Erlkönig by schubert erlkönig is a poem by the german poet goethe. it tells the story of a father riding on horseback through the night seeking for the sick child in his arms. in schubert’s setting of the song the singer portrays four different characters: a narrator, the father, the son and the elf-king. the music for each character is in a different part of the vocal range, but it’s really up to the singer to make the difference between the characters clear. after listening to this piece completely from start to finish, listen again to excerpts and complete the questions. in this first section of the song we hear the narrator describing the father riding on the horse, his sick child in his arms. then, after a brief piano passage, the father sings (beginning with the words "mein sohn…") and is answered by his son. how does schubert distinguish between father and son in the music? multiple choice the father sings lower pitches. the piano part changes. the son sings faster.