Come join us now, and enjoy playing your beloved music and browse through great scores of every level and styles!
Can’t find the songbook you’re looking for? Please, email us at: sheetmusiclibrarypdf@gmail.com We’d like to help you!
Table of Contents
Schubert Liszt – Erlkönig Schubert famous Lied Erlkönig S 558/4 (sheet music, Noten, partition)
Best Sheet Music download from our Library.
Please, subscribe to our Library.
If you are already a subscriber, please, check our NEW SCORES’ page every month for new sheet music. THANK YOU!
On Erlkönig
Erlkönig, song setting by Franz Schubert, written in 1815 and based on a 1782 poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. “Erlkönig” is considered by many to be one of the greatest ballads ever penned. The song was written for two performers, a singer and a pianist, and it packs a remarkable amount of tension and drama into a mere four minutes. Its effectiveness is doubly impressive because Schubert was only 18 years old when he composed it.
Inspired in part by his friendship with a number of talented singers, Schubert produced some 600 art songs during the course of his brief career (he died at age 31). “Erlkönig” is by far the best known of these. The poem that provides its text, like many of the supernatural tales that dominated literature in the Romantic era, has its roots in a Scandinavian folktale. Goethe’s poem tells the story of a boy riding home on horseback in his father’s arms. He is frightened when he is courted by the Erl-King, a powerful and creepy supernatural being. The boy’s father, however, cannot see or hear the creature and tells the boy that his imagination is playing tricks on him. The boy grows increasingly terrified by what he hears from the Erl-King, but his father tells him that the things he thinks he sees and hears are only the sights and sounds of nature on a dark and stormy night. When the Erl-King eventually seizes the boy, the father spurs on his horse, but when he arrives home his son is dead.
Goethe’s poem, which is reproduced below, contains a conversation that includes a father, his child, and the evil Erl-King. So as to distinguish among the speakers, the father’s words are in bold and the son’s in double quotation marks, while the Erl-King’s words are in single quotes.
Wer reitet so spät, durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er fasst ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?
“Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?”
Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.
‘Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel ich mit dir
Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand.
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.’
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?”
Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.
‘Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter solln dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.’
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?”
Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau;
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.
‘Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt.’
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt fasst er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!”
Dem Vater grauset’s, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.
The following translation into English of Goethe’s poem uses the same text attributes to distinguish among the speakers.
Who’s riding so late, in the night and wind?
It is the father with his child.
He grasps the boy in his arm.
He holds him securely; he keeps him warm.
My son, why do you hide your face so fearfully?
“Father, don’t you see the Erl-King there?
The Erl-King with his crown and train?”
My son, it’s a streak of mist.
‘You delightful child, come with me!
I’ll play wonderful games with you.
Colourful flowers grow on the shore.
My mother has many fine things.’
“My father, my father, don’t you hear
What the Erl-King said to me?”
Be calm, stay calm, my son;
The wind is stirring the dry leaves.
‘Fine boy, will you come with me?
My daughters will wait on you nicely.
My daughters will lead the evening dancing
And rock and dance and sing to you.’
“My father, my father, don’t you see
The Erl-King’s daughters in that gloomy place?”
My son, my son, I see it indeed;
The old willow gleaming so gray.
‘I love you, I delight in your beautiful shape;
And if you are not willing, I shall use force.’
“My father, my father, he has seized me!
Erl-King is injuring me!”
The father blanched; he rode swiftly.
He held the moaning child in his arms.
With great trouble, he reached the courtyard.
In his arms, the child was dead.
(Translation by Betsy Schwarm.)
Schubert deftly underscores the action described in the poem by carefully crafting music that drops the listener in medias res. He heightens its horror by means of several devices. Although only one singer is involved, Schubert gives each of the song’s four personalities—narrator, father, boy, and Erl-King—a characteristic way of singing. Each time the boy speaks, for example, his growing hysteria is signaled by his rising vocal pitch, whereas the father’s voice is not only lower in pitch but also steady and even.
The Erl-King’s voice, by contrast, is initially sweetly beguiling, but, as he loses his patience with the boy, it takes on an angry, menacing edge. The pianist too contributes to the mood. Schubert’s masterful writing gives to the right hand a continuous series of staccato chords that suggest the pounding pace of the horse and lend urgency to the narrative, and to the left he gives a repetitive, quietly sinister little run. The playing of both hands stops completely when the fate of the son is revealed.
| Artist or Composer / Score name | Cover | List of Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Beethoven L.V. Op 68 SYMPHONY VI arr. for 2 pianos |
 | |
| Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 Piano Solo |
 | |
| Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 Piano Solo Musescore File.mscz | ||
| Beethoven Liszt 5th Symphony Piano Solo arr (Complete) |
 | |
| Beethoven Liszt 5th Symphony Piano Solo arr.mscz | ||
| Beethoven Liszt – Symphony no. 9, 4th Movement Piano Solo arr. |
 | |
| Beethoven Liszt – Symphony No.9 4th Movement (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Liszt Marche Funebre |
 | |
| Beethoven Liszt Symphony No. 9 – 1st Movement (S. 464) Piano Solo arr. | Beethoven_Liszt Symphony No. 9 – 1st Movement (S. 464) – Franz Liszt | |
| Beethoven Liszt Symphony No. 9 – 2nd Movement (S. 464) Piano Solo arr. | Beethoven_Liszt Symphony No. 9 – 2nd Movement (S. 464) – Franz Liszt | |
| Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement Guitar Tabs arr. | Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement Guitar Tabs arr. cover | |
| Beethoven Moonlight Sonata arranged by Jennifer Eklund with introduction |
 | |
| Beethoven Pastoral Symphony (piano reduction) | Beethoven Pastoral Symphony (piano reduction) | |
| Beethoven Piano Book 10 Musical selections (easy piano) |
 | Beethoven Piano Book 10 Musical selections |
| Beethoven Piano Concerto 5 Piano Solo Reduction |
 | |
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 1st Movement (Arr For 2 Pianos) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 3rd Mvmt (Arr For 2 Pianos) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Op 58 Piano Solo Reduction |
 | |
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5 (1st Movement) Arr For 2 Pianos (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5 2nd Movement Fragment (Piano Solo) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 1st Movement Arr. For 2 Pianos |
 | |
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 1st Movement Arr. For 2 Pianos.mscz | ||
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 3rd Movement Arr. For 2 Pianos |
 | |
| Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 3rd Movement Arr. For 2 Pianos.mscz | ||
| Beethoven Piano Sonata No.17 “tempest” 1st Movt. (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Pianoforte Sonatas A Guide For Students And Amateurs By Edwin Fischer (Book) |
 | Beethoven Pianoforte Sonatas A Guide For Students And Amateurs By Edwin Fischer (Book) |
| Beethoven Selected Piano Works |
 | Beethoven Selected Piano Works |
| Beethoven Sonata Op 49 No 2 (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Sonate No 8 “pathétique” Op. 13 1st Movement (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 5 (1st Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 6 Pastoral (1st Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 6 Pastoral (3rd Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 6 Pastoral (4th Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 6 Pastoral (5th Movement) Piano Solo(1) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 7 (2nd Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 9 (1st Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No 9 (2nd Movement-Scherzo) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (1st Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No. 6 Pastoral (2nd Movement) Piano Solo (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No. 6 Pastoral 2nd Movement (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No. 7 2nd Movement Piano Solo Arr. (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beethoven Symphony No.6 Op.68 piano solo arr. by Liszt |
 | |
| BEETHOVEN The Complete Variations For Piano Solo |
 | BEETHOVEN The Complete Variations For Piano Solo_compressed |
| Beethoven Variations and Fugue in E-flat major (Eroica Variations) Op. 35.mscz | ||
| Beethoven Virus Jazz |
 | |
| Beethoven_Liszt Symphony No. 9 – 1st Movement (S. 464) – Franz Liszt Piano Solo arr.mscz | ||
| Beethoven_Liszt Symphony No. 9 – 2nd Movement (S. 464) – Franz Liszt Piano Solo arr.mscz | ||
| Beethoven_Symphony_No._9_3rd_movement_for_piano_solo.mscz | ||
| Beethoven- Liszt Symphony no. 6 Pastorale piano solo arr. |
 | |
| Beethoven-Liszt Symphony 9 Choral (arr. for piano) |
 | |
| Beethoven-Ludwig-van – Sonaten alle complete Band 1 (1-15) |
 | |
| Beethoven-Ludwig-Van – Sonaten Alle Complete Band 2 (16-32) |
 | |
| Beethoven-Moszkowski – Emperor piano solo Transcription |
 | |
| Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas A Handbook For Performers (BOOK) |
 | |
| Beethoven’s Arrangements For Solo Piano Of The 9 Symphonies By E. Pauer |
 | |
| Beethoven’s Last Piano Sonatas, Piano Sonata In A Major, Op. 101 An Edition With Elucidation, Volume 4 |
 | |
| Beethoven’s Last Piano Sonatas, Piano Sonata In E Major, Op. 109 An Edition With Elucidation, Volume 1 |
 | |
| Beetlejuice – Obituaries – Danny Elfman | Beetlejuice – Obituaries – Danny Elfman | |
| Beetlejuice The Musical The Musical The Musical Vocal Selections by Eddie Perfect |
 | Beetlejuice The Musical The Musical The Musical Vocal Selections by Eddie Perfect |
| Beetlejuice Theme – Danny Elfman |
 | |
| Beetoven – Klaviersonate Nr. 14 Mondscheinsonate (Piano Sonata No. 14 Moonlight) 3rd Mov. (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Beggar’s Holiday Duke Ellington Broadway Musical Beggars Holiday The Only Broadway Musical Piano Vocal Score |
 | Beggar’s Holiday Duke Ellington Broadway Musical Beggars Holiday The Only Broadway Musical Piano Vocal Score |
| Beginning Gospel For Piano Easy Piano |
 | Beginning Gospel For Piano Easy Piano |
| Beginning Jazz Guitar The Complete Jazz Guitar Method by Jody Fisher (with audio MP3 audio tracks and Tablature) |
 | Beginning Jazz Guitar |
| Beginning Solo Guitar Merry Christmas with Tablature |
 | Beginning Solo Guitar Merry Christmas |
| Béla Bartók Romanian Folk Dances Sz. 56 Piano Solo Sheet Music |
 | |
| Bela Bartok – Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta Sz. 106 (Piano Transcription) | Bela Bartok – Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta Sz. 106 (Piano Transcription) | |
| Béla Bartók An Analysis Of His Music (Book) By Ernö Lendvai |
 | |
| Bella Ciao – As Performed In La Casa De Papel (Traditional Italian Anti-Fascist Song) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Bella Ciao (As performed in La Casa de Papel – Money Heist) Traditional Italian song (Anti-fascist) | Bella Ciao | |
| Bella Ciao Ukulele with Tablature TABs | Bella Ciao Ukulele with Tablature TABs | |
| Bella gioventù (Renato Zero) | ||
| Bella’s Lullaby (Carter Burwell) | ||
| Belle OST – A Million Miles Away by Rachel Portman |
 | |
| Bellini Casta Diva (piano) | Bellini-CastaDiva | |
| Bellini – Casta diva (Norma) Easy Piano Solo arr. |
 | |
| Bellini – Casta Diva (Norma) Easy Piano Solo Arr. (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Bellini – Norma Casta Diva arr. piano solo |
 | |
| Beltrami, Marco – The Giver – Rosemary’s Piano |
 | |
| Ben (Michael Jackson) | ||
| Ben E King – Stand By Me | ||
| Ben E. King Stand By Me Piano Vocal |
 | |
| Ben Folds – Annie Waits | ||
| Ben Folds – Brick | ||
| Ben Folds – Carrying Cathy | ||
| Ben Folds – Effington (Solo) |
 | |
| Ben Folds – Fired | ||
| Ben Folds – Gone | ||
| Ben Folds – Losing Lisa | ||
| Ben Folds – Not The Same | ||
| Ben Folds – Rockin The Suburbs | ||
| Ben Folds – Still Fighting It | ||
| Ben Folds – The Luckiest | ||
| Ben Folds – Zak And Sara | ||
| Ben Harper – Fight For Your Mind (Songbook) (Ben Harper) Guitar TABs |
 | Ben Harper – Fight For Your Mind (Songbook) (Ben Harper) Guitar TABs |
| Ben Webster – Better Go The Quintet Studio Sessions |
 | |
| Ben Webster – Solo on Solitude By Duke Ellington | Ben Webster – Solitude By Duke Ellington | |
| Ben Webster – Someone to Watch Over Me The Life and Music of Ben Webster (Jazz Perspectives) (Frank Buchmann-Moller) Book |
 | |
| Ben Webster Stormy Weather – (solo Tenor Sax)I Cant Get Started | Ben Webster Stormy Weather – (solo Tenor Sax)I Cant Get Started | |
| Benjamin Waldmann Circles |
 | |
| Benjamin, Georges 1960 Fantasy On Iambic Rhythm Study for solo paino |
 | |
| Benny Carter Vol 87 – When Lights Are Low – Play Along with MP3 audio tracks |
 | Benny Carter Vol 87 – When Lights Are Low – Play Along with MP3 audio tracks |
| Benny Golson Stablemates (Lead Sheet) | Stablemates (Lead Sheet) sample | |
| Benny Golson Stablemates (Piano Solo Transcription) | Stablemates (first page) | |
| Benny Golson Genius Of Benny Golson (Transcriptions) |
 | Benny Golson Genius Of Benny Golson (Transcriptions) |
| Benny Goodman Clarinet Method |
 | |
| Benny Goodman Clarinet Solos Jazz Transcriptions By Stan Ayeroff (Jazz Masters) |
 | Benny Goodman Clarinet Solos Jazz Transcriptions By Stan Ayeroff (Jazz Masters) |
| Benny Hill Show Theme (Yakety Sax) by Randy Randolph and James Rich |
 | |
| Benny Hill Show Theme (Yakety Sax) By Randy Randolph And James Rich (Musescore File).mscz | ||
| Bepi De Marzi Signore Delle Cime Piano Solo Arr. |
 | |
| Berens 50 Piano Pieces For Beginners, Op 70 |
 | |
| Berens – 20 Children Studies, op 79 |
 | |
| Berens – 50 Piano Pieces for Beginners, op 70 |
 | |
| Berens – The School of Scales Chords & Embellishments Op 88 | Berens scales op 88 | |
| Berens – Training of the Left Hand, op 89 | Berens – Training of the Left Hand, op 89 | |
| Berio, Luciano – Folk songs (Full Score) |
 | |
| Berio, Luciano – Gesti (score) |
 | |
| Berio, Luciano – Sequenza IXb-sax alto |
 | |
| Berio, Luciano – Sequenza VII for Oboe |
 | |
| Berklee Harmony 1 by Barrie Nettles |
 | |
| Berklee Harmony 1 by Barrie Nettles (Español) | Berklee Harmony 1 by Barrie Nettles (Español) | |
| Berklee Harmony 2 by Barrie Nettles |
 | |
| Berklee Harmony 3 by Barrie Nettles |
 | |
| Berklee Harmony 4 by Barrie Nettles |
 | |
| Berklee Music Theory 2 |
 | |
| Berklee – A Modern Method For Keyboard Study Vol 1 by James Progris |
 | |
| Berklee – Jazz Composition Theory And Practice (Book) |
 | |
| Berklee Basic Keyboard 1 William Davies |
 | |
| Berklee – William Leavitt Classical Studies For Pick Style Guitar |
 | |
| Berklee (Guitar method) William Leavitt – Melodic Rhythms for Guitar (pdf+AUDIO MP3) |
 | |
| Berklee Advanced Reading Studies For Guitar (William Leavitt) |
 | |
| Berklee Basic Guitar Phase 1 by William Leavitt |
 | |
| Berklee Book Of Jazz Harmony |
 | |
| Berklee Ear Training 1 Workbook (2002) Book |
 | |
| Berklee Ear Training 1 Workbook (2013) 2nd Edition (BOOK) |
 | |
| Berklee Ear Training 2 Workbook (2013) (BOOK) |
 | |
| Berklee Ear Training 3 Workbook (2006) Book |
 | |
| Berklee Ear Training 4 Workbook (2007) Book |
 | |
| Berklee Guitar Jazz – Contemporary Jazz Guitar Solos by Michael Kaplan |
 | |
| Berklee Harmony 1 to 4 (4 theory books) |
 | |
| Berklee Instant Keyboard Method |
 | |
| Berklee Jazz Guitar Arrangements |
 | berklee jazz guitar |
| Berklee Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionnary |
 | Berklee Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionnary |
| Berklee Jazz Piano Ray Santisi |
 | Berklee jazz piano sheet music book |
| Berklee Jazz Standards for Solo Piano (Christopherson, Robert) Piano Jazz |
 | |
| Berklee Modal Harmony Jazz |
 | |
| Berklee Music History Handbook |
 | |
| Berklee Music Theory Book 1 |
 | |
| Berklee Orchestration Handbook 1 Songwritting & Business for Film, TV & Video Games |
 | Berklee – orchestration handbook |
| Berklee Piano Handbook |
 |