Dichterliebe

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Composed in 1840, Dichterliebe Op. 48 is the arguably best-known song cycle of Robert Schumann. The text for the songs comes from the Lyrisches Intermezzo of Heinrich Heine, published as part of the poet's Buch der Lieder. Author of the sarcastic die Romantische Schule, Heine was a vocal critic of German romanticism. Many of his poems are marked by a biting irony that mocks romantic convention. Scholars debate the extent to which Schumann, a romantic himself, understood Heine's irony, and chose to portray it through music.

The first edition of Dichterliebe was published in two volumes by Peters, in Leipzig, 1844. Though Schumann originally set 20 songs to Heine's poems only 16 of the 20 compositions were included in the first edition.

Dichterliebe is prominently featured in Jon Moran's play Old Wicked Songs. In the play, a young American pianist travels to Europe to overcome an artistic block that threatens his career. Through his work with a renowned Viennese musician with a checkered past the two explore the nature of meaning and artistry through Schumann's music. The play takes its name from the final composition in the cycle.

1. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (In the lovely month of May)
2. Aus meinen Tränen sprießen (From my tears spring up)
3. Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne (The rose, the lily, the dove, the sun)
4. Wenn ich in deine Augen seh (When I look into your eyes)
5. Ich will meine Seele tauchen (I will hide in the heart of the lily)
6. Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome (On the Rhine, on the sacred stream)
7. Ich grolle nicht (I blame thee not)
8. Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen (And if the flowers knew, the little ones)
9. Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen (There is playing of flutes and fiddles)
10. Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen (When I hear the song)
11. Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen (A boy loves a girl)
12. Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen (In the bright summer morning)
13. Ich hab' im Traum geweinet (I cried in my dream)
14. Allnächtlich im Traume (Every night in my dreams I see you)
15. Aus alten Märchen winkt es (Out of the old fairy tales)
16. Die alten, bösen Lieder (The old evil songs)

[edit] References section

• Edited by Arthur Komar. (2005). Schumann Dichterliebe: AN AUTHORITATIVE SCORE * HISTORICAL BACKGROUND * ESSAYS IN ANALYSIS * VIEWS AND COMMENTS, New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-09904-0