Three Songs. Vocal transcription by Clytus Gottwald

Music for unaccompanied choir features very little in the works of the violin virtuoso and composer Louis Spohr (1784–1859), although he used the chorus to great effect, particularly in his early Romantic operas. Clytus Gottwald has transcribed three of Spohr’s songs with piano accompaniment for five-part mixed choir. The texts are by Goethe, Amalia Schoppe, and Uhland. Spohr’s music, stylistically typical of a period of musical transition with its indefinable qualities, offers in a special way starting points for Gottwald’s technique of arranging, influenced as it is by contemporary music.

Gottwald’s transcriptions of songs and instrumental works for vocal ensemble, distinguished by their highly sophisticated sound, have become firmly established in choral repertoire throughout the world in recent years.