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Musical Analysis
Musical Analysis
Die Ersehnte
6 Lieder, Op. 9 No 1. Die Ersehnte by Fanny Mendelssohn Hansen is a Romantic Era
(1820-1900) piece. A Romantic Era piece typically covers topics of love, nature, beauty, and the
supernatural. This piece translate to The Longed For, which is clearly about love. The
Romantic Era is also noted for evocative titles for their musical works (as shown by being called
The Longed For instead of just Movement 1), and is typically emotional. This piece is about a
lover longing for their other half to come into their arms and is begging for them to come to
Romantic Era pieces are also emotional with expansive sound, and Die Ersehnte is
exactly that. It is full of crescendo and descrescendo after certain phrases to give emotion to the
singers voice and to add meaning to the message of the piece. It is, however, unlike many
Romantic Era pieces as it does not contain any other instruments besides a piano. The melody
does reflect this, as it is long, flowing, and emotional. The dynamics shift rapidly from ppp to fff,
The tempo is quite fast being in 12/8 time, but the phrases are quite long and drawn out in
a legato style to increase the emotionality of the piece. The form is a simple strophic (AAA)
form, with all three parts of the song the same notes and time and key signatures but with
different words. This piece is a typical Lieder song, in German by a German and a lyrical song
about love. It evokes an emotion in any listener that suggests the ups and downs and yearning of
love and all that comes with it through its legato form and repetition.