The thought of being so in love with someone that you want to be near them into eternity is quite romantic, so romantic, in fact, that once Grieg set Hans Christian Andersen’s poem Jeg elsker dig to music, it soon had multiple singing translations in German, English, and other languages (I have located numerous editions, all widely published and performed, with no less than two in German and five in English!) The song was included in the 1944 operetta Song of Norway by Robert Wright and George Forrest.
Edvard Grieg: Jeg elsker dig (I love you / Ich liebe dich)
4 04 2009Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Edvard Grieg, eternal, Hans Christan Andersen, love
Categories : Danish, English, German, Romantic Era (1800 - 1900)
Robert Schumann: Waldesgespräch (Conversation in the wood)
31 03 2009On a late, cold evening a man rides through the woods. He meets a beautiful woman who tells him to leave. When he recognizes her as the Lorelei, she condemns him to remain lost in the woods forever. The last strains of the song return to the horn-call motive of the man, but he does not sing; his voice has been silenced.
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Tags: cold, Eichendorff, Liederkreis, Lorelei, nature, Robert Schumann, woods
Categories : German, Romantic Era (1800 - 1900)
Johannes Brahms: Liebesklage des Maedchens (The maiden’s love lament)
24 03 2009Brahms’s songs sound simple. The mark of a master, though, is to make the difficult seem effortless, and Brahms, Norman, and Barenboim accomplish that in this lover’s lament.
- Audio (Jessye Norman) – YouTube
- Text (Des Knaben Wunderhorn) – recmusic.org
- Score – IMSLP
- Article – Classical Archives
I initially was seeking Brahms’s Ophelia-Lieder, but could not locate a score online. The five songs last less than four minutes, and have also been recorded by Jessye Norman. They are lovely, but almost too simple — after all, they were intended to be sung unaccompanied and have a folk character.
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Tags: broken heart, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, eyes, Johannes Brahms, love, sad
Categories : German, Romantic Era (1800 - 1900)
Hugo Wolf: Auf ein altes Bild (In an old painting)
22 03 2009
This simple song remains one of my favorites. So simple, so lovely. It moves slowly, at a strolling pace, as if one is walking through an art gallery observing a piece of art. When the viewer realizes that this lovely scene will soon lead to Christ’s crucifixion on the cross, the pain of the realization stings the soul.
The work may have been inspired by Durer’s Madonna and Child, but then again, many artists painted this same scene. In my mind’s eye, I see a conglomerate of works that I came to love growing up at Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum, namely di Credi’s work and the Gossaert’s “Mother and Child with Saint Agnes.”
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Tags: art, cross, Eduard Mörike, Hugo Wolf, Jesus, Mary, tree
Categories : German, Romantic Era (1800 - 1900)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Come draw we round a cheerful ring, from Irish songs, WoO 152, No. 11
17 03 2009
One of the hallmarks of the Irish is their love of stories, music, and community. Though not Irish, Beethoven caught the festive mood of a celebration in this catchy tune.
Beethoven wrote three sets of Irish songs for voice and string trio at the behest of Scottish folk song collector and publisher George Thomson. The songs range from quick and lively to heart-rendingly touching.
- Audio (Marjanne Kwiksilber) – last.fm
- Text (Joanna Baillie) – recmusic.org
- Article – Polley Music Library (Lincoln, NE)
As it is St. Patrick’s day, I was searching for musical scores of Irish music this morning. Since I couldn’t find the Beethoven songs, I offer instead an online volume of Sixty Irish Songs, edited by William Arms Fisher.
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Tags: drinking, festive, irish, Ludwig van Beethoven, winter
Categories : Classical Era (1750 - 1800), Early Romantic Era (1800 - 1840), English, German
Franz Schubert: Ave Maria
15 03 2009This piece is, quite simply, a classic. The stillness and peace of this prayer to the mother of God are lovely and touching.
Though known primarily in its Latin version, that was not Schubert’s original, and in fact, he never added the latin text; it is an adaption. Schubert took the text from a translation of Sir Walter Scott’s The Lady of the Lake. The text is just as prayerful and meaningful, though, as the Latin, in my humble opinion, and needs to be heard and studied.
- German version
For those still fond of the Latin version, I won’t withhold the information 🙂
- Latin Version
And for those that prefer the Bach-Gounod version — I hear you and will feature that work soon enough
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Tags: Franz Schubert, Mary, prayer, Sir Walter Scott
Categories : German, Latin, Romantic Era (1800 - 1900), Sacred
Robert Schumann: Widmung (Dedication)
10 03 2009
I initially wanted to post the lesser-known Widmung by Robert Franz, a lovely piece in its own right. But the Jessye Norman video of the Schumann song by the same title — the old “chestnut — captured me so completely, I had to post it. If I can find a recording of the Franz, I’ll post that at a later date.
- Video (Jessye Norman) – YouTube (unfortunately, the intro & coda have been cut)
- Video (Elly Ameling) – YouTube
- Text (Friedrich Rückert) – recmusic.org
- Score – artsongcentral.com
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Tags: dedication, devotion, Friedrich Rueckert, Robert Schumann
Categories : German, Romantic Era (1800 - 1900)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Adelaide, op. 46
4 03 2009
Beethoven captures a lover’s longing for his muse named Adelaide in this masterpiece typically performed by tenors.
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Tags: Friedrich von Matthison, longing, love, Ludwig van Beethoven, nature
Categories : Classical Era (1750 - 1800), German
Franz Schubert: Der Leiermann, #24 from Winterreise, D. 911 / Op. 89
2 03 2009The haunting final song of Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise tells of a lonely street musician. The final line asks, “Curious old man, should I go with you? Will you play my songs on your box?”
- Audio (Dietrich Fischer Dieskau) – Last.fm
- Video (Jorma Hynninen) – YouTube. Der Leiermann begins 2:40 in
- Text (Wilhelm Müller) & Translation – Recmusic.org
- Score – IMSLP
- Article – Wikipedia
This song was also featured on Paul Schwartz’s album Aria 2 in 1999.
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Tags: empty, Franz Schubert, song cycle, Wilhelm Mueller, Winterreise
Categories : Early Romantic Era (1800 - 1840), German, Romantic Era (1800 - 1900)