Schubert's setting of Friedrich von Schlegel's Die Vogel (The Birds) (D. 691) from March 1820 is a lighthearted dance in 3/8, a sort of avian Ländler which rarely touches a minor chord much less a minor tonality. Its lilting melody flies and glides over an easygoing peasant waltz in the piano. Schubert sets the first and last verse of Schlegel's poem to nearly the same Ländler-style music, while the central verse functions as a drone-bass trio. Although hardly one of Schubert's weightier songs, Die Vogel is nevertheless one of his most delightful.

© All Music Guide