Eftychia Papanikolaou is assistant professor of musicology and coordinator of music history studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Her research (from Haydn and Brahms to Mahler’s fi n-de-siècle Vienna), focuses on the in- terconnections of music, religion, and politics in the long nineteenth century, with emphasis on the sacred as a musical topos. She is currently completing a monograph on the genre of the Romantic Symphonic Mass
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the end of the book. Early on we learn that her life, is no longer the strangely looking, theaters, where music only serves she was “taken from her parents when she androgynous creature Wilhelm saved. When the eye, accompanying movements, was very young by a company of acrobats,” she is asked to participate in a theatrical not feelings. In oratorios and and she became Wilhelm’s adoptive daugh- play as an angel, we witness her for the fi rst concerts the physical presence of ter, with whom she formed a strange attach- time “clothed in a long, thin white garment the singer is disturbing. Music is only ment, at once fi lial and erotic.7 Mignon is “the with a girdle of gold around her chest and for the ear. A lovely voice is the most prey of strong emotions,” and her personal- a golden crown in her hair.”10 Immediately universal thing one can think of, and ity “consists almost entirely of a deep sort afterwards she sings her last song in the if the limited individual producing of yearning: the longing to see her mother novel, “So lasst mich scheinen,” whose text it is visible, this disturbs the effect again, and a longing for [Wilhelm]”—those, relates immediately to this transformative of universality…. when someone actually, seem to be “the only earthly things experience. It also sadly offers a prolepsis is singing, he should be invisible, his appearance should not prejudice about her.”8 Fragile and vulnerable (indeed of her impeding death: Wilhelm encounters me in his favor or distract me. With she suffers from “terrible convulsions” when her shortly thereafter, still decked out in singing it is a case of one organ emotionally disturbed),9 Mignon is a mar- her “long white dress, her thick brown hair addressing another, not one mind ginalized personality until she undergoes a partly hanging loose”; at the sight of Wilhelm speaking to another, not a manifold major transformation. Starting with Book kissing another woman, Mignon suffers a 11 world to a single pair of eyes, not 6, Mignon, who had worn boys’ clothes all seizure and dies. Afterwards, we learn heaven to a single man.13 that the Harper (who is also dead) was her father, and Mignon was born of an incestu- (Book 8, Chapter 5) ous relationship with his sister. As strange as this story seems, even if read allegorically in It is immediately after this account that Goethe’s superbly crafted prose, it neverthe- Mignon dies. A couple of chapters later, less helps elucidate the constant yearning, Mignon’s funeral takes place in this familiar isolation, and poignancy of the novel’s ten Hall, as if it were “an elaborately staged dra- lyrical interpolations. It will also help us un- matic performance.”14 This time Mignon’s derstand the elaborate scene of Mignon’s embalmed body lies inside the ornamented Exequien and how such a non-traditional sarcophagus, and four boys and two invisible musico-dramatic setting forms the perfect choirs, as if “disembodied” in the manner analog to the novel’s unconventional content. described earlier, intone in “gentle strains.”15 After a detailed stage description of the Hall of the Past, Goethe relates a dramatic Exequien exchange that takes place between the four The prose text for Die Requiem für boys sitting near Mignon’s coffi n and the two Mignon comes from the opening of Book invisible choruses. Schumann’s melopoiesis 8, Chapter 8 of Goethe’s novel, in which of this short dialogue, which resembles a the author dramatizes the funeral rites that dramatic scene, constitutes Die Requiem für follow the unexpected death of Mignon. Its Mignon. location, the Hall of the Past, with the “four Schumann, appropriately, gave the texts large marble candelabras” in the corners, of the four boys to two solo soprano and was already described to the readers before, two solo alto voices, while the two choruses when Natalie and Wilhelm observed the are represented by a single chorus on the 16 “exquisite craftsmanship” of a sarcopha- score. Unlike what one would expect gus—an eerie prolepsis of the fate that from the nature of the text, Schumann they knew Mignon would soon succumb does not set this dialogue in an antiphonal to. In that scene, their observation of the manner. Instead, he creates a miniature “semicircular openings” for the “choirs of dramatic presentation in six parts, per- singers, so that they may remain unseen”12 formed without a pause. As he had done had prompted Natalie to relate her uncle’s before, and especially in his setting of scenes 17 account on vocal music—a discourse on from Faust, Schumann followed Goethe’s romantic aesthetics that deserves to be cited text quite faithfully: with the exception of in its entirety: occasional repetitions and/or alterations, the prose serves almost as a libretto (Table We have been spoiled too much by 1 outlines Schumann’s division of the text
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Table 1 Indications of Modifi cations in Schumann’s Setting
[roman] = alternate spelling [italics] = entirely omitted underlined = new or modifi ed text italics = repeats text from before
J. W. von Goethe, Wilhelm Meisters Leh- J. W. von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Robert Schumann, Requiem für Mignon aus rjahre, 1795–96. In Sämtliche Werke, Apprenticeship, edited and translated by Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, Op. 98b, für Chor, Abteilung 1, Band 9, ed. Wilhelm Voßkamp Eric A. Blackall. Goethe’s collected works, Solostimmen und Orchester. Leipzig: Breitkopf and Herbert Jaumann. Frankfurt am Vol. 9. New York: Suhrkamp, 1989.*** und Härtel, 1851. Main: Deutsche Klassiker Verlag, 1992.
Am Abend lud der Abbé zu den Exequien In the evening the Abbé summoned everyone Am Abend [lud der Abbé zu den Exequien Mignons ein. Die Gesellschaft begab sich to the funeral rites for Mignon. The whole Mignons ein] fanden die Exequien für Mignon in den Saal der Vergangenheit und fand company proceeded to the Hall of the Past; statt. Die Gesellschaft begab sich in den Saal der denselben auf das sonderbarste erhellt und they found it strangely decorated and illumi- Vergangenheit und fand denselben auf das sonder- ausgeschmückt. Mit himmelblauen Tep- nated. The walls were almost entirely draped barste erhellt und ausgeschmückt. Mit himmelb- pichen waren die Wände fast von oben bis with tapestries of azure blue, so that only lauen Teppichen waren die Wände fast von oben unten bekleidet, so daß nur Sockel und Fries the base and the frieze remained uncovered. bis unten bekleidet, so da[ss] nur Sockel und Fries hervorschienen. Auf den vier Kandelabern Large wax candles were burning in the four hervorschienen. Auf den vier [C]andelabern in den in den Ecken brannten große Wachsfackeln, big candelabras at the corners of the room, Ecken brannten gro[ss]e Wachsfackeln, und son- und so nach Verhältnis auf den vier kleinern, and others of appropriate size in the four ach [sic] Verhältnis auf den vier kleiner[e]n, die die den mittlern Sarkophag umgaben. Neben smaller ones surrounding the sarcophagus in den [mittlern] Sarkophag umgaben. Neben die- diesem standen vier Knaben, himmelblau the center. Four boys were standing beside sem standen vier Knaben, himmelblau mit Silber mit Silber gekleidet, und schienen einer the bier, dressed in silver and blue, fanning gekleidet und schienen einer Figur, [die] welche Figur, die auf dem Sarkophag ruhte, mit with sheaves of ostrich feathers a fi gure that auf dem Sarkophag ruhte, mit breiten Fächern breiten Fächern von Straußenfedern Luft lay on top of the sarcophagus. The assembled von Strau[ss]enfedern Luft zuzuwehn. Die Ge- zuzuwehn. Die Gesellschaft setzte sich, und company all took their seats, and two in- sellschaft setzte sich und zwei [unsichtbare] Chöre zwei unsichtbare Chöre fi ngen mit holdem visible choruses intoned in gentle strains: fi ngen mit holdem Gesang an zu fragen: Gesang an zu fragen: »Wen bringt ihr uns “Whom do you bring to those at rest?” The zur stillen Gesellschaft?« Die vier Kinder four boys replied with lovely voices: “A [No. 1, Chorus, SS/AA, Ch] antworteten mit lieblicher Stimme. »Einen weary playmate we bring you; here let him Chor müden Gespielen bringen wir euch; laßt stay and rest till the rejoicing of his heavenly »Wen bringt ihr uns zur stillen Gesellschaft?« ihn unter euch ruhen, bis das Jauchzen him- sisters shall wake him once more.” [Die vier Kinder antworteten mit lieblicher mlischer Geschwister ihn dereinst wieder Stimme.] aufweckt.« Knaben »Einen müden Gespielen bringen wir euch; laßt ihn unter euch ruhen, bis das Jauchzen himmlisch- er Geschwister ihn dereinst wieder aufweckt.« Chor CHORUS Chor Erstling der Jugend in unserm Kreise, sei Child so young for this our realm, we wel- »Erstling der Jugend in unserm Kreise, sei willkommen! mit Trauer willkommen! Dir come you! We welcome you in sorrow! May willkommen! mit Trauer willkommen! Dir folge folge kein Knabe, kein Mädchen nach! Nur no boy, nor girl follow thee! Old age alone kein Knabe, kein Mädchen nach! Nur das Alter das Alter nahe sich willig und gelassen der shall wend its way, eagerly, calmly, here to nahe sich willig und gelassen der stillen Halle, und stillen Halle, und in ernster Gesellschaft ruhe this silent Hall, but thou, dear child, shalt rest in ernster Gesellschaft ruhe das liebe, liebe Kind!« das liebe, liebe Kind! here too, rest in solemn company.
Knaben BOYS [No. 2, S/A] Ach! wie ungern brachten wir ihn her! Ach! Ah, reluctantly we brought him here! Ah, Knaben und er soll hier bleiben! Laßt uns auch ble- and here shall he stay! We too will stay, let »Ach! wie ungern brachten wir ihn her! Ach! und iben, laßt uns weinen, weinen an seinem us weep and mourn, shed our tears above er soll hier bleiben! Laßt uns auch bleiben, laßt Sarge! his corpse! uns weinen, weinen an seinem Sarge!«
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 2 21 Table 1 continued
Chor CHORUS [No. 3, Ch, SS/Ch] Seht die mächtigen Flügel doch an! seht das See how the mighty wings, see the light un- Chor leichte, reine Gewand! wie blinkt die gold- spotted robe, the golden circle gleaming in his »Seht die mächtigen Flügel doch an! seht ene Binde vom Haupt! seht die schöne, die hair; see the beauty and grace of his repose! das leichte, reine Gewand! wie blinkt die würdige Ruh! goldene Binde vom Haupt! seht die schöne, die würdige Ruh!« Knaben BOYS Knaben Ach! die Flügel heben sie nicht; im leichten Ah! They lift him not, those mighty wings. »Ach! die Flügel heben sie nicht; im leichten Spiele fl attert das Gewand nicht mehr; als wir His garments fl oat no more in easy play. Spiele fl attert das Gewand nicht mehr; als mit Rosen kränzten ihr Haupt, blickte sie hold His head we crowned with roses, sweet and wir mit Rosen kränzten ihr Haupt, blickte sie und freundlich nach uns. friendly was his gaze. hold und.« Chor »Seht die mächtigen Flügel doch an! seht das leichte, reine Gewand! wie blinkt die goldene Binde vom Haupt! seht die schöne, die würdige Ruh!«
CHORUS Chor Lift the eyes of the spirit! » Schaut mit den Augen des Geistes hinan!
[No. 4, Ch, SS/A/Ch] Chor CHORUS Chor Schaut mit den Augen des Geistes hinan! In Lift the eyes of the spirit! May in you dwell » In euch lebe die bildende Kraft, die das euch lebe die bildende Kraft, die das Schön- the power that transports what in life is fi nest, Schönste, das Höchste hinauf, über die Sterne ste, das Höchste hinauf, über die Sterne das loveliest, highest, beyond the stars. das Leben trägt!« Leben trägt! Knaben BOYS »Aber ach! wir vermissen sie hier, in den Knaben But ah! Down here he is lost to us now. In Gärten wandelt sie nicht, sammelt der Wiese Aber ach! wir vermissen sie hier, in den gardens he wanders no more, fl owers he gath- Blumen nicht mehr. Laßt uns weinen, wir Gärten wandelt sie nicht, sammelt der Wiese ers no more. Let us weep and leave him here! lassen sie hier! laßt uns weinen und bei ihr Blumen nicht mehr. Laßt uns weinen, wir Let us weep and stay with him! bleiben! « lassen sie hier! laßt uns weinen und bei ihr Chor bleiben! »Schaut hinan mit den Augen des Geistes hinan!«
Chor CHORUS [No. 5, Bass, SS/AA, Ch] Kinder! kehret ins Leben zurück! Eure Children, return to life! Your tears shall be Chor Tränen trockne die frische Luft, die um das dried in freshness of air circling water’s edge. »Kinder! kehret ins Leben zurück! Eure schlängelnde Wasser spielt. Entfl ieht der Flee the night! Day and joy and continuance Tränen trockne die frische Luft, die um das Nacht! Tag und Lust und Dauer ist das Los are the lot of the living. schlängelnde Wasser spielt. Entfl ieht der der Lebendigen. Nacht! Tag und Lust und Dauer ist der Leb- BOYS endigen Los.« Knaben Up! We turn to life again. The day will give us Knaben Auf, wir kehren ins Leben zurück. Gebe der labor and joy, till evening brings us rest, and »Auf, wir kehren ins Leben zurück. Gebe der Tag uns Arbeit und Lust, bis der Abend uns night refreshing sleep. Tag uns Arbeit und Lust, bis der Abend uns Ruhe bringt und der nächtliche Schlaf uns Ruhe bringt und der nächtliche Schlaf uns erquickt. erquickt.«
Chor CHORUS [No. 6, Ch, SS, Ch] Kinder! eilet ins Leben hinan! In der Schön- Children! Hasten to life! And beauty clothed Chor heit reinem Gewande begegn’ euch die Liebe in raiment pure shall bring you love with »Kinder! eilet ins Leben hinan! In der Schön- mit himmlischem Blick und dem Kranz der heavenly gaze and the crown of immortality! heit reinem Gewande begegn’ euch die Liebe Unsterblichkeit! mit himmlischem Blick und dem Kranz der
Unsterblichkeit!« Knaben »Auf, wir kehren ins Leben zurück! Auf!« *** The translation has been modifi ed Chor in order to restore the male pronouns of »Auf! Kinder! eilet ins Leben hinan! Auf!« Goethe’s original.
22 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 2 vis-à-vis Goethe’s original). This music-as- however, has further than just typological or tions as a framework for the mourning literature approach, whereby the text is generic implications for the music—it also atmosphere experienced by those gathered taken and used verbatim from a preexisting infers a fusion of religious outlooks. Titled at Mignon’s funeral. The work begins with a source, was rather radical for Schumann’s after a ritual that partakes of the Catholic soft, slow and solemn orchestral introduction time, and attests to the composer’s rever- tradition, that is, an offering on behalf of the (Langsam, feierlich; Figure 1). In less than two ence for Goethe’s text. dead, this requiem exhibits few of the quali- measures Schumann establishes a lugubrious Schumann’s score opens not with music, ties associated with other works that belong C-minor soundworld which, interestingly, but with Goethe’s description of the Hall in that genre—especially those that utilize seems to have been in existence long before. of the Past where Mignon’s body lies. The the Latin text. Instead of placing emphasis on The dotted eighths in the orchestration al- few modifi cations that Schumann made to death and the afterlife, Goethe’s “exequien” lude to a funeral march procession, and we Goethe’s text warrant a short discussion. As text (a word that rather aptly defi nes the can easily imagine this music having started Table 1 indicates, Goethe never called this Protestant tradition) eulogizes the departed earlier, while the company was being as- section of Wilhelm Meister a requiem; in fact, but also comforts those still alive—in other sembled in the Hall of the Past. This sense of Schumann changed Goethe’s opening line, words, it functions as a sort of a Nänie, a song the music starting in medias res is intensifi ed “Am Abend lud der Abbé zu den Exequien of lamentation, to borrow from Friedrich by the entrance of the chorus on the upbeat Mignons ein,” to “Am Abend fanden die Schiller’s poetry. Consequently, Schumann’s of m. 2 on a iv7–V7–i progression—thus we Exequien für Mignon statt.” He retained the music alludes to both musical traditions, are called to participate in the exchange archaic form of “Exequien” to denote the and his musico-dramatic setting responds between the choruses and the boys, but requiem practice—that is, exactly the type not only to the quasi-religious content of dramatically the ritual has started before of funeral rites that would have taken place the text, but also captures the essence of even a single note has sounded. in a Protestant setting, as Adolf Nowak has Goethe’s eccentric protagonist whose me- Goethe’s emphasis on the physical ap- claimed.18 But, although semantically the morial we witness. pearance of Mignon’s embalmed body in expression remains the same, changing “Ex- No. 3 is a vivid reminder of life’s ephemeral equien Mignons” to “Exequien für Mignon” nature. “Even beauty must die,” apostro- easily led to the subsequent substitution of The Music phized Schiller in his famous poem, and “Requiem” for “Exequien.” This alteration, The opening music (Nos. 1 and 2) func- Schumann seems to be celebrating the
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ethereal references of the text with the should have opened No. 4: “Schaut mit den narrative. Here he chooses to close with addition of the harp, while also alluding to Augen des Geistes hinan!” (Lift the eyes of this text in order to musically announce the Mignon’s mysterious relationship with the the spirit!; Figure 2). The “borrowing” of text pivotal point that the text of No. 4 holds, Harper.19 The texts intertwine as Boys and from the next section’s opening lines indi- as a lament for the departed, before the Chorus freely exchange lines, culminating cates Schumann’s desire to use it freely, as concluding affi rmation of life (Nos. 5 and 6). in a choral exhortation with the text that a libretto, in order to interpret the dramatic In No. 4, Schumann changes the meter
24 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 2 "Whose Mourning? Schumann's Die Requiem für Mignon"
to alla breve, and completes his allusion to the parochial musical world of the Baroque with a fragmented quasi- chorale setting starting on “In euch lebe das bildende Kraft” [May in You Dwell the Power], fi rst introduced in closed part harmony by the male voices (Figure 3) and then repeated by the entire chorus (Figure 4). While the Boys still weep for Mignon’s death, the lin- earity of their melodic line is constantly fractured by the insistent interjections of the chorus singing “Schaut hinan, mit den Augen des Geistes hinan” (Figure 5). That was the opening line that Schumann had removed before the chorale, only to bring it back compressed in incessant repetition. For many composers in the nineteenth century, including Schumann, the evocation of the chorale as a sacred musical topos had become a common dialect in their arsenal of musical styles, and its connotations would be recognizable to the wider audiences. The Boys’ dirge, however, fails to achieve its purported goal—instead of regressing into the lamenting atmosphere of the opening, the chorus tears fi ssures in the musical fabric to proclaim a powerful exhortation toward life: “Lift [up] the eyes of the spirit!” Schumann had also followed the same trajectory toward light and exultation in his Faust Szenen. Goethe’s text continues with an affirmation of life in the form of another ex- hortation by the Chorus. In Schumann’s setting, however, it is not the voices of the chorus but a solo bass singer who synechdochically represents the mass of people urging the
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children to “return to life” (No. 5). The Boys’ from his score) seems to gradually fl oat away chorus and orchestra—such as the Faust voices (two soprano and two alto soloists) (or up?) as the music extinguishes into a Szenen, Das Paradies und die Peri, Der Rose emphatically reiterate the message of con- sustained “auf” (Figure 6). The last measures Pilgerfahrt, and other similar oratorio-like solation for those left behind with subtle exude a serene and elegiac tranquility that settings—as products of the composer’s “un- reminders from the trumpets that life is a parallels Mignon’s contemplative character. fl inching faith in . . . the possibility of a poetic constant battle. The fact that an excerpt of secular litera- music.”22 Not surprisingly, Schumann’s idea The concluding music (No. 6) emphasizes ture becomes connected musically with a resonated with Franz Liszt, another fervent the optimistic side of death, that of the hope genre that for centuries has been associated advocate of the fusion of music and litera- of eternal life, complete with trombones and with biblical text and ecclesiastical context ture. In his writings, Liszt praised Schumann timpani. Schumann illustrates powerfully the only “projects,” to use Daverio’s words, “a for broadening “the range of subjects” in his antithesis: from the elegiac C-minor dirges personal, quasi-religious message in universal, works for chorus and orchestra: “He trans- of the fi rst part, we move to an exalted humanistic terms.”20 Canceling any pessimis- planted church and theatrical works into the choral peroration in F major, fashioned after tic feeling that might arise, Die Requiem für concert hall and thereby discovered poetic the most grandiose Handelian settings. The Mignon “is not a morose lament for the dead terrain no less sublime and pure than that Chorus continues until the end to incite the but rather an exhortation to the living.”21 of the oratorio, but not as exclusively reli- children to “hasten to life,” enhanced by the gious.”23 He acknowledged that Die Requiem momentary repetition of the Boys’ previous für Mignon “performed the rare service of affi rmation that “Auf, wir kehren ins Leben “Poetic Music” enriching the consummate creation of a zurück” [Up! We Turn to Life Again]. Their vis- In his distinguished biography on master with a new idea”—that is, the music ible presence (note in Table 1 that Schumann Schumann, John Daverio described did not detract from but instead illuminated deleted Goethe’s description of “invisible” Schumann’s idiosyncratic compositions for the content of Goethe’s novel. Liszt saw in Schumann’s setting of the Exequien a synesthetic image of Goethe’s Mignon described musically in the most perfect hues: “This last lament, this thousand- fold sigh repeated above a grave covering so much suffering and beauty, so much yearning and misfor- tune, is like the fi nal chord of an earthly lot full of pain- ful dissonances.”24 The numerous large- and small-scale works Schumann composed be- tween 1848 and 1849 in a surge of “unbounded creativity,”25 may also speak of the composer’s own renewed interest in writ- ing music for large choral- orchestral forces and the elevated status of these works in his output and critical writings. As Daverio has shown, “for Schumann the combination of instru- mental and vocal forces on a large scale offered an ideal medium for the resolution of the tensions
26 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 2 "Whose Mourning? Schumann's Die Requiem für Mignon"
between freedom and unity,”26 that is, ideas Monuments complishes the work of mourning—that that refl ect Schumann’s own engagement Memorials are meant to preserve the is, in Freud’s theory, the only successful ac- with the revolutionary politics of the time. memory of those departed. In Goethe’s ceptance of a loss. Like the artist it wished “Chorus and orchestra lift us beyond our- novel, Mignon is memorialized via an to memorialize, Die Requiem für Mignon selves,”27 Schumann quoted in a letter of “aestheticized funeral,”33 which also ac- also serves as a monument—a monument 1853, the year he also wrote “Neue Bahnen” [New Paths], his famous laudatory article in which he urged the twenty-year-old Brahms to compose for “massed forces, in the cho- rus and orchestra,” since “there lie before us still more wondrous glimpses into the secrets of the spirit world.”28 Daniel Beller- McKenna sees in his Deutsches Requiem the fulfi llment of that prophecy, since in that work Brahms simultaneously “engage[d] the German cultural tradition” and em- barked “on the specifi cally German path as Schumann bade him.”29 Schumann’s own homage to the “German cultural tradition” may lie in his own compositions for chorus and orchestra, and the particular associa- tions to the precarious political atmosphere around the time of the composition of those works.30 Alongside his espousal of romantic tendencies in his compositions, especially evident in their romantic subjectivity and poetic impulses, Schumann continued to look to the past as a source for inspiration and even validation—a trope that perti- nently summarizes his artistic credo. During those mentally and physically demanding Talent. Passion. Community. years, amidst revolutionary activities that No other school compares to Westminster Choir College’s focused and forced the entire family to fl ee Dresden and collaborative approach to musical excellence. Guided by a world-class bouts of depression, Schumann almost sin- faculty, our students work together to prepare for the challenges of glehandedly contributed to the creation of professional performance. With each student success, our reputation soars. idiosyncratic dramatic works (among them Das Paradies und die Peri and Szenen aus Goethes Faust) that, in the composer’s words, UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES IN ORGAN & SACRED MUSIC aspired toward “a new genre for the concert Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance hall.”31 Richard Pohl criticized Schumann’s Bachelor of Music in Sacred Music innovative settings as arbitrary Zwichengat- GRADUATE DEGREES IN CONDUCTING, ORGAN & SACRED MUSIC tungen (“generic hybrids”).32 Our cursory look at the Die Requiem für Mignon reveals Master of Music in Choral Conducting that Schumann’s “new genre” entails, among Master of Music in Organ Performance other original qualities, an uncompromising Master of Music in Sacred Music synthesis of epic and dramatic elements, shot To learn more, visit our Web site: through with moments of exceptional lyri- www.rider.edu/westminster cism, that may serve as metaphors for wider cultural, political and religious aspirations To purchase Westminster recordings: www.westminsterchoircollege.org
Princeton & Lawrenceville, NJ
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that preserves Goethe’s memory not only In memory of John Daverio, dear friend Schumann conducting), Weimar (where Liszt through his art but in art. In a self-refl exive and mentor, who fi rst revealed to me had organized a lavish series of concerts), and moment, Schumann seems to be espousing the beauty of Schumann’s choral music. Leipzig (with Julius Rietz). 4 the romantic view that one also becomes The two Abteilungen share several motivic immortalized in those who behold the art- and thematic relations; see Ulrich Mahlert, work, be it Goethe’s or Schumann’s. In other NOTES Fortschritt und Kunstlied: späte Lieder Robert words, in lieu of mourning, artistic products Schumanns im Licht der liedästhetischen 1 chosen to memorialize their creators tend “Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt” (from Book Diskussion ab 1848 (München: Musikverlag E. to become monuments—and, as Alexander 4, Chapter 11) is actually sung by both the Katzbichler, 1983), 152– 56. 5 Friedrich Schlegel, “On Goethe’s Meister (1798),” Rehding has recently shown, “[e]ach monu- Harper and Mignon. Some settings exist as in Classic and Romantic German Aesthetics, ment casts a trajectory into the future, set- duets, but most composers have included it ed. J. M. Bernstein (Cambridge: Cambridge ting out guidelines for the mode in which the among Mignon’s solo songs. All translations, unless otherwise noted, come from Eric University Press, 2003), 275. hero is to be remembered.” 6 A. Blackall’s English translation of J. W. von Due to her “mesmerizing power and provocative On this 200th anniversary of Schumann’ s Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, vol. complexity,” Edmunds believes that “she birth, this author would like to invite us 9 in Goethe’s Collected Works (New York: is the most significant character of the to remember our hero by preserving the Suhrkamp, 1989). work.” See Kathryn R. Edmunds, “‘Ich Bin legacy of his choral-orchestral music. For 2 In his encyclopedic (although not always error- Gebildet Genug … Um Zu Lieben Und Zu institutional, cultural, and other reasons, Die free) catalog of Goethe’s works set to music, Trauern’: Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship in Requiem für Mignon and other such works Willi Schuh credits Mignon’s “Kennst du das Mourning,” Germanic Review 71 (1996): 87. 7 have become, literally, disembodied—mar- Land” with more than eighty-four settings. Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, 320. 8 ginalized, very much as Mignon in Goethe’s See Willi Schuh, Goethe- Vertonungen: ein Ibid., 314 and 320. 9 novel. Outwardly they represent perfect Verzeichnis (Zürich: Artemis-Verlag, 1952). Ibid., 321. 10 vehicles for the Romantics’ predilection for 3 Schumann responded to the early “canonization” She is also given a pair of “big golden wings, … the lofty and monumental—discourses that of Goethe’s Faust with the Szenen aus a lily in one hand and a little basket in the often elude us in our complex, post-modern Goethes Faust (1844–53), a large-scale other.” Ibid., 315. 11 present. At the same time, however, they dramatic composition in three parts. The Ibid., 322. Note that Goethe retains the ambig- invite us to commemorate our hero in setting of the Schlußszene of Faust II, which uity of Mignon’s androgynous persona in dazzlingly original forms and exquisitely in- Schumann called Fausts Verklärung, premiered the funeral scene, with references to “him” novative styles that Schumann’s “new paths” simultaneously on August 29, 1849, the instead of “her.” Most literary translations, for helped pioneer. centenary of Goethe’s birth, in Dresden (with reasons of consistency, have chosen to alter Goethe’s male pronouns to female. Following several CD translations, I have modifi ed Blackwell’s translation in Table 1 to refl ect the male pronouns of Goethe’s original. 12 Ibid., 332. 13 Ibid., 332–33. 14 Catriona MacLeod, Embodying Ambiguity: Androgyny and Aesthetics from Winckelmann to Keller (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1998), 109. It’s all in the details. 15 Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, 352. The discourse on the singers’ disembodied Leave them to us! voices in the manner described here has been fascinatingly discussed by Carolyn Abbate, especially in her In Search of Opera (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001). According to Abbate, “[s]uch voices Concept Tours are considered divine, or at least supernatural, A bridge to the world free of ordinary encumbrances” (6). 16 In his CD recording of the work, John Eliot 155 West 72nd Street, Suite 302, New York, NY 10023 Gardiner chose to use boys’ voices instead of Tel: 800-300-8841 | 212-580-0760 | Fax: 212-874-4554 SATB chorus; the results are dubious at best. www.concept-tours.com | [email protected] See ““Schumann-Gardiner: Das Paradies und die Peri, Requiem für Mignon, Nachtlied.” The Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire
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et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner, director. 2 work, see my “‘The Will to Musical Drama’: piece for his friend, the painter Anselm CDs (Hamburg: Archiv, 289 457 660-2, 1999). Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethes Faust,” in Feuerbach. The musical restraint of Brahms’s 17 As in the case of the Requiem für Mignon (but Faust in Music, edited by Lorna Fitzsimmons setting bears numerous similarities with the on a much larger scale), Schumann set (publication forthcoming). dignifi ed lament Schumann writes for Mignon. the narrative of the Faust Szenen as an 18 See Nowak’s essay in Goethe: Musical Poet, Mu- 20 In John Daverio, Robert Schumann: Herald of a oratorio, albeit of a hybrid form, since it sical Catalyst, ed. Lorraine Byrne (Dublin, “New Poetic Age” (Oxford: Oxford University encompasses diverse stylistic elements Ireland: Carysfort Press, 2004), 283ff. Press, 1997), 395. Elsewhere Daverio notes borrowed from a variety of genres. More The most famous work of this nature in that all of Schumann’s “Requiem settings specifically, Schumann’s Faust Szenen Protestant Germany was Heinrich Schütz’s are affirmative in tone, underscoring as betrays a mixture of genres and styles and Musikalische Exequien (1636), composed on they do the poetic themes of redemption transcends the boundaries between the a variety of Biblical passages. It is commonly (Manfred, Faust), hope in the future (Requiem sacred and the secular; it also epitomizes the believed that this work served as a model für Mignon), and comfort (‘Ruh’ von tendency toward infusing secular literature for Brahms’s Protestant-inspired German schmerzensreichen Mühen’ and Requiem, Op. with a religious impulse, as evident in the Requiem. 148).” He goes on to assert that the Requiem Schlußszene from Faust II, a scene clothed 19 Schiller’s Nänie probably dates from the year für Mignon “best exemplifies his largely musically in sounds that add to the text’s 1799, but was published in 1800. Brahms positive stance.” See Crossing Paths: Schubert, transcendental imagery. On the fusion wrote the famous choral-orchestral setting Schumann, and Brahms (New York: Oxford of secular and religious elements in this of Nänie, Op. 82 in 1880– 81, as a memorial University Press, 2002), 186.
An exceptional opportunity for boys and men’s choirs, or individuals to participate in rehearsals and concerts with world-renowned conductors David Hill and Julian Ackerley. The 8 day festival is headquartered in the cool mountains of Flagstaff with concerts in Flagstaff, Phoenix David Hill Julian Ackerley and Tucson. Enjoy the many social BBC Singers, National Boychoir activities including a visit to the The Bach Choir Repertoire and London Standards Chair extraordinary Grand Canyon. Make your reservations today.
Monday, July 25 through Monday, August 1, 2011
Festival information: International Boys and Men’s Choral Festival 5770 E Pima, Tucson, AZ 85712 . (520) 296-6277 EMAIL: [email protected] www.internationalchoralfestival.com.
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 2 29 ""WhoseWhose Mourning?Mourning? Schumann'sSchumann's DieDie RequiemRequiem fürfür Mignon"Mignon"
21 Daverio, Crossing Paths, 186. Ibid., 73. couple of years completed, a large number 22 Daverio, Robert Schumann: Herald of a “New Po- 28 As cited and translated in Oliver Strunk, ed., of compositions for voices and orchestra. etic Age,” 395. Source Readings in Music History, revised by As he noted in a letter of June 17, 1849, 23 Originally in Liszt’s Gesammelte Schriften, vol. Leo Treitler (New York: W. W. Norton, 1998), to Franz Brendel, it had fallen to him “to 4 (Leipzig, 1882). Translated as “Robert 1158. tell, in music, of the motivating sorrows and Schumann (1855),” in Schumann and His 29 Daniel Beller-McKenna, “Brahms, the Bible, and joys of the times”; John Daverio and Eric World, ed. R. Larry Todd (Princeton: Princeton Robert Schumann,” American Brahms Society Sams, “Schumann, Robert,” in Grove Music University Press, 1994), 349. Newsletter 13/2 (1995): 3. See also his Brahms Online. Oxford Music Online, http://0-www. 24 Ibid., 350. Undoubtedly, Schumann’s approach and the German Spirit (Cambridge, MA: oxfordmusiconline.com.maurice.bgsu. resonated with his own music aesthetics, Harvard University Press, 2004), 37ff. From edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/40704 which Liszt had already put in print on several Brahms’s fi rst biography to recent scholarship, (accessed February 22, 2010). 31 occasions. many writers have proposed connections Daverio, Robert Schumann: Herald of a “New Poetic 25 See Daverio’s account in this aptly titled chapter between Schumann and the Deutsches Age,” 272. 32 of Robert Schumann: Herald of a “New Poetic Requiem; see Klaus Blum, Hundert Jahre ein See Schumann’s letter of February 6, 1854 to Age.” deutsches Requiem von Johannes Brahms Richard Pohl, in Schumann and His World, ed. 26 John Daverio, “Einheit—Freiheit—Vaterland: (Tutzing: Schneider, 1971), 101ff; Michael R. Larry Todd, 261– 62. 33 Intimations of Utopia in Robert Schumann’s Musgrave, The Music of Brahms (Oxford: Catriona MacLeod, Embodying Ambiguity: Late Choral Music,” in Music and German Clarendon Press, 1994), 86; John Daverio, Androgyny and Aesthetics from Winckelmann National Identity, ed. Celia Applegate and Crossing Paths, 184–88. to Keller, 109. Pamela Potter (Chicago: University of 30 In 1848, during a period of great “political Chicago Press, 2002), 73. excitement” over the outbreak of revolutions 27 Letter of December 28, 1853 to Carl Meinardus. in Europe, Schumann started, and within a
Repertoire & Standards National Chair Vacancy
The National Two Year Colleges R&S Chair is being vacated.
If you are interested in applying for this position please send a resume and short Statement of Intent (your vision for the future of Two Year Colleges & R&S) to:
Nancy Cox, National R&S Chair [email protected] Applicant submission deadline date is September 15, 2010.
Electronic submissions only
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