# Schumann The Song Year 1840



## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

I now understand that 1841 was a great Symphony year for this young genius and have really enjoyed listening repeatedly to Karajan and the Berlin 1971/2 and their Symphony cycle. Can my friends point me to a good introduction to some of his work in 1840? Appreciate you.


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

A sampler of highlights:

Widmung Op.25/1





Mondnacht Op.39/4





Du Ring an meinem Finger Op.42/4





Ich Grolle Nicht Op.48/7





In der Nacht Op.74/4 (From 1849, but one of my personal favorites)


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

So in 1840 we have

Op. 24, Liederkreis (Heine), nine songs (1840)
Op. 25, Myrthen, twenty-six songs (4 books) (1840)
Op. 27, Lieder und Gesänge volume I (5 songs) (1840)
Op. 29, 3 Gedichte (1840)
Op. 30, 3 Gedichte (1840)
Op. 31, 3 Gesänge (1840)
Op. 33, 6 Lieder (part songs for men's voices with piano ad lib) (1840)
Op. 34, 4 Duets (soprano and tenor with piano) (1840)
Op. 35, 12 Gedichte (1840)
Op. 36, 6 Gedichte (1840)
Op. 37, Gedichte aus "Liebesfrühling" (12 songs, of which numbers 2, 4 and 11 are by Clara Schumann) (1840)
Op. 39, Liederkreis (Eichendorff), twelve songs (1840)
Op. 40, 5 Lieder (1840)
Op. 42, Frauenliebe und -leben (Chamisso), eight songs (1840)
Op. 43, 3 Duets (1840)
Op. 45, Romanzen & Balladen volume I (3 songs) (1840)
Op. 48, Song cycle, Dichterliebe, sixteen songs from Heine's Buch der Lieder (1840)
Op. 49, Romanzen & Balladen volume II (3 songs) (1840)
Op. 53, Romanzen & Balladen volume III (3 songs) (1840)
Op. 57, Belsatzar, ballad (Heine) (1840)


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

...............


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

...............


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I had no idea that it was such a bumper year for songs. There’s a recording I want to recommend with a huge amount of 1840 material - Dichterliebe, Op 24 liederkeis and Myrthen, sung by Petre Munteanu. The other set I like from 1840 is the op 39 Liederkreis, and here there’s an exceptional recording sung by Brigitte Fassbaender. I should know better really because how people respond to voice is so hugely personal.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Larkenfield said:


> ...............


Yes! That was funny.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> Yes! That was funny.


Just a straight deletion of a duplicate post, not intended to mean anything!


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Just thinking again about this extraordinary output of major pieces in 1840, he must have been burning up, on fire. It’s quite an eye opener for me, I’d never thought about it before and I’d assumed the Dichterliebe,the two Liederkreis sets, Frauenlieben une leben etc were all written over a much more extended period of time.

I suppose it’s not unheard of, Bach, Schubert must have had similar anni mirabiles,


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

One Schumann vocal work which seems to go under the radar a bit is the upbeat _Myrthen_ cycle op.25 - as it's made up of four books it's like having four mini-cycles gathered together. The _Myrthen_ songs tend to be recorded in part or in isolation, but Naxos has done the whole caboodle.


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## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

elgars ghost said:


> One Schumann vocal work which seems to go under the radar a bit is the upbeat _Myrthen_ cycle op.25 - as it's made up of four books it's like having four mini-cycles gathered together. The _Myrthen_ songs tend to be recorded in part or in isolation, but Naxos has done the whole caboodle.


 This looks great. Thank you. Colin M


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## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

Mandryka said:


> Just thinking again about this extraordinary output of major pieces in 1840, he must have been burning up, on fire. It's quite an eye opener for me, I'd never thought about it before and I'd assumed the Dichterliebe,the two Liederkreis sets, Frauenlieben une leben etc were all written over a much more extended period of time.
> 
> I suppose it's not unheard of, Bach, Schubert must have had similar anni mirabiles,


 His genius bordered on mania at times I think. Like a lot of great artists...


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## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

Love this collection of Schumann songs. Accompanied solely by piano beautifully played. Is that typical of song at this stage?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Yes, orchestral or chamber music accompaniment were rare at the time.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

1840. Why Schumann's great proliferation of lieder? _His love of Clara Schumann._ Where there's smoke, there's fire! 



> In the years 1832-1839, Schumann had written almost exclusively for the piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote no less than 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (referred to as the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
> 
> Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert would often wait in a cafe for hours in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and of its consummation led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in "Widmung", for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's "Ave Maria" in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers have attributed the sweetness, the doubt and the despair of these songs to the varying emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together. [unquote]
> 
> I believe the above description is very true.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I listened to a CD by Bostridge and Drake of Heine songs. It’s so long since I last listened to 19th century music! The music seems to work really partly by poignant tunes, but mostly by the power of the actual singer to make the words sound as though they matter - something which Bostridge seemed well able to do. I couldn’t get on with the baritone in that Naxos Myrthen, but that’s not necessarily any reflection on him.

The occasional postludes were unexpected. I mean I hadn’t remembered them as being such a big part of Schumann’s style. I’m not sure that they really give the piano much of an independent role though. I mean it’s clearly not monophonic music but it’s not polyphonic either. Monophonic-and-a-half! This stuff is about the singer!


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## Colin M (May 31, 2018)

Thanks Artrock and larkenfelf for the education!


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