On This Day 10 May: Gabriela Montero Was Born

by Georg Predota, Interlude

Gabriela Montero © Colin Bell

Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, born on 10 May 1970, has garnered critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage for her visionary interpretations and unique compositional gift. She has come to be known in particular for her real-time improvisation of complex musical pieces on themes suggested by her audience, as well as for performances of standard classical repertoire. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Montero was only seven months old when her parents placed a two-octave toy piano in her playpen. Although Gabriela has no recollections of that event, she was told that it was initially a Christmas gift for an older cousin. Her grandmother, however, insisted that it should be given to Gabriela. “My grandmother, for some bizarre reason,” Montero explained, “just fixated on the idea that I should have this little piano. But I was just eight months old, and I was just a baby in a crib… My grandmother was a very stubborn woman, so the piano ended up in my crib and it was my Christmas present.” Apparently, her parents noticed from the very beginning that she did not pound on the piano, but started to play note by note with her second finger. Montero subsequently reproduced songs her mother sung to her, “and by the time I was eighteen months old, I was already playing all these melodies, including the National Anthem of Venezuela and lullabies.”

J.S. Bach: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (arr. G. Montero) (Gabriela Montero, piano)

The Argentinian pianist Lyl Tiempo started Montero on formal piano lessons at the age of four, and she gave her first public performance at the age of five. She made her public debut at the age of eight, performing the Haydn D Major concerto with the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, conducted by José Antonio Abreu. Montero writes, “I did all the competitions and had a lot of success with that. I have always performed, but for me it’s been an ongoing ambivalent kind of question, because it’s not just who you are and what you were born to do, but what you choose to dedicate your life to and the sacrifices that come with that.” At the age of 9, Montero received a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in the US, and from 1990 until 1993, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne. Apparently, Montero hated to practice, “because to me, music is an extension of life, and I don’t like to use the word practicing—but rather discovery. There’s something very mechanical in the idea of practicing, and for me, sitting at the piano should be a journey of discovering yourself, the pieces, and who you are in that moment as a performer—which may be different from who you were the day before. To me the interesting thing about music and being a musician has become so much more about finding ways for the music to reveal itself to me.” 

Following into the footsteps of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, who were celebrated for their ability to improvise, Montero incorporates improvisations based on melodies called out by audience members as part of her solo recital. Montero recalls that she has always improvised since she was little. “Maybe because of my neurology,” she explains, “I have been in contact with improvisation since I was a child. It is who I am, and it has become more and more a tool of storytelling, and reporting what’s going on in the world, and issues that I want to speak about. It has always been there. It’s the first thing I do when I sit down at the piano to say hello.” Her first teacher immediately recognized this talent, but the second teacher in the Unites States was opposite. “She would say to me: Don’t improvise! It’s worth nothing! So, for many years it was something that I kind of kept to myself, and very few people knew that I had this ability. I saw it as something that didn’t belong in the classical world. That’s when Martha Argerich heard me play. She told me, Why don’t you share this with the world, this is unique, you have to show this to the world!” Montero writes, “When I improvise, I connect to my audience in a completely unique way, and they connect with me. Because improvisation is such a huge part of who I am, it is the most natural and spontaneous way I can express myself.” 

Montero has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, and she is a highly sought-after recitalist. However, Montero has also turned to composition and won a Grammy for Best Classical Album at the 2015 Latin Grammy Awards. She focused exclusively on works by Latin American composer, as “more and more there seems to be a real want for this kind of migration of cultures and sounds and composing. I found that with my own concerto, the Latin Concerto, which I play a lot, there’s an incredible openness to classical music language with other rhythms, harmonies, and influences. More and more, we see programming that combines this kind of repertoire and people find the connection between the styles. I see more diversity in programming, which is good.” However, Montero’s work is not limited to musical stages, as she is a committed human rights advocate. Amnesty International named her Honorary Consul in 2015, and the Human Rights Foundation honored her with the Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights award for her ongoing commitment to human rights advocacy in Venezuela. She has been outspoken in her support for those who have challenged the current Venezuelan regime, and has deplored the state of the country and the crackdown on protesters. The advice she gives to young professionals and students is straightforward, “There are no guarantees, nor formulas… What keeps you grounded is always just thinking about the music and wanting to be a better artist… Never lose sight of the higher goals, which are really to become a better communicator and a better person through it. Also, realize that you have power as an artist to speak, to get involved. Be informed. Speak for the right people. Speak on behalf of people! Use your music for more than just entertainment!”

On This Day 7 May: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony Was Premiered

by Georg Predota

The Premiere of Beethoven’s Last Symphony

Beethoven in 1823 by Waldmuller

During the final stages of putting the finishing touches on his 9th symphony (which was also Beethoven’s last symphony), Beethoven was adamant that it should be premiered in Berlin. For years, Beethoven had lamented the changing musical taste of Viennese audiences, who numerously flocked to see the operatic entertainments offered by Rossini and other Italian composers. Beethoven and Rossini did meet once in Vienna in 1822, and supposedly Beethoven counseled his young colleague with the words, “Above all, make a lot of Barbers!”

For Beethoven, Rossini was a composer of light comedies, who embraced the “rankest lap of luxury” by pandering to populist demands. And supposedly, Beethoven quipped “Rossini would have been a great composer if his teacher had spanked him enough on the backside.” Whether this meeting actually took place or not is clearly beside the point, as it quickly became, and still is, part of a much larger narrative.

Caroline Unger

Beethoven’s threat to take his 9th symphony to Berlin was real enough, and it took a petition signed by a number of prominent Viennese patrons, friends, financiers and performers for the composer to change his mind. As such, Beethoven assembled a large orchestra and recruited Henriette Sontag and Caroline Unger to sing the soprano and the contralto parts, respectively.

According to participating musicians, the work had only two full rehearsals before it was premiered on 7 May 1824 in the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna. Various stories and anecdotes surround this momentous occasion, but Beethoven—who had been profoundly deaf for almost a decade—took part in the performance by giving the tempos for each part and turning the pages of his score “as though he wanted to play all the instruments and sing all the chorus parts.”

Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna

However, the “official conductor” Michael Umlauf, had instructed the singers and musician to ignore all of Beethoven’s instructions. When the work had ended, Beethoven was apparently still conducting and Caroline Unger is credited with turning Beethoven to face the applauding audience. Beethoven’s underlying conception of music as a mode of self-expression still resonates strongly today. Whether one agrees with, or rejects his compositional approach, after the premiere of Beethoven’s last symphony, a symphony combining a large orchestra, choir and vocal soloists for the first time, nothing in music could ever be the same.

Walkin’ Round the World

by Georg Predota 

Multicultural Folk Music Traditions From Various Places

With all this talk of a globalized society it is easy to forget that we are surrounded by the timeless beauty and grace of countless multicultural folk music traditions. That rich ethnic heritage of human culture and creativity has spawned some very exciting performing ensembles, and in “Walkin’ round the World” we will sample some of these vibrant and exhilarating traditions.

Wales

Calan

Let’s get started with a vibrant five-piece folk band named “Calan” that is breathing new life into traditional Welsh music. Their performances feature sparkling melodies, foot tapping tunes and a spirited and energetic performance of Welsh step dancing. The group formed in 2006, and by 2008 they would become the first Welsh band to win the coveted international band competition at the Inter Celtic Festival. The band formed when some members were roughly 13 years of age, and they still continue to make music today. Patrick Rimes was a junior Celtic Welsh fiddle champion for three years running, and Bethan Rhiannon, winner of the national clog dance competition in Wales, sings in both English and Welsh. Fiddler Angharad Jenkins is well versed in the poetry and music of Wales, and Alice French is an experienced and versatile harpist, who plays both a pedal harp and the folk harp. 

Patrick Rimes

Calan blast their way through some of the old favorite reels, jigs and hornpipes with fast paced and uplifting arrangements before melting into some of the most beautiful and haunting songs. They play fiddles, whistles, guitar, accordion and bagpipes and a traditional reed instrument from Wales called a “pibgorn” made from a wooden pipe and the horns of a bull. They have also reached beyond traditional venues and performed at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Bryn Terfel and Sting as part of Bryn’s 50th birthday celebration. “Folk” is no longer a dirty word, as Calan performs with grace, daring and sheer joy. And did I mention boundless enthusiasm and a delightful sense of humor? 

Tuva

Huun Huur Tu

For our next “Walkin’ round the World” location we arrive at Tuva, a forgotten land located between Russia and Mongolia. Situated in the far south of Siberia, its capital city of Kyzyl is located near the geographic center of Asia. Once upon a time, this historic region was called “Tannu Uriankhai” and the Tuvan people have a rich tradition of orally transmitted folklore, including riddles and aphorisms, tongue twisters, magical tales and extended epics. Tuva is also home to the music group “Huun Huur Tu,” meaning “sunbeams,” (literally “sun propeller”). The focus of their music is traditional Tuvan folk songs, frequently featuring imagery of the Tuvan steppe or of horses. The most distinctive characteristic of Huun Huur Tu’s music is throat singing, in which the singers sing both the note (drone) and the drone’s overtone(s), thus producing two or three notes simultaneously. This popular style of Tuvan throat singing known as “Khoomei,” produces a softer sounding style with the harmonics heard between one or two octaves above the fundamental. Pitch is manipulated through a combination of movements of the lips, throat, tongue or jaw. This particular singing style has been described as “wind swirling among rocks.” 

The animistic worldview of this region identifies the spirituality of objects in nature, not just in their shape or location, but in their sound as well. As such, the human mimicry of nature’s sounds is considered the root of throat singing, and cultures in this part of Asia have developed many instruments and techniques to mimic the sounds of animals, wind and water. Tuvan throat singing is traditionally sung by a soloist, or a group of soloist, and accompanied by a percussion section imitating the sound of horse hooves. Many groups also use traditional Tuvan instruments, including a bowed instrument called the “igil,” and a Jaw-harp called a “khomus,” among various other unique string instruments. Throat singing was once only a folk tradition, but it is now embraced as an emblem of Tuvan identity and more often performed by professionals in formal settings. 

Vienna

The Schrammel Quartet, 1890

If you are fortunate to find yourself in the city of Vienna and you have an evening to spare, head for the next “Heurigen.” Basically, these are local pubs numerously located throughout the suburbs of Vienna where you can eat rustic and delicious food and taste the young wine. And a visit to the “Heurigen” is always associated with a particular kind of music that emerged in late 19th century Vienna. It ingeniously blended folk music elements with art music and it is named after the originators, the violinist brothers Johann and Josef Schrammel. Both were highly talented musicians, and Johann attended the Vienna Conservatory. Josef, on the other hand, performed Viennese music in Istanbul and the Middle East, and once the brothers were reunited in Vienna, the stock market crash of 1873 gave them their chance at stardom. They joined the great folk music entertainer Georg Dänzer, and along with Anton Strohmayer built a reputation as players of folk and dance music. By 1878 they had formed a dedicated quartet that became known as the originators of “Schrammelmusik.” 

Johann Schrammel: “Wien bleibt Wien”, march

“Schrammelmusik,” as it is called, soon took suburbia by storm, and it also became the latest rage in the palaces and mansions of the Viennese elite. Their popularity even extended to an 1893 invitation to perform at the International Exposition in Chicago. Traditionally, the ensemble consisted of two violins, a double-necked contra-guitar and a G clarinet, with an optional button accordion added for rustic colour. The repertory included marches, folk music and traditional forms of dances, including the waltz, the polka, and the Ländler. Communicating a sense of melancholy and sentimentality, “Schrammelmusik” eventually also included the “Wienerlied,” a vocal genre using Viennese dialect in a popular blend of comic and mournful topics. In all, the Schrammel brothers composed over 200 songs. Even composers of more formal music, including Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms and Arnold Schoenberg became Schrammel enthusiasts. The Schrammel genre is still a living tradition, and recently combined with blues, jazz and rock to shape an exciting 21st century reinterpretation. 

Bulgaria

Ensemble Chinary

For our next stop on our “Walkin’ round the World Tour” let’s visit Bulgaria. The hilly and mountainous topography of Bulgaria made contact between villages difficult, and during the winter months, impossible. As such communities evolved in relative seclusion and the country is divided into six ethnographic regions: “The Shop, or Sofia district, Pirin-Makedoniya in the southwest; Rodopa, comprising the Rhodope Mountain region along the southern border; Trakiya, the central Thracian plain; Dobrudzha, in the northeast; and the area known simply as ‘Northern Bulgaria’ in the northwest. Songs formed the basis of village musical culture, and across the entire region, they were performed for specific events in the calendar, life-cycle rites, during work, and for entertainment. “Playing instruments and singing were considered separate, gender-specific activities. Instrumentalists almost never accompany singers, and women rarely played indigenous instruments. Although it was not uncommon for men to sing, women acted as the primary bearers of an oral singing tradition.” Bulgarian music uses a wide variety of regionally different indigenous instruments, including the “Kaval” a rim-blown wooden flute, the “Tsafara” or Shepherd’s pipe, the “Duduk” a vertical wooden flute, and the “Gayda” a traditional goatskin bagpipe. We also find a bowed string instrument called “Gadulka,” a large drum worn over the shoulder called “Tupan,” and the “Tambura,” a long-necked, metal-strung fretted lute.

Bulgarian folk music is known for its asymmetrical rhythms, where the meter is split into uneven combinations of short and long metric beats. In essence, they correspond to the short and long steps during dancing. Each basic folk dance type uses a distinct combination of these rhythmic units. The “Rachenisa” features seven beats divided 2+2+3, the “Paydushko Horo” features five beats organised 2+3, the “Eleno Mome” has seven beats divided 2+2+1+2, and the very complicated “Bucimis” subdivides its 15 beats as 2+2+2+2+3+2+2). Bulgaria experienced some seriously tumultuous political times during the middle of the 20th century. “The political events of 1944 resulted in the institutionalization of all musical activities within a monolithic network of state administrative organs whose representative bureaus extended into every city, town, and village, and whose structure and ideals emulated those of Soviet cultural development.” A substantial number of professional folksong and dance ensembles started to emerge, with the objective to preserve the performance of village music in a contemporary format representative of the socialist state. The ensemble “Chinary” was founded after the fall of the iron curtain, and includes professional dance artists, musicians and singers. The repertoire of the ensemble includes dance and song traditions of all folklore regions of Bulgaria. “The performances of Chinari are unique in terms of modern staging on production of traditional Bulgarian folklore, and offer an incredibly successful combination of talent, beauty, youth and professionalism.”

United States

Bluegrass Band

For our next stop on the “Waking’ round the World” tour we travel to the Appalachian region of the United States. Basically, it’s a cultural region that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. Bluegrass, a genre of American music originated in that particular region in the 1940s, is derived from the English and Scottish ballad tradition, Irish and Scottish fiddle music and African-American blues influences through the inclusion of the five-string banjo. Unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass is traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments. Since it blurs the categories of folk, popular, and classical music as much as any American genre, “its exact definition is a matter of debate.” Typically, a bluegrass band consists of four to seven individuals who sing and accompany themselves on acoustic string instruments: two rhythm instruments (guitar and double bass) and several melody instruments (fiddle, five-string banjo, mandolin, resonator guitar, and second guitar). Lead instrumentalists take solo breaks between verses of a song and provide a harmonic and rhythmic background often in a responsorial relationship to the vocal part. The bluegrass repertory included traditional folksongs and newly composed sentimental secular songs, country blues, religious songs, revival hymns, and instrumental numbers. The majority of bluegrass music unfolds in duple meter with rhythmic emphasis on the off-beats, and tempos are generally fast and very exciting.

Scotland

Clann an Drumma

Our final stop on this particular “Walkin’ round the World” tour brings us to Scotland, and to Scotland’s premier tribal band “Clann an Drumma.” Originally founded by Joe Kilna MacKenzie, who sadly passed away in 2010, they have continued to bring Scottish tribal music to worldwide audiences. The name of the band, which is Scots Gaelic for “Children of the Drum,” quickly gives you some idea what their music is all about. It involves the heavy use of percussion and Highland bagpipes, and the band’s motto is “Keep it Tribal.” Based in Glasgow, this tribe features Donnie MacNeil on pipes. That lone piper matches his excellent chops against Tu-Bardh Wilson, Jacquie Holland, Joe Kilna MacKenzie and Jamesie Johnston, all providing solid layers of drums and percussion. Actually, they are keeping alive a tradition going back hundreds of year, when the sounds of drums and bagpipes would accompany the Scottish warriors who fought in legendary battles.

Of course, the bagpipe is usually associated with Scottish folk music, but the origins of that instrument if found throughout large areas of Europe, North Africa, and South Asia. The earliest mention of bagpipes in Scotland dates to the 15th century although they are believed to have been introduced to Britain by the Roman armies. The pìob mhór, or Great Highland Bagpipe, was originally associated with both hereditary piping families and professional pipers to various clan chiefs; later, pipes were adopted for use in other venues, including military marching. But wait, “Clann an Drumma” isn’t your traditional bagpipe music. Of course, the tunes are mostly traditional pieces carried by the pipes, but when the percussion kicks in it turns into a thunderous new world. And when the four tattooed drummers add vocalizations, which is often wordless, sometimes shouting, it becomes music that you can actually feel pulsing through your body. If nothing else, it will get your heart racing and your foot tapping.

   

Vancouver pianist suffers heart failure during concerto performance, continues playing

Alexander Toradze was performing with the the Vancouver Symphony. Picture: Getty

By Sophia Alexandra Hall, ClassicFM

@sophiassocials

 

Prior to the concert, the audience was told the pianist had been experiencing a shortness of breath.

Last week, Georgian-American pianist Alexander Toradze was scheduled to perform two concertos with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA, based in Vancouver Washington.

However, the classical musician, who turns 70 next month, had been feeling unwell in the run up to the performance on Saturday 23 April. By the day of the concert, Toradze was struggling to walk unaided, so was accompanied onto the stage by Dr. Michael Liu, a medical doctor and board member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

The audience had been warned in advance that although Toradze had tested negative for coronavirus, due to experiencing a shortness of breath there was a possibility the musician wouldn’t be able to perform.

However, the virtuoso pianist played through not one, but two concertos; first, Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, followed by the main event, Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto. Toradze is recognised worldwide for his interpretation of Russian repertoire and studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow as a teenager.

His performances, which both took place during the first act, were met with enthusiastic applause, but unbeknownst to the audience – and at the time Toradze himself – the pianist had experienced acute heart failure while performing. 

On Sunday, the day after the performance, Dr. Liu drove Toradze to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where doctors told the pianist what had happened on stage. Toradze was meant to be playing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra again tonight, but is instead being kept at the medical centre until his health stabilises.

Toradze recorded this video to reassure his fans and concerned members of the orchestra.

Describing the event as a “pretty memorable concert”, Toradze seems in good spirits and sends best wishes to all the musicians and his fans.

Robert Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young

by Georg Predota , Interlude

Robert Schumann

For the 7th birthday of his daughter Marie, Robert Schumann compiled a short album of “Little Piano Pieces.” Once he had gotten that process started, Schumann kept adding miniatures to the collection. His wife Clara Schumann wrote in her diary, “The pieces usually given to children at their piano lessons are so bad, that it has occurred to Robert to bring out a collection of such little works himself.” Schumann was on fire and reported to his friend Carl Reinecke, “I cannot remember ever feeling as content as when working on these pieces… I felt as though I were starting to compose all over again!” Schumann composed the 43 pieces of his Album for the Young in barely 2 weeks, but a good many more miniatures have surfaced in various manuscripts but were not included in the published collection. The set is subdivided into two parts, starting with pieces “suitable for younger players,” and concluding with pieces “appropriate for more mature players.” Clara Schumann prepared the final edition and tellingly wrote, “Never play bad compositions, nor even listen to them, unless absolutely obliged to do so.”

The Evening Star

You lovely star,
You shine from afar,
And so I hold you
Dearly in my heart.

How I do love you
So deep in my heart!
Your twinkling eyes
Look ever on me.

So I look to on you,
As you are there or here:
Your friendly eyes
Stand ever before me.

How you nod at me
In peaceful rest!
O lovely little star,
O were I like you!
(Translation © Gary Bachlund)

Robert Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young

Six months later, Clara Schumann was expecting her fifth child, and Robert Schumann followed up his Album for young pianists with one for young singers. The inspiration for his Album of Songs for the Young might well have been pedagogical, as he considered singing a fundamental part of music education. As he recommended in his pamphlet Musical House and Life Rules, “Try, if you also have only a little voice, to sing from the page without the help of the instrument … But if you have a resonant voice, do not hesitate a moment in cultivating it, consider it as the finest gift that heaven bestows on you! He who wants to cultivate a complete musical personality should not only strive for instrumental virtuosity, as on the piano, but should not neglect singing.” In no time, Schumann had composed 25 solos songs and 4 duets, and he wrote to his publishers: “This collection will best express what I had in mind. I have selected poems appropriate to childhood, exclusively from the best poets, and have tried to arrange them in order of difficulty, progressing from the easy and simple to the difficult and complex. At the end comes Mignon, gazing into a more troubled emotional life.”

Butterfly

[Oh] butterfly tell,
Why do you flee me?
Why are you in such haste,
Now far and then near?

Now far and then near,
Now here and then there–
I shall not catch you,
I shall not harm you.

I shall not harm you:
O stay here always!
And I were a little flower,
I would say to you,

I would say to you:
Come, come to me!
I give you my little heart,
How fond I am of you!
(Translation © Sharon Krebs)

Clara and Robert Schumann

Scholars have suggested “for all their apparent simplicity, these songs need to be performed with loving detachment rather than wallowing sentimentality, and the singers who have been most successful with this repertoire are those who have not turned themselves into children.” The Album of Songs for the Young is not simply a loose collection of songs, but it should be considered a genuine cycle. Fundamentally, “it reflects Schumann’s understanding of the formal and substantial development of folksong into something more elaborate, and it also discloses an exemplary exegesis of a phenomenon by way of varied possibilities for interpreting a given poem in a musical setting.” Following the pattern established in his Album for the Young, Schumann divides the song collection into two sections “For the Younger,” and “For the Older.” The first section begins in the world of children and deals with animals, nature, and daily life. We also find songs of the gypsy lads and shepherd boys, as well as the sandman and the ladybird. The second section leads us into a world of wider experiences and feelings, from the pantheism of Goethe’s “Song of Lynceus the Watchman” to the yearning of “Mignon.”

The Sandman

I wear a fine pair of boots
with wondrously soft soles,
I carry a sack upon my back!
Hush, I scamper quickly up the stairs.
And when I enter the chamber
The children are saying their prayers:
Two little grains of my sand
I scatter into their eyes,
Then they sleep the whole night
Watched over by God and the angels.
Two little grains of my sand
I scattered into their eyes:
The good little children should be visited
By a beautiful dream.
Now rapidly and swiftly with my sack and my stick
back down the stairs!
I can no longer stand around idly,
I must still visit many [children] tonight.
You are already nodding off and laughing in your dreams,
And I barely opened my little sack.
(Translation © Sharon Krebs)

Robert Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young, 29 May, 1849

In terms of music, Schumann’s Album of Songs for the Young offers increasing levels of difficulties. In the opening “children’s songs” the melody is primarily supported by simple but delightful harmonic progressions in the piano. The harmonic accompaniment, sophisticated as it well may be, is simply intended to support a young singer. It has been suggested that Schumann here “follows the tradition of pedagogically oriented collections of songs for children from the 18th century, found in a variety of published sources.” These songs can also be performed together in the family circle. Mailied (May Song) has a second voice ad lib, some numbers are for two voices, while Spinnelied (Spinning Song) is for three, and in Weihnachtlied (Christmas Song), with the text attributed to Hans Christian Andersen, at the end a chorus can join in with the refrain ‘Hallelujah, Kind Jesus’ (Alleluia, Child Jesus).”

Christmas Song

When the Christchild was brought to the world,
Who has rescued us from hell,
He lay in a manger in dark night,
Pillowed on straw and hay;
But above the hut there shone the star,
And the ox kissed the foot of the Lord.
Halleluja, Child Jesus!

Take courage, soul that is sick and weary,
Forget your gnawing pains.
A child was born in the city of David
As a comfort for all hearts.
Oh let us go to the little child,
And become children in mind and spirit.
Halleluja, Child Jesus!
(Translation © Sharon Krebs)

Clara and Robert Schumann’s children

Scholars have suggested that the songs of Schumann’s Album of Songs for the Young hold only a marginal position in musical life today. “For young singers they seem in part overtaxing, but because of their pedagogic aims, on the other hand, they are artistically undervalued by adult singers. The first numbers in particular seem too childish for performance by a concert singer. It may be argued, however, that Schumann’s songs conjure up, not naively but in feeling, the innocent world of childhood.” Aesthetically, they seem close to his piano set “Scenes of Childhood,” which also present idyllic reflections of childhood by adults. That sense of childhood idyll is clearly seen on the title-page of the first edition, which portrays a group of children singing and making music in a paradise of a natural setting “of leafy tendrils with flowers, fruits and nesting birds.”

Watching over children

When good children go to sleep,
Two little angels stand by their beds,
They tuck them in and tuck them up,
And keep a loving eye on them.
But when the children get up,
Both the angels go to sleep,
If the angels’ strength is now not enough,
The good Lord himself keeps watch.
(Translation © Richard Stokes)

Schumann’s Album of Songs for the Young develops from children’s songs to pure art song in the Mörike setting “Er ist’s” (It is Spring).

Spring is here

Spring is floating its blue banner
On the breezes again;
Sweet, well-remembered scents
Drift portentously across the land.
Violets, already dreaming,
Will soon begin to bloom.
Listen, the sound of a harp!
Spring, that must be you!
It’s you I’ve heard!
(Translation © Richard Stokes)

The piano and vocal part are quietly restrained in the first half of the song, possibly suggesting that spring can already be sensed, but that it has not yet arrived. However, after a delicate and light staccato arpeggio imitating the echo of a harp, the “protagonist loudly bursts forth with recognition of the season’s entrance; here, the vocal line simultaneously reaches its highest notes and its first forte crescendo within just two demanding measures.” The composer repeats segments of the text several times, varying each occurrence, especially in terms of dynamics, to emphasize the protagonist’s elation.

Critics have suggested, “Mörike-lovers may consider this song a witless travesty of a beautiful poem.” However, the music is certainly charming and effective, and Schumann has left the innocence of his early songs in this set behind and the music has “grown into the dancing pulse of a girl’s first love song.” Until recently, it has been fashionable to consider the songs of 1849 a decline. “Schumann never again reached or even approached the level of his 1840 masterpieces” a scholar writes. “Other composers of comparable stature are believed to mature in their music; Schumann appears to deteriorate. A favoured explanation is mental illness…and the musical evidence seems to support a theory of progressive disorder from 1849 onward. And while Schumann is still a fine songwriter in 1849, he is no longer a great one. Sometimes, as in Goethe’s text from Faust, he treats great poetry rather cavalierly.”

Song of Lynceus the Watchman

I am born for seeing,
Employed to watch,
Sworn to the tower,
I delight in the world.

I see what is far,
I see what is near,
The moon and the stars,
The wood and the deer.

In all these I see
Eternal beauty,
And as it has pleased me,
I’m content with myself.

O happy eyes,
Whatever you have seen,
Let it be as it may,
How fair it has been!
(Translation © Richard Stokes)

Robert Schumann: Lieder-Album fur die Jugend, Op. 79 – No. 24. Spinnerlied (Christina Landshamer, soprano; Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Andreas Burkhart, baritone; Gerold Huber, piano)

Robert Schumann: Lieder-Album fur die Jugend, Op. 79 – No. 27. Lied Lynceus des Türmers (Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Gerold Huber, piano)

Schumann: Album of Songs for the Young – Mignon

It has been said that Goethe’s character “Mignon” beautifully embodied the virtues of Romanticism. “From her simplicity, to her unbreakable loyalty and strength of emotions, she simultaneously embodies youthful innocence and mature longing, helplessness as an abused child and an ambiguous relationship with her protector… She gave voice to those in society who were otherwise ignored or forgotten.” Schumann composed “Mignon” to conclude his Album of Songs for the Young in the summer of 1849 amidst the uproar and danger of the Dresden uprising.” In his reading of the poetry and his musical setting there is no audible suggestion of decline. It might be somewhat taxing for untrained voices, as the melodic line is disjunct and widely spaced. In addition, the phrasing of the vocal lines and their interlinking with the piano part certainly calls for trained interpreters. Assumed mental deterioration aside, Schuman thought highly enough of his “Mignon” setting to place it at the head of his “Songs of Wilhem Meister,” Op. 98a.

Mignon

Do you know the land where the lemons blossom,
Where oranges grow golden among dark leaves,
A gentle wind drifts from the blue sky,
The myrtle stands silent, the laurel tall,
Do you know it?
It is there, it is there
I long to go with you, my love.

Do you know the house? Columns support its roof,
Its great hall gleams, its apartments shimmer,
And marble statues stand and stare at me:
What have they done to you, poor child?
Do you know it?
It is there, it is there
I long to go with you, my protector.

Do you know the mountain and its cloudy path?
The mule seeks its way through the mist,
Caverns house the dragons’ ancient brood;
The rock falls sheer, the torrent over it,
Do you know it?
It is there, it is there
Our pathway lies! O father, let us go!
(Translation © Richard Stokes)