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Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. Heine's later verse and prose are distinguished by their satirical wit and irony. He is considered a member of the Young Germany movement. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities—which, however, only added to his fame. He spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris.
This article is about music-related events in 1840.
A song cycle is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.
Frauen-Liebe und Leben is a cycle of poems by Adelbert von Chamisso, written in 1830. They describe the course of a woman's love for her man, from her point of view, from first meeting through marriage to his death, and after. Selections were set to music as a song-cycle by masters of German Lied, namely Carl Loewe (1836), Franz Lachner (c1839), and Robert Schumann (1840). The setting by Schumann is now the most widely known.
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen is a song cycle by Gustav Mahler on his own texts. The cycle of four lieder for medium voice was written around 1884–85 in the wake of Mahler's unhappy love for soprano Johanna Richter, whom he met as the conductor of the opera house in Kassel, Germany, and orchestrated and revised in the 1890s.
Schwanengesang (Swan Song), D 957, is a collection of 14 songs written by Franz Schubert at the end of his life and published posthumously:
- Liebesbotschaft (text: Ludwig Rellstab)
- Kriegers Ahnung (Rellstab)
- Frühlingssehnsucht (Rellstab)
- Ständchen (Rellstab)
- Aufenthalt (Rellstab)
- In der Ferne (Rellstab)
- Abschied (Rellstab)
- Der Atlas (Heinrich Heine)
- Ihr Bild (Heine)
- Das Fischermädchen (Heine)
- Die Stadt (Heine)
- Am Meer (Heine)
- Der Doppelgänger (Heine)
- Die Taubenpost (alternative: D 965a) (Johann Gabriel Seidl)
"Der Doppelgänger" is one of the six songs from Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang that sets words by Heinrich Heine for piano and tenor voice. It was written in 1828, the year of Schubert's death.
Adolf Fredrik Lindblad was a Swedish composer from the Romantic era. He is mostly known for his compositions of Swedish song or lieder, of which he produced over 200. His other well-known compositions include his Symphony No. 1 in C major, Symphony No. 2 in D major, and an opera titled Frondörerna. He was a well-respected friend of Felix Mendelssohn, and had a collaborative relationship with the famous Swedish soprano, Jenny Lind.
An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98, is a composition by Ludwig van Beethoven written in April 1816, setting poetry by Alois Jeitteles.
Dichterliebe, "A Poet's Love", is the best-known song cycle by Robert Schumann. The texts for the 16 songs come from the Lyrisches Intermezzo by Heinrich Heine, written in 1822–23 and published as part of Heine's Das Buch der Lieder. Along with the song cycles of Franz Schubert, Schumann's form the core of the genre in musical literature.
Liederkreis, Op. 39, is a song cycle composed by Robert Schumann. Its poetry is taken from Joseph von Eichendorff's collection entitled Intermezzo. Schumann wrote two cycles of this name – the other being his Opus 24, to texts by Heinrich Heine – so this work is also known as the Eichendorff Liederkreis. Schumann wrote, "The voice alone cannot reproduce everything or produce every effect; together with the expression of the whole the finer details of the poem should also be emphasized; and all is well so long as the vocal line is not sacrificed." Liederkreis, Op. 39, is regarded as one of the great song cycles of the 19th century, capturing, in essence, the Romantic experience of landscape. Schumann wrote it starting in May 1840, the year in which he wrote such a large number of lieder that it is known as his "year of song" or Liederjahr.
Die Lotosblume is a poem written by Heinrich Heine, and published in his Buch der Lieder. Set to music by Robert Schumann in 1840, this Lied is part of Schumann's Myrthen collection (op. 25 no. 7)) and Six Songs for Männerchor. It is written in the key of F Major, and set in 6
4 time. The piece speaks of the blooming of a lotus flower, who hides from the sun and only reveals herself at night to her lover, the moon. Due to circumstances at the time, the lyrics were intended to have a double meaning.
Johann Vesque von Püttlingen, born J. Vesque de Puttelange, was an Austrian lawyer, diplomat, author, composer and singer. His full name and title in German was Johann Vesque, Freiherr von Püttlingen.
Johann Wilhelm Hill was a German pianist and composer.
Wilhelm Killmayer, a German composer, wrote several song cycles, which form a substantial part of his compositions. The earliest cycle dates from 1953, the last was completed in 2008. He set poems by German romantic writers such as Friedrich Hölderlin and Joseph von Eichendorff, but was also inspired by French, Greek and Spanish poems, and by texts from the 20th-century poets Georg Trakl and Peter Härtling. He used mostly piano to accompany a singer, but also added percussion or other instruments, and scored some cycles in a version for voice and orchestra. His Hölderlin-Lieder, setting poems from the author's late period, were performed at major festivals and recorded.
Joachim Draheim is a German musicologist, music teacher and classical pianist.
"Erlkönig", Op. 1, D 328, is a Lied composed by Franz Schubert in 1815, which sets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem of the same name. The singer takes the role of four characters — the narrator, a father, his small son, and the titular "Erlking", a supernatural creature who pursues the boy — each of whom exhibit different tessitura, harmonic and rhythmic characteristics. A technically challenging piece for both performers and accompanists, "Erlkönig" has been popular and acclaimed since its premiere in 1821, and has been described as one of the "commanding compositions of the century".
Myrthen (Myrtles), Op. 25, is a song cycle composed in the spring of 1840 by Robert Schumann. Its 26 Lieder were written as a wedding gift for his fiancée, Clara Wieck, and presented to her on the eve of their wedding which took place on 12 September that year. The cycle was published that same month, with a dedication to Clara, in four books by Kistner in Leipzig where the couple lived.
References
- ↑ Turchin, Barbara (Spring 1985). "Schumann's Song Cycles: The Cycle within the Song". 19th-Century Music. 8 (3): 231–244. doi:10.1525/ncm.1985.8.3.02a00050. ISSN 0148-2076. JSTOR 746514.
