The poem in last week’s post has inspired songs that are not very well known; not even Liszt’s settings are. In contrast, the poem I’m bringing you this week, also by Heine, is so closely associated with a lied by Robert Schumann that I’m sure that, when you read its first line, you’ll be able to hum it: Allnächtlich im Traume sehe ich dich.
Am I very wrong? Those of us who love this repertoire have Schumann’s Dichterliebe so deeply internalised that it’s hard for us to listen to any other song based on the same verses. But we’ve done it once, and we can make the effort again.
Charles Ives was criticised for daring to compose his Ich grolle nicht (inevitably, you’ve given it Schumann’s music. It’s fine, I did too), but Felix Mendelssohn could hardly be criticised in the same way: according to most sources, he composed his Allnächtlich im Traume in 1834, that is, six years before his friend Robert wrote his own. It was published posthumously in 1851 and, if you’re wondering whether Robert knew Felix’s version, I’m wondering too, but I haven’t found any reference that clarifies it.
Later on, time pushed Felix’s song somewhat aside. It is a lied with the strophic structure typical of him, following the principles of the Berlin School. The first two stanzas are identical, while the third is slightly different. The piano accompaniment is turbulent and conveys the anguish of the nightmare; the vocal line, on the other hand, expresses anxiety, yes, but also allows itself moments of melancholy: the last line of each stanza is separated from the previous three by a few bars of piano alone and, moreover, it is repeated.
It is striking —and, as I often tell you, this is the charm of this section— to see how it is possible to compose two such different songs from the same poem. And we’ll listen to another one someday.
For now, I leave you with Christoph Prégardien and Andreas Staier performing Allnächtlich im Traume sehe ich dich by Felix Mendelssohn.
Allnächtlich im Traume sehe ich dir
Allnächtlich im Traume seh' ich dich
Und sehe dich freundlich grüßen,
Und laut aufweinend stürz' ich mich
Zu deinen süßen Füßen.
Du siehest mich an wehmütiglich
Und schüttelst das blonde Köpfchen;
Aus deinen Augen schleichen sich
Die Perlentränentröpfchen.
Du sagst mir heimlich ein leises
WortUnd gibst mir den Strauß von Zypressen.
Ich wache auf, und der Strauß ist fort,
Und 's Wort hab' ich vergessen.
Please follow this link if you need an English translation
