Continue the journey…
We suggest works to explore after Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben
Robert Schumann spent much of July 1840 immersed in the work of Adelbert von Chamisso – as well as Frauenliebe und -leben, his Fünf Lieder, Op. 40 also set Chamisso’s words. In this instance, though, four of the five songs are Chamisso’s translations of poems by Hans Christian Andersen. With each song depicting a single character, a theme of love runs through the cycle but, Andersen being Andersen, the darker, painful side of passion is never far away. (Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Gerold Huber (piano) RCA 88697168172).
Clara Schumann could be fairly selfdeprecatory when comparing her songs to her husband’s, but this reflects social convention more than the quality of her work. Her exquisite Op. 13 collection of six songs (1840-44) sets poems by Heine, Geibel and Rückert that reflect on love in its various forms, from the utter devotion of ‘Ich hab’ in deinem Auge’ to the sorry love-hate relationship described in ‘Sie liebten sich beide’. (Miah Persson (soprano), Joseph Breinl (piano) BIS BISSACD1834).
For a close contemporary of Frauenliebe und -leben, try Carl Loewe’s 1836 Frauenliebe, which also sets Chamisso’s texts. Though less familiar today, the prolific German was greatly admired in his own time, not least by Wagner. (Brigitte Fassbaender (mezzo), Cord Garben (piano) Deutsche Grammophon 423 6802).
The besottedness of the first two songs of Frauenliebe und -leben runs right through Beethoven’s seminal song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte
(‘To the distant beloved’). Here, amid the blossoms of spring, a lovelorn young man imagines how he will win over the object of his desire through song. (Werner Güra (tenor), Christoph Berner (fortepiano), Harmonia Mundi MC902217).
Finally, for another Chamisso setting, try the lively ‘Der Müllerin Nachbar’ (‘The mill-girl’s neighbour’), the sixth and last song in the Op. 10 cycle by Johanna Kinkel. Born in the same year as Robert Schumann, Kinkel enjoyed acclaim as both a composer and author. Her career in Germany came to a shuddering halt, however, when her involvement in the 1848 uprisings forced her to leave for London.
(Ingrid Schmithuesen (soprano), Thomas Palm (fortepiano) CPO 777 1402).
In Schumann’s Andersen settings, the darker side of passion is never far away