In early July 1840 Robert Schumann was granted leave by the courts to mamy Clara Wieck without her father's consent. The lovers spent an agonising period waiting to see whether Clara's father would appeal, and to take his mind off these matters Robert turned his attention to a cycle of poems by Adalbert von Chamisso (1781-1838) entitled Anrre~rliebe ztrrd Lebe~r Opus 42 (Woman's Love and Life). At such a time one might have expected Schumann to choose texts reflecting a woman's love for her husband. This is indeed the case with Frarrenliebe, but one might wonder quite what Clara thought of this choice of texts, as in this series of poems the woman bends herself unquestioningly to her husbands will. In the second song she sings; Go goirr ~i~ajn)! let rne orlly see yorrr brightr~ess, hlrn~bly gaze irporr it irr Irappiness nlld sorlv~c~. In the fourth she comments: I will serve hiirr, live for hirrr, belorrg to hirrr tot all^; I will give rlrjlself to Air11 nrrd find nryself trarrsjgured irr Iris rodiorrce and the following song has her re~~ererrtlj~ arrd hrrrrrbl)~ bon~iirg to Irer rrraster. However uncomfortable these texts seem nowadays (as does Katharine's speech at the end of Tlre To~lrirrg of tlre Slrre118) there is no denying the passion Schumann poured out in these and many of his other songs composed in 1840 clearly demonstrating his genuine love for Clara.

The opening song Seit iclr ilr~r geselren (Since I saw him) shows the woman all demure, eyes chastely cast down. In contrast El; der Hemlichste vo~r alle~r (He, the finest of all men) is a passionate declaration of love. The shy maid of the first song no longer seems to mind whether her innermost thoughts become common knowledge. Only in the piano postlude does any reflection on what she has said take place. The third song Zch kan~z's rziclzt fasserr, ~richt glnrrbe~r (I can't understand it or believe it) contains the words let rrre be droivrred ir~ tears of errdless joy but the overriding sensation here, borne out bv the staccato accompaniment, seems to be that of aggression; tears of frustration, surely, rather than tears of joy. Drr Ring an nrei~zen~ Finger (Dear ring on my finger, I press you to my lips and heart) shows singer and accompanist complementing each other perfectly in one of Schumann's most famous songs. All is bustle in Helft rnrir; ilrr Sclrwestertr (Help me, sisters. kindly adorn me, serve me on my happiest day). As she prepares for her wedding day her voice soars. Curiously as she sings To golr, nr)? sisters, I bid yorr n .scidfrren~ell, altl~orrgl~ I lenve yorr nfitl~ joy irr nrjl Ireart there is a pre- echo of the Lohe~rgritz Bridal chorus (composed 6 - 8 years later). There is much tenderness in the following poignant song Siisser Frezrrrd (Sweet friend, you look at me in astonishment. Don't you know why I am crying?) The piano interlude gives the air of the woman summoning up the courage to confide in her husband, and a dissonant note is sounded at Weisst dzr rran die Triinen (Don't you see why I weep). It is as if the husband is raising his eyebrows at her, and her passionate worry increases. Her confession that she hopes for a child as the first theme returns seems to be accompanied by utter stillness; the husband betrays no reaction a s the song draws to a desolate close. The baby has now appeared in An nreitzeln Herzen

(At my heart, at my breast, my child, my joy) and the wife sweeps the listener along in the joy of the moment. However for the final song in the cycle Nu11 Rnst &r 11iir den erstell Sclllrrerz gefan (Now for the first time you have hurt me), the bottom has dropped out of her world. By means of a triad on the piano the song opens with a shudder. Grief-stricken and bitter, the wife stares down at her husbands body (Left all alone, I look about me at an empty ~vorld. I have lived and loved, but now there is no life left in me). Schnmann creates a masterstroke: as the wife's heart is breaking the music dissolves into the first song recalling the early days of their marriage I feel blir~d to all else ... I see orrl)~ hi111 ... his ir~rage hovers before n ~ e emergirlg frarri tlre deepest gloonl ... All else is coloirrless N I I ~ 11tt110ilt r~renrliilg ... I i~~oirld rcrtlrer sit iir r~ry mow^ alorre nrrd ic~eeping.

Eichendorff provided the texts for the group of 12 poems that make up Liederkreis Opus 39, also composed in 1840. The cycle opens ominously with IIZ der Freslde. The poet watches the clouds drifting past from the direction of his homeland. He seems to have arrived at a crossroads in his life but sees little sense at returning home as his parents are long since dead. He ponders how long it shall be before he too 'shall rest, forgotten, under the murmuring trees of the forest'. In Flarrenliebe, Schumann changed the basic mood with each song; so too with the Liederkreis, for the second song I~lterr~zeuo is, as Gerald Moore commented, 'a ray of sunshine'. As with El; der herrlichste i~on nllerr the vocal line is decorated with turns to indicate carefree bliss. The singer has always a picture of her beloved and her heart sings 011 old slveet sorrg tllntJlies swif l j~ to him. The postlude shows Schumann at his most inspired. Hunting horns (usually denoting rustic gaiety but often used in Romantic music as a sinister premonition, as is the case here) are heard in the introduction to the following song Waldesgespracl~ (Woodland encounter). A huntsman meets a girl alone in the dark forest and gallantly offers help. Too late he realises that the girl is the witch Lorelei and that he will never leave the woods. Triumphantly she repeats the fateful word 'nirnmermehr' (nevermore) three times. Both the Lorelei and the hunter vanish in the postlude: has this tale been a part of our imagination? Die Stille (Stillness) opens nervously with shod phrases and timid accompaniment Noborl)~ ~ I I O I I J , ~ 1ho1v hcrppy I arrr! It ~r~atters onl)~ to ollepersolr. Tlie srlonr is riot so still, rteitller ore the stars as sileilt as nzy tl~oughts. An intimate tone persists until some feeling of motion in the text appears Ifo11l)2 I were n bird, I slroirldfi~ over the sen, nrrd oil inrtil I renched heaverr. The distance between heaven and earth is symbolised by the first two notes of Mond~raclrt (Moonlit night), The apparently disembodied voice floats heavenwards during the opening words It nlns as ifherr19erl had soJ7l)l kissed the earth and this feeling of wonder persists until the singer's 'soul spread its wings and flew off home over the silent countryside' when the music gains momentum. Gradually the movement fades.

There is an overwhelming sense of anticipation in the next song Sclriille Frerrrde, accentuated by the shifting relationship between the singer and the pianist. Much of the text is delivered in a hushed tone as jf tire old gods Ivere mcrkirrg tlieir rvlrr~ds of rliese uriiied, slrrikeii ~oalls or1 tliis faritastic night. Elsewhere the melody soars here beiientli tlie ~~iyrt les and at the song's climax All tire stars sparkle, telling of some great happiness to come. The lengthy phrases and snail-like pace of Aztf eirier Burg conjure up a picture of the statue-knight in place at the Castle overlooking where one eventually hears the sounds of a distant wedding-party. At this point the singer's pace quickens anticipating a happy ending, but the listener is taken aback by the final words arid tlie lo~lel)~ bride ,seeps. The eighth song of this cycle shares the same title as the first; however the accompaniment's description ofthe riverandthesongbirds here allows for a more relaxed atmosphere though the text repeats that the one who was loved died long ago.

Wehllrztt (Melancholy) has a simple and repetitive melody where time and again the singer returns to the C sharp as if she is trying to put a brave face on things. 'I can sing at times as if I were happy, but then tears well up ... When spring breezes play, the nightingales sing ... but no one hears the pain and suffering of their song'. There is a humid and sultry air to Zwieliclit (Twilight) and the singer, in a series of warnings, imagines the evil portents the atmosphere will bring. Eichendorff, in 1111 Walde (In the forest) once again destroys a happy atmosphere {in this case a wedding party) with a presentiment of evil. When fears have apparently been set aside ,before I realised it, night had enveloped everything ... and I shuddered'. On the whole, the final song Friilrlirzgsrzacht, would seem to dispel these fears as the singer expresses a wish to join with the songbirds, especially at the point where they sing 'Sie ist deine' (she is yours). However in one of his characteristic postludes, Schumann in the bass portrays deepening dissatisfaction.

Die Soldatenbrarit (the soldier's bride) is a light-hearted setting of Morike's skittish and playful poem in which a young woman longs to many her lover so she can boss him about at home. The pianist not only imitates a somewhat bombastic military band, but also gives us clues to the woman's saucy character.

On the morning of his wedding to Clara, Schumann presented her with a bound volume of a collection of 26 of his songs under the title of Myrtlzen (it had been a tradition for Geman brides to wear myrtle-blossom head bands). Among the poems set were some by Goethe, Riickert, Burns and Heine. Three of these songs appear in this collection: Arts den iistliclren Rosen, Der Nussbaunr, and Wid~~izcng and they can all be seen as love songs to Clara. Azcs den ostlicken Rose11 is by Riickert and has two contrasting verses: the first carefree, the second careworn, although the hope expressed in the second verse is that, although the writer may be troubled, the recipient may not be affected. The swaying tempo of Der Nussbaztm by Mosen (the walnut tree) clearly represents

that of the tree outside the future bride's house. The breezes rustling in the branches are hinting delicately of a happy occasion sometinle in the future, and as they whisper, the girl inside smiles in her sleep. Riickert's Widrrl~r~g (Dedication) is an ecstatic declaration of love in which Schumann's singer seems passionately borne ever upward. A more down-to-earth middle section Yorr are rest, you rrre pence, bestoi12ed or1 rue I?,) Heoi~err passes on to a tender passage Yorr rrrise Ine zrp loi~ir~gly - yorr, 111y good spirit, rrrg better se!f All of a sudden the carefree opening mood retulns leading the song to a spirited close.

Goethe's Kenrrst du dns Lmrd from Migrlorl was set by a number of composers including Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and Wolf. Schumann's fine version is one of the most frenzied as Mignon presses on with her desperate song of longing for her homeland. The quiet ending is surely indicative of her exhaustion.

Meine Rose is part of a small group of songs published in 1850 forming Schumann's Opus 90 with texts by Nikolaus Lenau. Schumann's languorous music is superbly illustrative of the sun's hot rays which cause the rose to wilt. The soprano, singing sadly to the rose, would gladly pour out her soul to this Rower, but expresses doubt as to whether the flower is capable of reviving. From the same opus number comes Reqrrienr, a prayer for the soul of one who ,long did yearn for blissful union'. The singer describes the starlit scene of the tomb and hopes that one day her dead lover will appear as one of the stars in the heavens.

This Schumann recital brings together two of Britain's finest exponents of Lieder: Dame Felicity Lott and Graham Johnson. Lott, born in Chelterlham in 1947, is perhaps best known as a Strauss and Mozart singer, but has also given many memorable performances in British and French opera. As a member of the Songmaker's Almanac (founded by Graham Johnson in 1976) she is a sought after interpreter of a wide range of songs. Hugely popular wherever she sings, she has performed with great distinction the world over and has made many outstanding recordings. Her recording of Favourite Schubert Lieder is available on alto ALC 1092 also with Graham Johnson.

Not only has Graham Johnson (born in 1950) performed regularly with other members of the Songmaker's Almanac but he has also accompanied singers from previous generations such as Janet Baker, Elisabeth Schwa~zkopf and Victoria de 10s Augeles. He is an exceptionally busy recording artist having recorded all of Schuhert's Lieder for Hyperiori and much else besides. His concerts are noted for their thoughtfully programmed content, often around a literary figure or historical period with complen~entary readings, in order that his audiences may appreciate the songs all the more. 0 2010 James Murray