Robert Schumann - Myrthen, op. 25 [With score]

-Composer: Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856)
-Performers: Dorothea Röschmann (Soprano), Ian Bostridge (Tenor), Graham Johnson (Piano)

Myrthen, 26 Songs for Voice and Piano, op. 25, written in 1840

00:00 - I. Widmung (I. B.)
02:26 - II. Freisinn (I. B.)
03:41 - III. Der Nussbaum (D. R.)
07:09 - IV. Jemand (D. R.)
08:43 - V. Lieder aus dem Schenkenbuch im Divan I (I. B.)
09:21 - VI. Lieder aus dem Schenkenbuch im Divan II (I. B.)
10:23 - VII. Die Lotosblume (D. R.)
12:05 - VIII. Talismane (I. B.)
14:29 - IX. Lied der Suleika (D. R.)
17:27 - X. Die Hochländer-Witwe (D. R.)
19:03 - XI. Lied der Braut aus dem Liebesfrühling I (D. R.)
21:35 - XII. Lied der Braut aus dem Liebesfruhling II (D. R.)
23:22 - XIII. Hochländers Abschied (I. B.)
24:55 - XIV. Hochländisches Wiegenlied (D. R.)
27:44 - XV. Aus den hebräischen Gesangen (I. B.)
32:26 - XVI. Rätsel (D. R.)
34:12 - XVII. Venetianisches Lied I (I. B.)
36:02 - XVIII. Venetianisches Lied II (I. B.)
37:06 - XIX. Hauptmann's Weib (I. B.)
38:08 - XX. Weit, weit (D. R.)
41:12 - XXI. Was will die einsame Träne (I. B.)
43:48 - XXII. Niemand (I. B.)
44:50 - XXIII. Im Westen (D. R.)
46:07 - XXIV. Du bist wie eine Blume (I. B.)
47:53 - XXV. Aus den östlichen Rosen (D. R.)
49:57 - XXVI. Zum Schluss (I. B.)

Published in October 1840 by Kistner, Myrthen, Op. 25, is dedicated to the composer's wife, Clara Schumann. Myrthen, or myrtles, are European evergreen shrubs with white or rosy flowers that are often used to make bridal wreaths. The 26 poems included were presented to Clara on the occasion of their wedding.

Unlike Dichterliebe of Frauenliebe und -leben, the texts of Myrthen are not by a single poet. Among them are eight poems in translation by Robert Burns (1759-96), five by Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866), and three each by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and Heinrich Heine (1797-1856). The remaining seven are by Lord Byron, Thomas Moore, J. Mosen, and Catherine Fanshawe.

In the Myrthen collection of songs we find a clear contrast between Schumann's two musical personalities, "Florestan" and "Eusebius." Those in the "Florestan" style have a lively, confident character especially evident in Freisinn, Niemand, and the Hochländer lieder. Eusebius' more contemplative mood comes through in Mein Herz ist schwer and Was will die einsame Träne? Schumann also confronts numerous other emotions associated with love and marriage, such as devotion (Lied der Saleika and the two Lied der Braut), maternity (Im Westen, Hochländiches Wiegenlied), loneliness (Die Hochländer Witwe, Weit, weit) and bravery (Hauptmanns Weib). A few special gems are worth discussing in detail.

Heine's Du bist wie eine Blume (You are like a flower) receives Schumann's most ceremonial treatment. Set in A flat major, a key associated with wedding ceremonies, the song's repeated chords provide a stately foundation for the free, almost recitative-like declamation of the brief text. A flat major is also important as the key of the first and last songs of the collection.

Schumann confronts longing and separation in two of the songs, Der Nussbaum by Mosen, and Aus den östlichen Rosen by Rückert. Der Nussbaum is notable particularly for Schumann's integration of the piano part into the overall rhetoric of the song. The opening piano measures later become both the completions of vocal phrases and, before "Sie flüstern von einem Mägdlein," the beginning of the phrase. In both songs the piano depicts leaves fluttering in the wind -- In Der Nussbaum with constant arpeggios, in Aus den östlichen Rosen, with a rapid, quiet twisting figure -- while supporting a delicate, narrow-ranged voice part.

Schumann's setting of Byron's Rätsel is especially clever. The poem describes something without saying what it is. At the end is the question, "What is it?" Byron's answer is "a breeze," rendered in German as "Hauch." Schumann, however, omits this word from the text, leaving the piano to play the final note, a B natural -- an "H" in German.
[allmusic.com]

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