During the 1890s, the effects of syphilis were already beginning to take its toll on Hugo Wolf. Bouts of depression and a dogged determination to compose an opera, coupled with his failing health, troubled the composer greatly, and he consequently went through long spells in which he wrote no new music. However, Wolf was able to muster the energy for a final outburst of creativity beginning 1896. He completed the last songs of his Italianisches-Lieder that year, and the following, composed the three songs of the Michelangelo-Lieder. These settings of poetry by the great Renaissance poet and painter, translated into German by Walter Robert-Turnow, were to be Wolf’s last completed compositions. He continued to compose following the completion of the Michelangelo-Lieder, and during his final days of sanity, he worked frantically on an opera, Manuel Venegas, but completed only sixty pages. At his own request, he was eventually committed to a Vienna asylum after attempting to drown himself.
Opening the collection is “Wohl denk’ ich oft an mein vergangnes Leben” (“I often think of my past life”). The song begins with a melancholy tone in G minor as the piano announces a monophonic idea, rising chromatically to the tonic, before the vocalist enters in the third measure. The somber vocal melody is accompanied by an equally pensive countermelody in the piano, which further captivates the listener with its poignant chromaticism. At the penultimate line of the poem (“Genannt in Lob und Tadel bin ich heute”), Wolf modulates into the key of G major. The vocal melody, ascending into the upper register of the bass voice, is now triumphant. Beneath it, the piano provides a full-voiced accompaniment that transforms into triumphal fanfares that bring the song to a close, and which Wolf himself described as “like a flourish of trumpets sounded for [Michelangelo] by his contemporaries in homage.” Joseph DuBose
Classical Music | Bass
Hugo Wolf
Wohl denk ich oft, from Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo Play
Recorded on 08/09/2009, uploaded on 11/07/2011
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
During the 1890s, the effects of syphilis were already beginning to take its toll on Hugo Wolf. Bouts of depression and a dogged determination to compose an opera, coupled with his failing health, troubled the composer greatly, and he consequently went through long spells in which he wrote no new music. However, Wolf was able to muster the energy for a final outburst of creativity beginning 1896. He completed the last songs of his Italianisches-Lieder that year, and the following, composed the three songs of the Michelangelo-Lieder. These settings of poetry by the great Renaissance poet and painter, translated into German by Walter Robert-Turnow, were to be Wolf’s last completed compositions. He continued to compose following the completion of the Michelangelo-Lieder, and during his final days of sanity, he worked frantically on an opera, Manuel Venegas, but completed only sixty pages. At his own request, he was eventually committed to a Vienna asylum after attempting to drown himself.
Opening the collection is “Wohl denk’ ich oft an mein vergangnes Leben” (“I often think of my past life”). The song begins with a melancholy tone in G minor as the piano announces a monophonic idea, rising chromatically to the tonic, before the vocalist enters in the third measure. The somber vocal melody is accompanied by an equally pensive countermelody in the piano, which further captivates the listener with its poignant chromaticism. At the penultimate line of the poem (“Genannt in Lob und Tadel bin ich heute”), Wolf modulates into the key of G major. The vocal melody, ascending into the upper register of the bass voice, is now triumphant. Beneath it, the piano provides a full-voiced accompaniment that transforms into triumphal fanfares that bring the song to a close, and which Wolf himself described as “like a flourish of trumpets sounded for [Michelangelo] by his contemporaries in homage.” Joseph DuBose
More music by Hugo Wolf
Elfenlied, from Gedichte von Eduard Morike
Das Köhlerweib ist trunken
Ein Ständchen Euch zu bringen kam ich her, from the Italienisches Liederbuch
Alles endet, was entstehet, from Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo
Italian Serenade in G Major
Fühlt meine Seele, from Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo
Neue Liebe
Lebe wohl
Die Spröde
Als ich auf dem Euphrat schiffte
Performances by same musician(s)
Alles endet, was entstehet, from Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo
Fühlt meine Seele, from Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo
Classical Music for the Internet Era™
The Steans Music Institute is the Ravinia Festival's professional studies program for young musicians.