Die Sproede - From Wolf's Songs by Goethe (1888-1889)

This song actually goes hand in hand with the song following it in the collection (Die Bekehrte). This piece, like it's compliment, is in a sort of modified rondo form. Each new addition of text and melodic material (which is through-composed) is followed by a section of ra-la-la's that are not all alike, but play around the same idea. Each section of new text (there are three major sections) ends with a perfect authentic cadence and then moves into the ra-la-la's. The last ra-la-la ends on a mi do. Judging from the do that the ra-la-la's end on and the minor quality of the initial arpeggio of the ra-la-la, they embellish a minor six chord--or perhaps just in a minor key. Wolf loves accidentals and key changes. But at the first ra-la-la's and at the end, he does this very effective trick where he has the listener's ear moving along with the ra-la-la's only to change the key at the end--first jarring our senses with a tritone and then resolving happily into another major key. Wolf likes to change the key right before the cadence, jolting the listener and then pacifying them with a full PAC. It also fits quite well with the sense of the work, as it is about a shepherdess who only frolics and laughs at her suitors. That tonality trick is a very effective laugh--conveying the mischevious and playful mood of the young maiden.