Schubert Marathon Opens BASS' 2025–26 Season

Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS), launches its sixteenth season, Cycles, with an unprecedented event: all three of Franz Schubert's monumental song cycles performed in a single day. On Sunday, October 12, 2025, audiences at Roulette (509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn) will experience the full expressive range of Schubert's genius, from youthful longing to bleak isolation and final transcendence.

The marathon opens at 3:00PM with baritone Tyler Duncan and pianist Erika Switzer in Die schöne Müllerin. At 5:00PM, tenor Paul Appleby joins pianist Ken Noda (in his BASS debut) for Winterreise. The evening concludes at 7:00PM with baritone Gregory Feldmann and pianist Michael Brofman in Schwanengesang. Pre-concert lectures for each cycle will be delivered by Dean Whiteside of the Goethe-Institut.

Schubert's three great cycles — Die schöne Müllerin (1823), Winterreise (1827), and Schwanengesang (1828) — trace a remarkable arc in the history of song. In Die schöne Müllerin, Schubert captures the innocence and heartbreak of a young miller's love through music of folk-like intimacy and lyrical immediacy. Winterreise, composed just four years later, plunges into stark psychological territory, its 24 songs mapping a wanderer's bleak journey through rejection and despair. In his final year, Schubert turned to poets Ludwig Rellstab, Heinrich Heine, and Johann Gabriel Seidl, creating the collection posthumously titled Schwanengesang, a kaleidoscope of longing, tenderness, and visionary darkness that includes some of his most iconic songs, from “Ständchen” to “Der Doppelgänger.” Together, the cycles not only reveal the astonishing breadth of Schubert's genius but also chart the evolution of the Lied from intimate vignette to profound artistic statement.

“It is an honor to perform this iconic cycle with New York City's most dedicated and impressive art song organization,” said Paul Appleby. “I cherish this opportunity to share our deep love of Schubert with BASS's passionate audience.”

Experiencing all three Schubert cycles in a single day is an extraordinary opportunity. Schubert largely defined the modern concept of the song cycle, transforming a sequence of poems into a unified musical and emotional journey, and in doing so set the groundwork for generations of composers who followed. As one of the world's foremost champions of the genre, Brooklyn Art Song Society is uniquely positioned to bring such a marathon to life — affirming its role not only as the leading presenter of song but as a steward of its most essential traditions.

The Schubert marathon marks the opening of Cycles, a season-long exploration of the most ambitious and emotionally expansive works in the art song repertoire. From Schubert's towering masterpieces to Olivier Messiaen's ecstatic Harawi, the series reflects BASS's commitment to bringing audiences the deepest experiences in song.

On Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 5:00PM, BASS continues its season with Cycles II: Reflections on Dichterliebe, pairing Schumann's Dichterliebe with two contemporary reflections on similar themes of memory, heartache, and transformation: Bernard Foccroulle's Zauberland (selections) and estrangement, a BASS commission by Katherine Balch that premiered in 2021. Performers include sopranos Kristina Bachrach and Lucy Fitz Gibbon, baritone Randall Scarlata, and pianists Michael Brofman, Lyndsi Maus (BASS debut), and Ryan McCullough. Composer Katherine Balch will deliver the pre-concert lecture.