Schumann: The Songs

The Kerner Songs

First came the promised Kerner. This group is interestingly titled Eine Liederreihe, a row or series of songs, as distinct from the previous Zyklus or Kreis, a cycle or circle, as if to confirm that the music is now open-ended. The outside world of nature is the main motivic force. The typical soft, slow music in flat keys makes a fine autumnal afterglow to the 1840 songs. The poems are chosen as a counterpart to Frauenliebe, to hint at a similar story of love and loss, with nature as final solace. The evocations of scene and character are memorable, as in Stirb, Lieb' and Freud'. So is the background of external nature; the storm in the valleys in Lust der Sturtnnacht, the green freshness of the interludes in Erstes Grün!, the touching nostalgia of Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend. Whenever the music is outward bound or forward looking its impulse is vital; but when it looks inward (e.g. at the room from the storm in Lust der Sturmnacht) or back­ward (e.g. the home thoughts from abroad in the middle of Wanderlust) then the inspiration seems to falter.