The Erlking
New piece for me but said to be one of the most popular songs in its genre. As explained in Wikipedia, the Erlking in European folklore and myth is a sinister elf who lingers in the woods, who stalks children staying in the woods for too long, and kills them by a single touch.
Erlking is a name used in German Romanticism for the figure of a spirit or ‘king of the fairies’. It was taken up by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his poem Erlkönig (1782), which was set to music by Schubert as here. Goethe added a new meaning, as Erl does not mean elf as commonly explained, but black alder. The poem about the Erlenkönig is set in the area of an alder quarry in the Saale valley in Thuringia.
I’ve merged the copy arranged by Geoff with one I found containing the accompaniment, filling in the gaps in the voice parts, give or take any mistakes by me.