Alfred Edward Housman is one of the most widely read English poets, at least during the first half of the 20th century. He is also one of the most musicalized poets, hundreds of songs have been composed upon virtually all of the poems in his collection A Shropshire Lad. This collection, published by Housman in 1896, became known shortly after, during the Second Boer War [...]
Some time ago, we listened to a Lied that Franz Schubert composed upon a poem by Friedrich von Hardenberg, Novalis, a poem that starts with the verse "Ich sehe dich in tausend Bildern".Back then, I told you that it was not easy to establish if the Lied, known as Geistliches Lied or Maria, was a sacred or a secular song.
This week's poem begins with the verse “Aus der Heimat hinten den Blitzen rot” [From the direction of home, behind the red flashes of lightning], by Joseph von Eichendorff. We're familiar with it thanks to a Lied by Robert Schumann, In der Fremde, which opens his Liederkreis, Op. 39. It is a purely romantic poem, like the whole cycle: the feeling of belonging nowhere [...]
We're already in the middle of summer, which means it's time to take a break or, at the very least, slow down. Regular readers know that Liederabend doesn't make holidays, but I try to make lighter posts during the summer months. As usual, August will be devoted to the Schubert, and I have been considering what I could do in July.
Andante. Andantino. Adagio. Andante molto moderato. These are usual tempo indications in Gabriel Fauré's mélodies, which are usually slow, quiet, intimate songs. Therefore, it is striking to find in a recital a song by Fauré indicated as allegro energico.