Uploaded October 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago

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Composer: Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 -- 29 July 1856)
Performers: Ian Bostridge (Tenor), Julius Drake (Piano)
Year of recording: 1998

Liederkreis, 9 songs for voice & piano, Op. 24, written in 1840

00:00 - I. Morgens steh' ich auf und frage
01:04 - II. Es treibt mich hin
02:12 - III. Ich wandelte unter den Bäumen
05:45 - IV. Lieb' Liebchen, leg's Händchen
06:38 - V. Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden
10:26 - VI. Warte, warte, wilder Schiffsmann
12:23 - VII. Berg' und Burgn schaun herunter
16:00 - VIII. Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen
16:56 - IX. Mit Myrthen und Rosen

Robert Schumann, the son of a book dealer, exhibited an early love for things literary. The resulting bifurcation of his artistic leanings was articulated in a letter from December 1830, in which he lamented that "If only my talent for music and poetry would so converge into a single point, the light would not be so scattered, and I could attempt a great deal." The immediate realization of this wish was the beginning of a career in music criticism (he founded a music journal in 1834); however, it would eventually see its fullest expression in the composer's outpouring of German lieder. Despite the composer's secret disclaimer from 1839 -- "All my life I have considered vocal music inferior to instrumental music...But don't tell anyone this!" -- the following year saw Schumann compose over 125 songs, many of which now constitute some of his most famous and familiar music. Among the first of his 1840 compositions were several settings of poems from Heinrich Heine's Buch der Lieder, gathered under the title Liederkreis, and published as Opus 24.

The bouncy boom-chuck of the bass line and chords that accompany the first song, "Morgens steh' ich auf und frage," might seem to gloss over the grief of the lovelorn speaker, who finds himself unable to sleep at night, yet wanders throughout the day half-conscious. Likewise, Schumann's setting of the fourth song, "Lieb' Liebchen, leg's Händchen," might seem a little cute for the macabre scene: a contemptuous carpenter hammering away in the lover's heart, building him a casket. Both cases, however, illuminate Schumann's particular talent for understatement: his seemingly simple lyrical outpourings are the perfect compliment to Heine's often ironic touch. In the first case, as in many of his settings, slight changes in texture reveal the musical surface to be a psychological façade, beneath which stirs a tortured soul; the singer's final note lands on an unresolved chord, his love unrequited, while the piano reaches the final cadential resolution alone. In the second example, there is a recurring moment of haunting disjunction: at the end of both verses, on the phrases "Der zimmert mir einen Totensarg" ("There he builds me a coffin") and "Damit ich balde schlafen kann" ("That I may sleep"), the final three syllables are postponed by an unexpected and jarring pause; the piano proceeds with the descending minor-mode line, while the voice follows, hesitatingly out of sync, two beats later. That such subtle irony was deeply felt by the composer could be suggested by biography: at the time of his composing the Liederkreis, his attempts to gain the hand of his sweetheart, Clara Wieck, had theretofore been thwarted by her disapproving father. It would be several more months before Schumann's own love life would cease to so resemble the bleak romantic outlook offered by Heine.

A similarly effective song from Op. 24 is "Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden." The graceful melody and pulsing accompaniment suggest an earnest outpouring of sorrow, even resignation; however, lingering under the surface is a bitterness made even more sour by its restrained tone. Together with other charming examples, including "Ich wandelte unter den Bäumen" and "Mit Myrten und Rosen," this song exemplifies the variety of expression and succinct lyricism that are most characteristic of Schumann's songs.
[allmusic.com]