Clara Schumann - 3 Lieder, Op. 12 (score-video)

[@opus-43]

~~~~~Composer Biography~~~~~ Clara Schumann's life is very well-documented, so we won't give information here. If you are interested in learning more about her, this is a great starting point: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Schumann *(Please click "read more" for program notes!)* ~~~~~Program Notes~~~~~ Clara Schumann's 3 Lieder (Art Songs), Op. 12 are set to poems from Friedrich Rückert's "Liebesfrühling" (Love in Springtime). Schumann's motivation for writing these songs came from her husband Robert, who had already written a number of songs to Rückert's text. Robert encouraged Clara to do the same, and she did, creating the three songs you are now listening to. While composing these songs, Schumann lamented in her marriage diary (shared with Robert) that "it won't go [...] I have no talent for composition." When listening to Schumann's songs, though, I - the author of these program notes - can hardly imagine her feeling this way. I find these songs moving, with so much to enjoy in the singer's melodies and the piano's complementing figures. Schumann's songs were also published as numbers 2, 4, and 11 of Robert Schumann's 12 Gedichte aus "Liebesfrühling," Op. 37. Robert and Clara sent a copy of these songs to Rückert himself, who thanked them with a specially written poem. Below is a more detailed description of Schumann's songs. Each song is set to Rückert's poem of the same name. 0:10 - I. "Er ist gekommen in sturm und regen" (He came in storm and rain) - German text and English translation: www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=14020 "Er ist gekommen in sturm und regen" is in F minor and marked "Leidenschaftlich" (passionately). The piano plays sixteenth notes relentlessly, as if suggesting a torrent of rain, while the singer alternates between insistent and consoling phrases. These phrases correspond, respectively, to the first three lines and the last two lines of Rückert's first two stanzas. The music then enters a section marked "Ruhig" (Calm). For a time, the piano stops its sixteenth notes and follows the speech-like rhythm of the singer, providing a special moment of stillness in the song. This moment corresponds to the endearing lines "Der Freund zieht weiter, / Ich seh' es heiter, / Denn er bleibt mein auf allen Wegen." ("My love is away; I am cheerful, for he is mine whether near or far.") Not long after this, the piano closes the song peacefully with sixteenth notes that outline A-flat major, the relative major of F minor. 2:27 - II. "Liebst du um Schönheit" (If you love for beauty) German text and English translation: www.oxfordlieder.co.uk/song/627 "Liebst du um Schönheit" is in D-flat major and marked "Nicht zu langsam" - not too slow. Clara Schumann's music seems to convey the love and loyalty that Rückert professes in his poem. The piano accompaniment creates a tranquil, reflective atmosphere from the song's beginning. Often, the singer's phrases end on a half cadence that suggests a resolution to B-flat minor; however, the piano always takes the music back to the peaceful nature of D-flat. 4:59 - III. "Warum willst du and're fragen" (Why enquire of others) German text and English translation: www.oxfordlieder.co.uk/song/628 The piano introduces the tender melody in "Warum willst du and're fragen," and the singer continues it in unison with the piano. Both piano and voice work to create an unbroken thread in this song. The result is another endearing testament to love. Sources: 1. Johnson, Graham. 2000. Program notes for Robert Schumann’s Zwölf Gedichte aus “Liebesfrühling,” Op 37. Accessed April 11, 2021. 2. Schumann, Robert and Clara Schumann, ed. Gerd Nauhaus. 1993. The Marriage Diaries of Robert & Clara Schumann: from Their Wedding Day through the Russia Trip, p. 50; p. 153. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

[@ilovemycatrussell9298]

I’ve listened to some Robert Schumann, but I think I should listen to more Clara.

[@joshscores3360]

Even in her teenage years, Clara Wieck had a firm command of compositional material, and it is clear from her early piano pieces that she had studied the works of Chopin and Mendelssohn. Her accelerated maturity was in part the result of the extended tours she undertook with her father when she was a child. In the late 1830s, Wieck began study with Robert Schumann. Working with a new teacher, plus the natural growth in her musical maturity, led to a more subtle form of expression in Wieck's music. A perfect example of her increasing ability is the Three Songs on Poems of Friedrich Rückert, Op. 12, composed in 1840 and published in 1841 in Leipzig. (These were also published as Nos. 2, 4, and 11 of Robert Schumann's Gedichte aus Liebesfrühling, Op. 37.) Wieck was to become one of the finest pianists of her time; not surprisingly, the instrument plays an important role in her songs. The first of the Three Rückert Songs, "Warum willst du and're fragen" (Why do you want to ask others?), begins with the piano alone, outlining the first line of the voice part. Once the voice enters, the piano parallels it to the end. In varied strophic form, the song is quiet and meditative. The second verse is the most adventurous, straying significantly from the pattern of the first, and after it there is a lengthy interlude for the piano that explores developmental possibilities of the melody. The third verse is more like the first, but the ensuing piano interlude ventures into the minor mode then back to major for the fourth verse. "Er ist gekommen in Sturm und Regen" (He came in storm and rain) opens with an appropriately stormy piano introduction, initiating a pattern of arpeggios that continues under the voice. In the middle section of this varied, strophic song the melody takes on intense, nervous repeated notes, but when the text considers the approaching spring, the texture lightens and block chords support a bouncy voice part. The opening material returns to close the song. In "Liebst du um Schönheit" (If you love beauty), the piano immediately establishes a continuous accompanimental pattern that is completely independent of the voice part. In a surprising suspension of the expected progress of the song, Wieck interrupts the line "Liebe den Frühling, der jung ist jedes Jahr!" (Love the spring, which is young every year!) after the first three words, the piano first providing the musical answer to the beginning of the line, before the voice moves on to something new. (AllMusic)

[@opus-43]

Thank you for posting these program notes! They provide a very detailed description of the 3 Lieder and are a great complement to our program notes in the pinned comment... if not better! Some thoughts about the notes: I don't know if Clara Schumann studied composition with Robert Schumann formally. When Robert first met Clara, he had *just* switched from studying law to studying music seriously. Also, it is interesting that singers often perform "Warum willst du and're fragen" first. That order differs from the order of Robert Schumann's Op. 37, in which "Warum willst du and're fragen" is last!

[@chopin65]

I like these more than that man's music. What is his name? Oh, I know: Robert Schuman. Are they related?

[@sammorgan2224]

yes, clara was his wife

[@WildJag4free]

We all know who wrote these, and his name is not Clara