ABSTRACT
This chapter presents multiple layers of disorganization in Winterreise and the technical means by which they are achieved are used to offer new insights into the dramatic, musical, and narrative structures of the work. In expanding the cycle, Schubert clearly thought it important that the structural integrity of the original 12-song cycle would not be compromised. In a series of 12 songs that, in "Der Leiermann", culminates in the disintegration of actual musical material, the set as a whole concerns itself with the dissolution of cyclic form. Critics often observe that in "Der Leiermann" the wanderer hears and reacts to a music that is beyond himself. "Der Leiermann" offers no refreshment, but only stagnation and dull regurgitation. Imagination is not confined to the immutable symbols of notation but is instead opened up to limitless renewal that transcends the capacity of representation.
