Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856) was a German composer,
pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely
regarded as one of the greatest composers of the
Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending
to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher,
Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that
he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a
hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his
musical energies on composing. In 1840, Schumann
married Friedrich Wi...(+)
Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856) was a German composer,
pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely
regarded as one of the greatest composers of the
Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending
to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher,
Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that
he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a
hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his
musical energies on composing. In 1840, Schumann
married Friedrich Wieck's daughter Clara Wieck, after a
long and acrimonious legal battle with Friedrich, who
opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music
began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and
music prodigy. Clara and Robert also developed a close
relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano.
Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many
Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four
symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral,
and chamber works. His best-known works include
Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen,
Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known
for infusing his music with characters through motifs,
as well as references to works of literature. These
characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue
Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a
Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first
manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive
episode—which recurred several times alternating with
phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional
ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic
items. What is now thought to have been a combination
of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led
to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's
compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in
1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a
mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with
psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years
later at the age of 46, without recovering from his
mental illness.
"Liederkreis" (Song Cycle) Op. 39, is a song cycle
composed by Robert Schumann in 1840. Its poetry is
taken from Joseph von Eichendorff's collection entitled
Intermezzo. Schumann wrote two cycles of this name –
the other being his Opus 24, to texts by Heinrich Heine
– so this work is also known as the Eichendorff
Liederkreis. Schumann wrote, "The voice alone cannot
reproduce anything or produce every effect; together
with the expression of the whole the finer details of
the poem should also be emphasized; and all is well as
long as the vocal line is not sacrificed." Liederkreis,
Op. 39, is regarded as one of the great song cycles of
the 19th century, capturing, in essence, the Romantic
experience of landscape. Schumann wrote it starting in
May 1840, the year in which he wrote such a large
number of songs that it is known as his "year of song"
or Liederjahr.
It can be argued that the form of "Mondnacht" (Moon
Night) #5 is strophic (in a verse-repeating form), with
some slight deviations from the norm. The first two
stanzas of the poetry are set to identical melodies in
the vocal line, and there is also very strong
similarity in the piano accompaniment, with only a few
chords that differ. The digressions from the norm occur
in the last stanza, where the vocal line varies in
pitch, but retains the same rhythmic structure.
Additionally, the repeated, blocked chords in the piano
accompaniment become much thicker with the doubling of
notes.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liederkreis,_Op._39_(Sch
umann))
Although originally composed for Voice and Piano, I
created this Interpretation of "Mondnacht" (Moon Night
Op. 39 No. 5) for Flute & Strings (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
