Classical Music | Tenor

Recorded on 12/31/1969, uploaded on 06/07/2015

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

The poet struggles in the fourth song, “Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’” (“When I gaze into your eyes”), to cope with outward show of love from his beloved. Her gaze and kiss fill the poet with comfort and strength. Yet, when she says, “I love you” (“Ich liebe dich”), he senses the emptiness of the words, and weeps bitterly. Schumann’s setting of this brief two-stanza poem could not be more contrasted to the previous song. The vocal melody takes on an almost recitative character, while the accompaniment either echoes its slow, rhythmic pulse or follows it closely with full-voiced chords. With such simple means, Schumann’s word-painting is subtle, yet impactful. The triumph of her kiss and the vigor it gives the poet is wonderfully heard in the sudden crescendo and equally unexpected F-major chord, precipitating a modulation from the tonic of G major into the triumphal key of the subdominant. With the beginning of the second stanza (“Wenn ich mich lehn’ an deine Brust”), the tone turns reverent as the music of the opening measures is transformed into pious E minor, reflecting the poet’s associations of comfort and heaven. Yet, the sinking feeling of his heart when faced with her hollow declarations of affection is heard in the descending tones, though a diminished seventh chord, beneath the word “sprichst.”     Joseph DuBose

Recorded live on August 19th of 1965 at the Salzburg Festival.

courtesy of YouTube