Schumann ,Dichterliebe, op.48

Question 1

What were some popular themes in the lied tradition?

Answer 1

• Isolation
• Wandering
• Nature

Question 2

How is rhythm used effectively to shift emphasis between the piano and vocal parts? What
effect does this have? (song n.4)

Answer 2

• Delayed pattern
• piano echoing rhythmically
• emphasis on words (longer notes)

Question 3

What effects does Schumann’s use of tonality have in this song? Look at the relationship
between the different moods/ meanings conveyed by the words and the tonality used in the 2-
line phrases (song n.4)

Answer 3

• little modulation (joyless to bitter)
• commence major key
• complicated dance of tonality
• continuous change of mood (doesn’t need the words)
• continuous playing on the piano (weeping)

Question 4

How do the vocal part and the melodic line of the piano accompaniment interact in the
following bars: 1-7; 17-21; 23-37; 31-35; 36-39; 40-42. (song n.6)

Answer 4

• relentless dotted rhythms
• slow moving harmonies
• long postlude

Question 5

What is the purpose of the postlude? (song n. 6)

Answer 5

• Concludes the story

- develops the accompaniment to the first quatrain

Question 6

What are some significant contrasting features in the music (both piano and vocal) that create
a juxtaposition with the text and contribute to the sense of irony? (song n.7)

Answer 6

• Last section: victorious

- Tension: constant repetition, changing harmony, increase passion

Question 7

What kind of mood is conveyed in song n. 12 and how?

Answer 7

• Ironic

- ambiguous

Question 8

What effect does the postlude have? (song n.12)

Answer 8

Important feature of this song that is long and tender

Question 9

How does the final chord used at the end of the vocal section (before the beginning of the
postlude) reflect upon the meaning of the final text? (song. 16)

Answer 9

• No obvious imagery
• music being sentimental
• affective setting

Question 10

How does the postlude evoke a sense of irony? (song n.16)

Answer 10

• Reminding the listener of the sentiments expressed there
• extends to an almost rhapsodic extension
• expressively dissonant with the ironic meaning of Heine’s text

Question 11

What does the postlude suggest about how Schumann saw the role of the piano? (song n.16)

Answer 11

• postlude considered to the entire cycle

- Schumann’s final “word” (irony intended) on the cycle and on Heine’s text

Question 12

How did composers often group their lieder?

Answer 12

Songs that have relevance

Question 13

How does Schumann express a sense of discontentment and a lack of resolution in the piano part? Look especially at the opening four bars (which return in between the quatrains) in Song n. 1

Answer 13

• Harmonically ambiguous
• key changes constantly (unstable), lack of resolution
• Basic strophic setting
• not much of a modulation

Question 14

In what way does this interact with the sentiments expressed in the text, and also with the vocal line? (Song n.1)

Answer 14

Clear contrast - vocal line (constant, static) and the ambiguity of the piano line