Schumann: Liederkreis, 12 songs for voice & piano, Op. 39

Robert Schumann wrote this song cycle in 1840, the so-called “song-year” of exceptional creative output. Set to poetry by Joseph von Eichendorff, these songs are unusual in that they are relatively unconnected. There isn’t a single protagonist like Frauenliebe und leben, or an attempt to tell a continuing narrative as in Dichterliebe. Perhaps the one unifying thread of Liederkreis is its evocation of nature as well as its expressions of a wide spectrum of human emotions – Schumann was certainly a master at both. It has also been suggested the central theme linking the songs is Schumann’s turbulent four-year love affair with Clara Wieck, as some of the songs recall events in the composer’s life. Schumann gave a hint of this by including the “Clara theme” – a series of musical notes that spells Clara’s name, in ‘Intermezzo’, the second song of the cycle. The wide-ranging moods of the cycle pose considerable difficulties for the singer. Each song is almost like a mini-opera, and the singer has to change moods very quickly and convincingly.  This is one of the most frequently performed – and recorded – Schumann song cycles, and for good reason. When you hear the exquisitely set mood in ‘Mondnacht’, or the ecstatic outpouring of ‘Fruhlingsnacht’, one can see why this cycle has withstood the test of time. On this recording, Maureen Forrester is accompanied by John Newmark in an RCA recording made in 1982. Newmark was probably the most important pianist in the singer’s career, the two had collaborated on numerous occasions over several decades.

Joseph K. So