This Sunday, U of M faculty members Mel Braun and Laura Loewen will be joining forces with local poet Hannah Green and rock band VVonder to perform Stumble On (Schubert’s Winter Journey Re-Imagined) on campus.

The concert is based on Winterreise, a set of songs composed by Franz Schubert for voice and piano. Braun, a baritone and the head of the vocal program at the Desautels faculty of music, described the plot of the song cycle, whose lyrics were taken from poems written by Wilhelm Müller. 

“In Winterreise, or winter journey, we see a young fellow who, as a traveler, has moved into a village, fallen in love with somebody and they’re talking about getting married. A richer neighbour comes along, and suddenly the marriage is off, and he’s tossed out of the village in the middle of winter,” Braun explained. “So he sets out on a journey, and during this journey, which is 24 songs long, he processes all the emotions and things that he’s dealing with having been turned away.”

He noted the story might have resonated with Schubert’s own life and that the 19th century German composer often viewed himself as an outsider. Also, he added that much of his compositions have themes of travellers and wanderers. 

Loewen, a collaborative pianist and the faculty’s associate dean, will be performing 12 of the songs with Braun. However, there will be a contemporary twist to these compositions. In the concert, Green will also read from her award-winning poetry book Xanax Cowboy.

“This book is very much about addiction, homelessness, trying to figure stuff out, obsession [and the] dream world. Many of these themes show up in the poetry that Schubert set in Winterreise,” commented Braun. 

In addition, VVonder, formed by band members Micah Braun, Steve Martens, Joey Penner and Nate Sheridan, will be performing songs off their newly released album Stumble On. Like Xanax Cowboy, their songs touch upon themes similar to the story of Winterreise. 

“Our performance is going to be myself and Laura, Hannah Green and VVonder going back and forth, processing the journey of this poor wanderer and [reflecting on] the loneliness, the obsession […] and just pushing on, stumbling on, regardless of what is happening.” 

Although Schubert may seem obscure to non-classical fans, a closer look shows his work might not be so different from modern-day breakup songs. After all, the complexities of love and emotion are a timeless and integral part of the shared human experience. 

Stumble On (Schubert’s Winter Journey Re-Imagined) will take place at the Desautels Concert Hall on Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting showpass.com/desautels-concert-series-stumble-on-schuberts-winter-journey-re-imagined/.