His chamber music reveals Schubert as a direct descendant of the Classical masters. His string qurtets, the two piano trios, the String Quintet in C, and the Trout Quintet all became masterworks. They also end the line of Viennese Classicism.
His Lieder and piano pieces display tenderness and a quality of longing that was characteristic of the Romantic era. He was able to create music that made the piano sing with a new lyricism of spontaneity and the charm of the unexpected.
Schubert's piano sonatas show his lyric imagination, and thus, he expanded the form that he'd learned from the Classical masters.
Many of the songs that he wrote were written quickly. And he would sometimes write several songs in a single morning. His accompaniments were unique to his time. A measure or two brings to mind images of a rustling brook, as in The Trout, or a horse galloping through the night, as in Erlking. Some of his melodies have achieved the universality of folk song with great eloquence and a fresh feeling. Others, such as The Lovely Maid of the Mill and Winter's Journey convey the deepest feelings of love and despair.
Erlking captures the Romantic "strangeness and wonder" of Goethe's ballad. Erlking is based upon the legend that whoever is touched by the king of the elves must die.
Schubert used a triplet pattern to set up the eerie atmosphere of the poem. The image of a galloping horse and great urgency is seen through this triplet pattern. The use of the minor key also contributes to the atmosphere.
This song is through-composed, and the musical idea of the son's cry, "Mein Vater" each time at a higher pitch is repeated along with the triplet pattern of accompaniment.
Although only one singer is used, each of the four characters are portrayed differently. The narrator is in the middle range with less emotion. The father is sung in the low range and becomes a calming line. The son is in the high range with a great deal of dissonance, while the erlking is in the middle range, but using a major mode.
By changing the melody, harmony, rhythm, and accompaniment, Schubert was able to paint a picture of a child's terror by increasing the high range and clashing dissonance. The father's part has a more rounded vocal line, thus the calming effect. The erlking, or elf is seen as seductive by the use of smooth melodious phrases which at first are coaxing, then become insistent as the terror of the child increases.
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