed for lower voices. The Peters Edition was later revised by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elmar Budde and is now available as Volume 1 of the Peters Urtext Edition, in high, medium, and low key versions. The most recent scholarly edition is part of the New Schubert Edition, edited by Walther Dürr and published by Bärenreiter. This edition includes transposed versions for lower voices. Six of the songs were adapted for solo piano by Franz Liszt and published as Müllerlieder.

Synopsis

• "Das Wandern" ("Wandering"; B♭ major): "Wandering is the miller's joy" – a journeyman miller happily travels through the countryside, singing about the restless water, millstones, and millwheels of his work. This is an example of a strophic song, where the piano music traditionally imitates the objects the miller sings about. Schubert uses elegant and creative piano writing. The music, though simple, has parts that can be used to imitate these objects. Flowing, repeating broken triads in the piano suggest the movement of wheels and water, while the low piano notes create a pounding sound. The composer continues this style throughout the cycle, using recurring musical ideas. The most important of these is the Brook, shown as a character through the piano, and it appears next.

• "Wohin?" ("Where to?"; G major): "Is this my path then? Oh tell me, brook, where to?" – the miller meets a Brook and is drawn to follow it. The song is through-composed, with the piano imitating the brook’s sound using a rippling pattern. This pattern, a broken triad that circles back on itself, represents the Brook throughout the cycle.

• "Halt!" ("Stop!"; C major): "Dear little Brook, is this what you meant?" – the Brook leads the miller to an idyllic mill in a forest. The song is through-composed, with the piano imitating the turning of the mill wheel. Subtle minor and diminished chords in the piano music hint at something troubling.

• "Danksagung an den Bach" ("Thanksgiving to the Brook"; G major): "Did she send you? Or have you enchanted me?" – the grateful miller thanks the Brook for helping him work and for introducing him to the beautiful miller girl. The song is through-composed, with a thoughtful broken chord pattern in the piano. A section in a minor key follows as the miller questions the Brook’s guidance.

• "Am Feierabend" ("Evening's Rest"; A minor): "If only I could move the millstones alone! Then the beautiful maiden would know my true purpose!" – the miller is troubled when the maiden says goodnight to others but ignores him. He wants to stand out. The piano imitates the mill’s workings, with a rising and falling pattern from "Halt!" representing the wheel and pounding bass notes showing the millstones. A calm section in the middle reflects the peaceful evening. This is a lively highlight of the first part of the cycle, and the only song where the miller sings the phrase "die schöne Müllerin."

• "Der Neugierige" ("The Inquirer"; B major): "Tell me, little Brook – does she love me?" – the miller asks the Brook if the maiden loves him. The song is through-composed, starting with a musical question in the piano – a rising pattern ending on a diminished chord. A slow, thoughtful section follows as the miller questions the Brook, with the Brook’s flowing broken triads continuing to represent it.

• "Ungeduld" ("Impatience"; A major): "My heart is yours, and it will be forever!" – the miller wishes he could express his love everywhere. The song is strophic, with a busy, repeated chord pattern in the piano showing his restlessness. The piano is filled with musical decorations that reflect his nervous energy.

• "Morgengruß" ("Morning Greeting"; C major): "Does my greeting displease you so?" – the miller is upset by the maiden’s cold reaction to his morning greeting. He remains hopeful, deciding to wait outside her window. The song is a ballad in strophic form, with the music growing more expressive as the rhythm becomes more complex over each stanza. The miller’s feelings grow stronger.

• "Des Müllers Blumen" ("The Miller's Flowers"; A major): "The flowers will whisper to her as in a dream: forget me not!" – the miller compares blue flowers by the Brook to the maiden’s blue eyes. The song is strophic, with a flowing arpeggio pattern and a gentle 6/8 rhythm. A common performance practice raises the third stanza’s accompaniment an octave higher. There is no clear ending, which is unusual for Schubert, but the introduction is often repeated. The song ends and transitions smoothly into the next one in the same key.

• "Tränenregen" ("Rain of Tears"; A major): "She said: 'Rain is coming – farewell, I'm going home'" – the miller and the maiden share a tender moment by the Brook. The miller avoids looking at her and stares at the Brook’s reflection of the moon. As he cries, she leaves. The piano uses augmented harmonies and flowing counterpoint to imitate the Brook, adding to the nighttime atmosphere. The song is mostly strophic, with a final section in the minor key as the maiden departs.

• "Mein!" ("Mine!"; D major): "Are these all the flowers you have, spring? Can you not shine brighter, sun? The beloved Millermaid is mine! Mine!" – the miller believes he owns the maiden despite her mixed signals. The piano uses heavy, broken chords in the lower register to show his overconfident and boastful attitude. The vocal line has melismatic singing in nearly every bar. The song ends with a loud, muddy D major chord.

• "Pause" ("Interlude"; B♭ major): "Is it the echo of my love's pain? Or the prelude to new songs?" – the miller is too emotional to sing, so he hangs his lute on the wall with a green ribbon and reflects on his happiness. He worries if the lute’s sounds are ominous. The song is through-composed, with a repeating lute-like pattern and static harmony. Dissonant minor chords show his doubts before they fade.

• "Mit dem grünen Lautenbande" ("With the Green Lute-Ribbon"; B♭ major): "Wind the green ribbon into your locks, since you like green so much!" – the maiden mentions liking green, and the miller gives her a green ribbon as a symbol of their love. He tries to convince himself he also likes green, even though he is pale from flour. The song is strophic, with short verses and lute-like flourishes. The sweet melody and accom