Analysis
This song is in rondo form (ABACADA).
Gretchen is singing at her spinning wheel while thinking of Faust and all that he promises. The accompaniment mimics the spinning-wheel in constantly revolving semiquaver figurations in the right hand, the foot treadle back and forth in the left — speeding up and slowing down in response to the text, to show Gretchen's excitement or distraction. At the same time, the accompaniment serves as simple word painting, the right hand reflecting Gretchen's restlessness ("Meine Ruh ist hin") and the left hand her beating heart ("Mein Herz ist schwer"). At the climax of the piece, the piano stops as Gretchen becomes overly distracted by the thought of Faust's kiss, and then only hesitatingly begins again as she realizes she has forgotten to keep spinning. Schubert ingeniously uses the piano to imitate the rhythmic repetition of the spinning wheel, perhaps mirroring either the hypnotic effect of temptation and the devil and/or love. The constancy of Gretchen's infatuation is alluded to not only by constancy of the spinning, but also by the repetition of the first stanza periodically throughout the song.
Gretchen's beginning words are:
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Read more about this topic: Gretchen Am Spinnrade
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