But Mahler could not have composed the "Wunderhorn" without Schubert laying the groundwork. It's all there - just darker - but splendid . . . what was it somebody said about reading by flashes of lightning? . . . had to look it up, Coleridge on Edmund Kean's acting.
Although there's a sort of darkness in Schuber too, but listening to Winterreise or even der Zwerg - I just have an impression of theatricality - like Dowland's "Lachrimae", the singer is revelling in his sorrow, staring at graveyards - the drummer boy is going to be dead shortly, for real, no excuses and no reprieve (Mahler is more honest than Bert Brecht!)
Our choirmaster says that when he does music survey courses over at the high school, the most requested thing is the Dowland. The kids LOVE it. He calls it "Renaissance Emo."
He saves the theme for the end, which is a reversal of the usual order of theme-and-variations.