Schubert's June 1815 setting of Ludwig Kosegarten's Das Finden (The Find) (D. 219) is far better than the poem it sets. A hymn to old-fashioned German maidenhood, Kosegarten's poem is full of images of nobility and saintliness to the point where one wonders if there the inspiration of the poem was a real girl or was merely the idealization of German maidenhood. Schubert's sublime setting removes all doubt: this is an idealized portrait sung by someone so deeply in love that he can no longer see the object of his affections but only his affections. A simple, slow and stately strophic setting with a dainty vocal melody marked "innocent," a harmonic scheme made up almost entirely of major chords, and a piano accompaniment in which both hands are written entirely in the treble clef, Schubert's Das Finden makes believable the emotions of the singer.

© All Music Guide