What notes are those without the wall

 

David toca davant Saül - G. Schick

 

The first three people Wilhelm meets are Philine and Laertes, actress and actor, and Friedrich, Philine's servant; Philine and Laertes arrived at that town in search of work in a local theatre company, but the company has already dissolved and its members are scattered. Wilhelm's also coincides with a rope-dancing company; when he sees the company’s surly master beating up a little girl, Mignon, he argues with him and pays some coins to set her free. He feels comfortable with Philine and Laertes and becomes responsible for Mignon, so he extends his stay in the nameless town (towns in this novel haven’t got a name). And then, who is the one arriving? Melina and Madame Melina, the couple Wilhelm helped some years before; they are also heading for the theatre company.

They aren't the only people looking for a job; more actors and actresses arrive, including an old man that Wilhelm met in his own town. He asks him about Marianne and the actor, sad and hurt, says he has lost track of her. He explains to Wilhelm that he loved the girl like a daughter and helped her when she was fired because of her pregnancy; after delivery she stopped answering his letters and he knows nothing more about her.

Wilhelm feels confused. He has mixed feelings now. He’s sad because he misses Mariane; guilty because her son could be his (remember that he was completely unaware of her pregnancy); attracted to Philine but also determined to keep away from women; comfortable with the group of actors and actresses even though their selfishness annoys him; he wants to go away as soon as possible because he supposes he won't be able to resist the theatre's call but he also wants to stay because he is fascinated by Mignon.

So there comes a day that Wilhelm, the Melinas, Laertes and Philine are having lunch. All of them are in a bad mood, among other things, because the night before they had a party and punch created havoc. They can’t stop arguing and give dirty looks to each other until the landlord announces that a harpist could entertain them with his music. Only Wilhelm accepts him willingly.

Eventually, in chapter 11 of Book II, we come to the first song of the novel, Was hor'ich vor dem Tor draußen (What notes are those without the wall). It's a ballad: a king hears a singer at his castle's entry and asks the singer to go in to entertain his court. The king is so pleased that he offers the singer a gold chain as a reward, but he refuses and asks for a glass of wine instead; he feels paid with the joy of being able to sing. This idealized image of Art corresponds to Wilhelm's, perhaps that's why the young man is so deeply moved when he listens to this song. The harpist, however, is more practical and accepts, in addition to a glass of wine, some coins the group gives him. He will also sing the next two songs in the novel, so soon we will see that the nature of this song is very different from the others he sings, which are sad and reveal his tormented personality.

This is the only Wilhelm Meister's song that Carl Loewe composed; Not surprisingly, it's the only ballad among the songs and Loewe was the king of ballads. It was published with the name Der Sänger, and it's the second of the Three Ballades, Op. 59. We are listening to the song performed by the baritone Morten Ernst Lassen accompanied by Cord Graben.

 

Der Sänger