So, I had originally planned to cover a lied by Schubert, but I've had Schumann stuck in my head all morning, so I'll be covering one of my favorite selections from Robert Schumann's "Dichterliebe", or "The Poet's Love".
Of course, we are now dealing with a song cycle, so our analysis will differ in origin and technique from how we analyzed "Caro mio ben". Without going into the entire historical background of the song cycle, it's always good to get an idea of what the composer and, subsequently the poet/author of the text were personally trying to convey.The origin of the text is the Lyrisches Intermezzo, by the legendary Heinrich Heine, and a common source of text for Romantic composers of song. Ironically, Heine absolutely despised German romanticism, and often wrote groupings of poetry that satirized the idea as a whole. Yet, Schumann used 16 of the 65 pieces from Lyrisches in this completely honest, wholly Romantic work. Why he did this is absolutely up to debate; some might say that his deteriorating mental condition might have played a part in his choice for the text, or maybe that he was truly inspired by Heine's work, although it was meant to criticize the very artistic movement that Schumann embodied.
Whatever the reason, the work was almost certainly written with his lover at the time, Clara Wieck, in mind. He finally married Clara in 1840, the same year in which he wrote "Dichterliebe" and 153 other songs, later dubbed his "Year of Song". Also, Schumann's aforementioned mental condition definitely contributed to his choice of text, and also his compositional techniques in the song set, which we will cover in a bit...
For now, we will start with the basics, as we did last week; the music, and the text!
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, In the wonderfully beautiful month of MayAls alle Knospen sprangen, When all the buds are bursting open,
Da ist in meinem Herzen There, from my own heart,
Die Liebe aufgegangen. Bursts forth my own love.Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, In the wonderfully beautiful month of MayAls alle Vögel sangen, When all the birds are singing,Mein Sehnen und Verlangen. My yearning and my longing.
(Translation; www.recmusic.org/lieder)
From the first reading of the text, one can see the striking contrast between the "bursting" of "buds" of flowers,
typical of May, and the "yearning" and "longing" that is represented by the birds. A simple summary of the
character's viewpoint in this song is this; What does unrequited love feel like in the springtime?
More on that later...
Now, for some musical analysis.
For the first try at analyzing this piece, try to consider three things exclusively;
Harmonic structure
Tonality
Motivic Structure (emphasis on the structure of rhythmic motives)
Let's start with harmonic structure!
So, for a throwback to early theory classes, lets discern the assumed tonality of the piece given it's key signature. The piece is either in A major or it's relative minor, F sharp minor. Lets analyze the first 4 bars of the piece, leading up to the vocal entrance.
By the look of the first measure, it seems like the first chord of the piece would be a B minor chord in first inversion, with a few passing tones and a 9-8 suspension. Ok, somewhat common! The next measure implies a C#7 chord, suggesting that the piece is in F# minor. This would mean that the harmonic action in the first two measures would suggest a minor iv chord moving to the dominant, C#7, in the key of F# minor. This same motive is repeated verbatim in the next two measures.
Now, with the entrance of the vocal line, it seems as if the melody presented in the right hand of the piano in the first four measures will be repeated by the voice.
But what does Schumann do? He completely changes the implied tonality of the piece from F# minor to A major, with a perfect authentic cadence on the downbeat of m. 6.
Except for one small problem; there is a 4-3 suspension in the right hand of the piano (D-C#).
This might seem like a minute detail in the context of the piece and the cycle itself. But has Schumann already done in these first 6 measures to suggest the overall message of the piece and, of course, the text?
Continuing along the lines of harmonic analysis, let us call A major "happiness" and F# minor "sorrow", or maybe even "melancholy". Take a look back at the first 6 measures. Actually, even the first 4 measures. What do you think is going on?
Schumann has literally emoted, through music, an internal battle between happiness and sadness.
There is a strong tonicization of F# minor in these measures, but never a resolution in that key. There is almost a definite cadence in A major on the downbeat of m. 6, as I said before. But, that little tiny suspension prevents the cadence from really occurring. Or, rather, the character can never truly feel happy; there is always something preventing him/her from this.
And all of that in 6 measures of music.
As I have just covered tonality in that rant of mine, I'd like to direct your attention to motive, both rhythmic and melodic. From the very first measure, there is a great deal of syncopation, with most of the most "dissonant" tones being presented on strong beats in the measure. This rhythmic uncertainty plays into the idea of a constant state of melancholy, as I mentioned before.
Melodically speaking, there are two notes that are so important in this piece; C# and D. They are the first two notes in the piece. They cause the 4-3 suspension to occur in m. 6. They are the lowest tones in the first two measures of the piece. All of this suggests either a "le-sol" melodic figure (lowered scale degree 6 moving to the dominant) in F# minor, or a 4-3 suspension ("fa-mi") in the key of A major. This figure in and of itself represents both a possible resolution in sadness and a possible resolution in happiness. When one experiences the extremes of emotions, happiness and sadness are sometimes indiscernible...
Of course I didn't analyze the whole piece, so if you see anything else, please comment!
Here is a copy of the score;
http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/1/1c/IMSLP51736-PMLP12745-RS131.pdf
Also, as per the suggestion of a friend of mine, I found a great recording of this piece by the legendary baritone, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and the equally legendary pianist and accompanist, Gerald Moore.
Next week I'll be analyzing a piece from the depths of 20th century French chanson! Stay tuned!
I like your analysis very much, but I would go further to say that the piece is definitely in F#-minor. I conclude this on the assumption that Schumann meant for this song to be about what was missing, rather than what was present.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, there is never a resolution to a i (tonic) chord in F#m, despite the implied tonality established in the opening bars and returned to in the closing bars (ending on a V7/F#m). If one considers the text as being of equal or greater importance than the music, one can then decide that the fact that the beloved subject of the protagonist's love never gives their response to this expression, then one can assert that Schumann meant to parallel this lack of response and the lack of tonic resolution in F#m.
Yet, if one looks at the totality of the poem, its meaning and its relation to the existing cadence in A-major, the "happiness" sections (i.e. descriptions of the beauty of May), that cadence takes on a distinctly subsidiary importance compared with the absent F#m tonic resolution (i.e. the lack of response, and resulting sadness is much more important to the understanding of the poem).
Hence, the conclusion that the piece is in F#m, much as one might understand the concept in painting of negative space -- the space, which is important because of what is missing.
What is important to understand from an aesthetic standpoint is that your typical logical positivist trained music theorist would tend to focus upon that which is present and to ignore or discount that which is absent. Such an approach, in my view, amounts to an unfortunate decision to ignore the musical poetic of this work.
CatFace,
ReplyDeleteThank you! I completely agree after looking at this again. I would still, given how I analyze, keep the emotions assigned to the keys (f#m and AM). But I do agree.
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