Program
Notes by José-Daniel Martínez
This
last collection and the Kinderlieder are the subject of our recording. Eight
colleagues from the Upper Austria Landesmusikschulwerk and I show how flexible
and varied the interpretation of these songs can be. Only in a few instances
two consecutive tracks are sung by the same singer. This provides an enjoyable
contrast of voice timbres and vocal registers. A limited number of recordings
of the Volks-Kinderlieder are
available (either complete or featuring selected songs). By the date in which
this text was ready for print, a search for available recordings containing
the complete 28 DVL group had
yielded only one result, all performed by one singer, and produced in the same
year as ours.
The
two early Volkslieder collections are closely related in that they share the
same source of text and melodic material (see below), both have uncomplicated
piano parts and were arranged by Brahms in his twenties. The Kinderlieder were published in 1858 and the 28 DVL, although first published in 1926, had already been assembled
by early 1858, 36 years before the familiar WoO 33. Fifteen of the songs from
WoO 33 had been arranged by Brahms in WoO 32 – some with different titles
and/or different keys, and a few with similar piano parts. To give only one
example: melody and text of "Die Versuchung" WoO 32/19, in a-minor,
reappear in WoO 33/12 as "Feinsliebchen…", (popular among sopranos)
in b-minor. (See also WoO 37/7)
It
is convenient to clarify that all the folk songs collections mentioned up to
this point are actually arrangements made by Brahms of preexisting material.
He also composed his own original music for folk texts which is to be found
spread throughout his entire vocal production published
with specific Opus numbers; lieder, duets, quartets and works for a
capella choir, or for choir and chamber ensemble – a lifelong involvement
with folk literature and music!
The
early Volkslieder collection, given to Clara Schumann in 1858, consisted of 32
songs, the last four for 4-voice a capella ensemble, the others for one voice
and piano. They stayed in hands of the Schumann daughters until the beginning
of the 1920s and were finally published by the Deutsche Brahms-Gesellschaft
and Max Friedlaender in 1926! They were titled then "Neue Deutsche Volkslieder". The last four songs were
later moved to the collection of folk songs for a capella chorus WoO 35. The
remaining 28 are known mostly by researchers and Brahms historians. They
appeared in volume XXVI of the 1926 Brahms
Sämtliche Werke published by Breitkopf & Härtel (the fourth volume
dedicated to the composer's Lieder). One finds them at the very end, in
smaller print, described only as posthumous work, still without the WoO 32
numbering which was later assigned to them in Margit McCorkle's Brahms Verzeichnis. They deserve more light and exposure since they
show how much appreciation and knowledge of folk sources Brahms had in his
mid-twenties.
In
April 1858, Brahms sent publisher Rieter-Biedermann a set of 14
Volks-Kinderlieder with specific instructions that they were to be printed
without his name! The collection was dedicated to Clara Schumann's children
whom Brahms had taken care of during numerous times in Düsseldorf between
1854 and 1857. The set saw public
light in November 1858 and most certainly subsequent editions did not show
Brahms' name until after his death, with the exception of an 1872 edition
printed in English. According to a
1893 letter to Clara, Brahms could not remember at that time when exactly he
had arranged these songs, hinting that some of them could even date from
before his time with the Schumann children. Three of them are relatively well
known among singers: Sandmännchen, Marienwürmchen and Wiegenlied,
since they appear in some voice anthologies for students (the last one not to
be confused with Brahms' world-wide famous Wiegenlied op. 49). In the 1926 Brahms
Sämtliche Werke, the Volks-Kinderlieder
appeared in volume XXVI, without the WoO 31 number later assigned to them.
Brahms
used as source for both melody and text of the 28
DVL and the Volks-Kinderlieder the
collection by Andreas Kretzschmer and Anton Zuccalmaglio (K&Z) titled Deutsche
Volkslieder mit ihren Original-Weisen (1838-1840). Although he knew well
many other sources, he was very much fond of these two volumes by K&Z.
Even in Brahms' time researchers argued that some of these melodies and texts
were not really "originals" but inventions and arrangements by K&Z which they themselves had disguised as "authentic"
folk material. When Brahms was once confronted with this argument, he simply
replied in a letter to Philipp Spitta: "…well, now we have [found]
another nice composer".
We
recorded all strophes as published in the Brahms
Sämtliche Werke except for the song Gunhilde
(WoO 32/10) where we added an extra strophe found in K&Z. As for the 28
DVL, we owe the number of strophes to be played/sung to Clara Schumann.
Brahms sent her his manuscript with only the first strophe written in and
asked her not only to fill in the missing text but also to "improve"
the piano part if she thought it necessary.
If one thinks that Gunhilde's eleven strophes, although short, are too many, it will
suffice to say that in the K&Z source Das
Mädchen und der Tod has 19 strophes...Clara penned in only four!
The
Volks-Kinderlieder CD includes a
song which Brahms did not send to his publisher. The original manuscript of
the Volks-Kinderlieder is found in
the Bodleian Library in
The
songs in these two CDs are well suited for both, voice lessons and the concert
hall. Our recording can help voice teachers, voice students, as well as their
pianists, in planning their Brahms Lieder repertoire. These new CDs can also
contribute audio support to research made in schools and universities. They
can also enhance the CD collection of libraries as well as homes and other
institutions.
Brahms
early Volkslieder are very flexible and can be easily transposed. One should
not miss the opportunity to sing them only because they are either to high or
too low. Remember, they are folk songs! - Songs for everybody. Most pop music
singers adapt to their register the songs they want to sing. Concert hall
Lieder singers can also do the same. In these modern times in which we can
even transpose on keyboards and computers with the touch of one button, the
general public is not as "tonality/key conscious" as the performers
might be. In Max Kalbeck's Biography of Brahms one finds an account by singer
Anton Sistermann about a conversation with Brahms during which the composer
had brought up the topic of transposition. According to Sistermann, Brahms had
said that: "… The main thing was
that the singer could sing the piece comfortably, and it was all the same to
him (up to a certain point, of course) in what keys his songs were sung."
In our 28 DVL CD, 11 songs
were transposed, and in the Volks-Kinderlieder CD, five were transposed. For most of the Lieder
in WoO 31 and 32 Brahms kept the keys as found in K&Z; but we find in
other collections such as WoO 33 through 38 some of these songs transposed to
other keys. Here only one example: Es
reit ein Herr…WoO 32/28, in c- minor, appears in WoO 33 in e-flat minor.
In K&Z, this song was printed in e-minor.
With
the exception of the lush Tageweis von
einer schönen Frauen and the colorful Der
Tochter Wunsch, the piano parts of most of these songs are unpretentious,
yet suitable to the ambience they are supposed to portray. Many are written in
4-part vocal ensemble style which is only proper for a composer who throughout
his life studied and had deep respect for late renaissance choral writing and
who after 1858 was about to begin a very fruitful time with the Hamburger
Frauenchor for which he would rearrange some of the same songs; for example: Drei
Vögelein and Schnitter Tod, among others. The two versions of Der
getreue Eckart are exercises in "neo-renaissance" counterpoint.
In contrast, Sandmänchen, Der Tote Gast
and Nachtgesang have a ballad-like
lyric flow. Liebeslied could not be
more beautiful! Die Heilige Elisabeth,
Marienwürmchen, and Nachtgesang
would also sound quite nice arranged for guitar. There is more to tell, but
there is limited space in this booklet and I am sure the listeners will find
more on their own. For more about the piano I refer the reader to two earlier
CDs in which I have recorded the piano parts of these songs as piano pieces.
Many
of the texts in Brahms Volkslieder involve narration and a conversation
between male and female characters. I
am of the opinion that when Brahms is sung, the singer is the narrator, rather
than the character present in the plot. He/she tells (sings) the story to the
audience assuming the role of narrator and characters likewise, be it female
or male. Remember: Music for all
– these folk songs are not "gender exclusive".
Accordingly, each song was recorded by only one singer contrary to some
recordings of the 49 DVL where two singers, female and male, speak (sing) to each
other. Nevertheless, we added a version of Die
Versuchung where a soprano and a tenor sing their respective lines.
The
phrasing, tempos, rubatos, ritardandos, and other expressive gestures are the
ones we felt correct at the moment of recording. Notice for example the two
different tempos for Beim Ritt auf dem
Knie WoO 32/18a and 18b. The above parameters will always vary depending
on the singer one works with and with one's personal interpretation. For those
not agreeing with our choices, this CD might serve as stimulus to search for
an interpretation they can call their own. The result will be the same: a
wider knowledge of the Brahms early Volkslieder repertoire and more experience
to speak about it.
Dr.
José-Daniel Martínez, brahms@martinez.at
| Acknowledgements:
Manfred Mitterbauer, Head of the Voice Division of the Landesmusikschulwerk in
|
Translation
to German by Arabella Martínez