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Robert Schumann and the French liedAuthor(s): Rosemary Yeoland
Source: International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music , Vol. 48, No. 2
(December 2017), pp. 207-224
Published by: Croatian Musicological Society
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26844621
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R. Yeoland: IRASM 48 (2017) 2: 207-224
Robert Schumann and the French lied
Rosemary Yeoland
University of Tasmania
European Languages and
Studies
Humanities Department
Churchill Avenue
HOBART TAS 7005
Robert Schumann Australia
Email: rosemary.yeoland@utas.
and the French lied edu.au
UDC: 784 SCHUMANN, R.

Original Scholarly Paper
Izvorni znanstveni rad
Received: December, 5, 2016
Primljeno: 5. prosinca 2016.
Accepted: September 25, 2017
Prihvaćeno: 25. rujna 2017.
Abstract - Résumé
The coming together of poetry
and music in the form of the
French lied is often attributed only
to French influences, for example
inspiration from the poetry of Paul
The lied is a song form in which there is a delib- Verlaine. This nationalistic outlook
erate close and concise relationship between text appears to be the result of anti-
Germanic sentiment following the
and melody. This song form was a well-established Prussian invasion of France in
musical genre in the French artistic domain in the 1870. Little attention has been
given to the influence of Robert
latter part of the nineteenth century. Many of the Schumann on the style of the
French composers of that period were given to inter- nineteenth century French lieder.
Nonetheless, Schumann with his
pret poems of both well-known and lesser known extreme sensitivity to prosody and
poets, creating cohesive, interactive musical compo- poetic ambiance created lieder
that could be considered as
sitions. Such a list would include Jules Massenet, precursors to those written later
Édouard Lalo, Gabriel Fauré, Henri Duparc, Vincent by French composers. This article
aims to consolidate this connec-
d’Indy, Gabriel Fabre, Reynaldo Hahn, Sylvio Laz- tion and opens with a brief
zari, Albéric Magnard, Florent Schmitt, Gustave background on Schumann’s life
and then examines his approach
Samazeuilh, Alfred Bruneau, Ernest Chausson and to lieder in the composition of two
Claude Debussy.1 in particular, Mondnacht and Die
zwei Gesellen. The introduction of
The coming together of poetry and music in the Schumann’s music into France is
form of the French lied is often greatly attributed to then briefly outlined and is
followed by references to French
the initial influence of the French poet Paul Verlaine composers, and in particular to
(1844-96) who was sensitive to producing musicality Gabriel Fauré whose lieder draw
forth commentaries very much
akin to those made about those of
Schumann.
1
Camille MAUCLAIR, ‘Le Lied en France’, Revue des Revues, Keywords: Robert Schumann
• French lieder • Camille
August 1, 1900, pp.279-81, and Frits NOSKE, French Song from Ber- Mauclair • nineteenth-century
lioz to Duparc (New York: Dover Publishing, 1970). France
207

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in poetic verse and who wrote the famous saying »De la musique avant toute
chose« (Music before all else).2 Prior to this, poets such as Victor Hugo had
believed that the two forms of art were separate entities. However, one literary
group in particular, the Symbolist movement, which commenced during the
1880s,3 became devoted to introducing musicality into their poetry and prose.
Many of the Symbolists were also fervent »Wagnerists« having made pilgrimages
to Bayreuth, and were influenced by the Wagnerian concept of the »fusion of the
arts« (Gesamtkunstwerk).4 Such a concept probably sowed the seeds for the belief
that poetry and music combined together would have an enhanced aesthetic
effect on the listener. Stéphane Mallarmé5 was the central figure in the movement
and regular Tuesday (mardi) night gatherings were held at his apartment, rue de
Rome, in Paris. Not only poets but also musicians, artists and writers came to
attend these lively, intellectual meetings.
Possibly because of anti-Germanic feelings in France following the 1870 Prus-
sian invasion, little recognition appears to have been given to the German
influence on the French lied development and in particular the influence of Robert
Schumann. This paper aims to illustrate that Schumann’s style of lieder was a
likely precursor to the French form of lieder.
Schumann had at least one French advocate to promote his cause in relation
to lieder, in fin-de-siècle France and that was the author, poet, critic and essayist,
Camille Mauclair (1872-1944). Mauclair, an ardent music lover, was an adherent
to the Symbolist movement in his earlier years and wrote several articles relating
to Schumann plus a small biography of the German composer.6 He also referred
to him in La Religion de la musique7 where he stated: »the music of Schumannien
lieder is free verse itself.« The inference here is that Schumann’s music could be
2
This quotation appears in Paul VERLAINE’s poetic work Art poétique written in 1874.
3
During the 1880s, the list of Symbolist poets included Stéphane Mallarmé, René Ghil, Stuart
Merrill, Charles Morice, Téodor de Wyzewa, Pierre Quillard, Éphraïm Mikhael, Paul Verlaine, Jules
Laforgue, Jean Moréas, Émile Verhaeren, Gustave Kahn, Albert Mockel, Maurice Maeterlinck and
Henri Régnier.
4
See Rosemary YEOLAND, La contribution littéraire de Camille Mauclair au domaine musical parisien
(New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008), 27.
5
Stéphane Mallarmé did not have the opportunity to go to Bayreuth but was a regular attendant
at concerts in Paris given by Jules Pasdeloup and Charles Lamoureux who presented portions of Wag-
ner’s works.
6
Camille MAUCLAIR, ‘La religion de l’orchestre et la musique française actuelle,’ La Revue des
Revues, t.32, 15 February 1900, 365-79, ‘Le lied en France: son domaine et son avenir,’ La Revue des Re-
vues, t.34, 1 August 1900, 271-83, ‘Les rapports actuels de la musique et de la poésie en France,’ La Re-
vue des Revues, 1 July 1902, 69-78, ‘La musique française récente,’ La Revue des Revues, t.45, 1 April 1903,
51-58, ‘Schumann et les poètes,’ La Revue, t.64, 1 September 1906, 64-75, ‘Le lied français contemporain,’
Musica, November 1908, 163-64 and the biography Schumann, first edition (Paris: H. Laurens, 1906)
(Paris: Renouard, 1926).
7
Camille MAUCLAIR, La Religion de la musique (Paris: Fischbacher, 1924), 114: »La musique des
lieder schumanniens est le vers libre lui-même.«
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freely aligned with the poet’s verse to the point where it »talked as much as it
sang.« 8 Would it be merely conjecture to assume that Schumann and his musical
style came under discussion at gatherings of the Symbolist adherents including
composers such as Claude Debussy and Ernest Chausson?
In order to situate Robert Schumann and his music in relation to the fin-de-
siècle French artistic scene, let us consider briefly the man and his music.
Robert Schumann was born in Zwickau, Germany in 1810 to Johanna Chris-
tiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. August, a bookseller, publisher and
novelist, encouraged his son’s interest both in music and literature and Robert
had already begun composing before he was seven years old. He was equally
attracted to the literary world and while still at school, had read the works of
Schiller, Goethe and Byron plus the classical tragedies in the original Greek and
Latin. As a teenager he formed a literary club with ten other students, Litterarischer
Verein, which during some 30 sessions between 1825 and 1828 provided a forum
for the reading and discussion of poetry and dramatic works of great German
authors. The writings of the author Jean Paul Friedrich Richter also came to serve
as a powerful, permanent influence on Robert Schumann.9 Indeed, according to
John Daverio, Schumann was »a lover of literature like no other composer of the
nineteenth century.«10 These words are also echoed by Martin Cooper: »[Schu-
mann’s] literary taste and affinities gave him a feeling for prosody and a sensitive-
ness to the atmosphere of a poem such as no other previous song-writer had ever
had.«11
August Schumann, who wished that his son become a lawyer, died in 1826
when Robert was 16 and neither Robert’s mother nor guardian encouraged his
musical propensity. In 1828 he left school, enrolled in law school at the University
of Leipzig and before moving there for his studies, visited Munich. Here, he met
Heinrich Heine12 whose poetry later formed the basis for many of Schumann’s
lieder. It was this poet, in particular, who inspired Schumann to cultivate »sharply
contrasted emotional moods within a single lyric.«13
At Leipzig, Schumann was introduced to the pianist Friedrich Wieck and
Wieck’s daughter, Clara, who was destined to become Clara Schumann and at
that stage was only eight years old. Wieck became Schumann’s piano teacher and
8
Camille MAUCLAIR, Schumann, 43, »Elle parle autant qu’elle chante.«
9
See John DAVERIO, Robert Schumann, Herald of a »New Poetic Age« (New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1997), 23-25.
10
Ibid, 490.
11
Martin COOPER, ‘The Songs’ in Schumann: a symposium, ed. by Gerald Abraham (Connecticut:
Greenwood Press Publishers, 1977), 99.
12
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (1797-1856): German poet best known outside Germany for
his early lyric poetry set to music by Schumann and Schubert. His later verse and prose are noted for
their satirical wit and irony.
13
M. COOPER, op.cit., 99.
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believed the young man was destined to be a successful concert pianist. Encour-
aged by this, by July 1830, Robert Schumann had finally persuaded his mother
that he should follow a musical career rather than become a lawyer, describing his
life in his letter to her as »a twenty year struggle between poetry and prose […] or
rather between music and law.«14 However, a career as a virtuoso pianist became
impossible when Schumann suffered a hand injury, thus he turned to composing
instead and commenced the study of music theory with Heinrich Dorn, a German
composer and conductor.
As much has been written about Schumann’s difficulties in gaining Clara
Wieck’s hand in marriage (an event strongly opposed by her father), details of the
struggle will not be dealt with in this paper. Notwithstanding, Schumann
responded to this turbulent period during the 1830s with a prolific output of
piano music, as attested by the letter to his counterpoint teacher Heinrich Dorn in
September 1839: »Certainly, much in my music embodies, and can only be under-
stood against the background of the battles that Clara cost me.«15
During this period, Schumann did not neglect his literary inclinations as he
inaugurated Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music) in 1834 to which
he contributed articles praising contemporary composers such as Chopin and
Berlioz and he also set about reviving interest in composers of the past such as
Mozart, Beethoven and Weber. He continued editorship of this journal until 1843.
Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck were married in September, 1840. This
particular year is often referred to as the Liederjahr or »year of song« as Schumann
wrote some 138 songs during this time. The lieder form was a popular musical
genre in Germany and it is possible that he was attracted, in part, to this genre to
ensure a regular source of income. Nevertheless, the young composer also
considered lieder creation to be a deeply personal activity, one that had been
motivated by his love for Clara: »Much of you is embedded in my Eichendorff16
Liederkreis« he wrote to her in May 1840.17 No doubt, she was also the inspiration
for the other lieder he created in that period including the Heine Liederkreis and
Dichterliebe.18 The lieder from both of the Heine cycles express feelings associated
with unrequited love and eventual withdrawal and consolation whilst the songs
from the Eichendorff cycle depict a series of moods inspired by the beautiful soli-
tude of the forest and focus on Eichendorff’s nature mysticism and symbolism.
14
J. DAVERIO, op.cit., 61.
15
Robert Schumann, quoted in J. DAVERIO, op.cit., 131.
16
Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788-1857) was a Prussian poet and novelist. His poetry
ranged from simple elegiac couplets and stanzas to sonnets.
17
Robert Schumann, quoted in J. DAVERIO, op.cit., 203.
18
Op. 24 Liederkreis (Heine), 9 songs; Op. 39 Liederkreis (Eichendorff), 12 songs; Op. 48, Song
cycle Dichterliebe; sixteen songs from Heine’s Buch der Lieder. Schumann also wrote lieder on poems
from Goethe, Schiller, Rückert, Uhland, Lenau, Kœrner, Mœricke, Burns and Byron. See C. MAU-
CLAIR, La Religion de la musique, 110.
210

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From an aesthetic point of view, Robert Schumann had, since his early years,
believed that »song unites the highest, word and tone.«19According to John Dave-
rio, »through the medium of vocal composition, Schumann hoped to fill an aim
only imperfectly met […] in his piano music: the embodiment of inner ‘states of
the soul’ in a palpable form.«20 Indeed, Schumann could appreciate the synergis-
tic combination of words and music together if married in a certain way. He did
not see the piano part in a lied as a decorative accompaniment and by altering
conventional rhythms and measures, the music he created closely followed the
words, sentiments and in certain cases, even the symbolism of the chosen poem.
Camille Mauclair observed that Schumann »oscillates constantly from the exter-
nal world to the world of ideas [… so that] the abstract and concrete meld, and
ideas and impressions, instead of being subordinate to the musical forms,
constantly create and reject them, to invent others, no less fleeting.«21
An example of Schumann’s skill of musically interpreting the poem’s essence
can be seen in the lied »Mondnacht« (Moonlight night) from Liederkreis opus 39.
Eichendorff’s poem consists of three stanzas of four lines that rhyme abab:
Es war als hätt der Himmel

Die Erde still geküsst,
Dass sie im Blütenschimmer
Von ihm nun träumen müsst.
Die Luft ging durch die Felder,

Die Ähren wogten sacht,
Es rauschten leis die Wälder,
So sternklar war die Nacht.
Und meine Seele spannte

Weit ihre Flügel aus,
Flog durch die stillen Lande
Als flöge sie nach Haus.22
19
J. DAVERIO, op.cit, 203.
20
Ibid., 203.
21
C. MAUCLAIR, Schumann, 37-38: »Il oscille constamment du monde extérieur au monde des
idées […] l’abstrait et le concret se mêlent et […] les idées et impressions, au lieu d’être subordonnées
aux formes musicales, les créent constamment et les rejettent pour en inventer d’autres non moins
fugaces.«
22
Translation of poem: It was as if heaven had gently kissed the silent earth, so that she in her
bright haze of blossoms would have to dream now of that kiss. / The air moved through the fields, the
ears of grain moved gently, the woods murmured softly, the night was so starry-clear. / And my soul
spread wide its wings, flew over the silent countryside, as if it were flying home.
211

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According to Jürgen Thym,23 the poem has a subtle, fragile quality which is
emphasised by the use of the impure rhymes: »Himmel« and »Schimmer« and
»spannte« and »Lande« creating »a shimmering, iridescent sonorous texture.« In
the same two stanzas, the sentences extend by means of enjambments to the follow-
ing lines which also promote »a peculiar state of suspension.« There is solid regu-
larity to the middle stanza which describes the landscape in »down to earth end
stopped lines« written in the past tense. The last stanza, however, is connected to
the previous one by the word »und« (and) and the accented words »weit« (wide)
and »flog« (flew) placed on previously unaccented parts of the metre change the
»mesmerising« mood of the previous stanza. Thym also notes that the return to the
subjunctive mode lends a sense of »transcendental« unreality to the poem.
Schumann maintains this sense of unreality in his music and instructs the
pianist that it should be played secretly »heimlich« in a gentle »zart« manner. The
lied is set in the key of E major and the piano starts with B and C-sharp separated by
more than 4 octaves giving the broad sense of space existing between heaven and
earth (see bars1 to 4 in figure 1). The composer preserves the conditional qualities of
Eichendorff’s poem by using a prolongation of the dominant chord in different
forms and it eventually becomes clear as various tones are introduced that the
beginning can be perceived as a dominant ninth chord. The B major triad itself
appears consistently, corresponding with the second, fourth, sixth and eighth line
of the poem (see bars 10 to 13 in figure 2 for the first example of this). The harmonic
uncertainty continues as there is no resolution to the tonic, E major, until the very
end. Whenever the E major triad appears it is as a cadential six-four chord which
functions as a dominant and when the singer sings the last word »Haus« on the
note E, the piano responds in the subdominant region of A major (Figure 3). When
the tonic E is finally sounded by the piano it has lost its harmonic meaning as the
tonic, only fleetingly established at the very last perfect cadence (see Figure 4).24
Figure 1.
23
Jürgen THYM and Ann Clark FEHN, Of Poetry and Song: Approaches to the Nineteenth Century
Lied (New York: University of Rochester Press, 2010), 415-20.
24
J. THYM, op.cit., 420-21.
212

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Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Figure 4.
There is also a symbolic quality to the opening right hand melody giving a
sense of fleeting movement, continuing to emphasise the uncertainty inherent in
the lied. The melody reappears before the second verse at bar 23 and then again
unexpectedly starting on F sharp as part of an E major 7th chord in the middle of
the third verse at bar 47. Here it follows on from the words »meine Seele spannte
weit« (my soul spreads wide) and finally at bar 61 the melody leads back to the
tonic E major (Figure 4).
Another example of Schumann uniting »word and tone in song« can be seen
in the lied, Frühlingsfahrt (Spring journey) based on Eichendorff’s poem Die zwei
Gesellen (Two journeymen). The first two stanzas of the poem describe the young
mens’ departure from home and their aspirations, then just one stanza describes
the fate of the first young man whilst two stanzas are devoted to the dramatic fate
of the more adventurous second fellow. The final stanza set in the present tense,
213

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is a recapitulation echoing verbal materials from earlier stanzas but the overall
tone is now subdued and the poem ends in a religious resolution.25
Schumann did take the liberty of changing some words of the poem around
to suit his music seemingly with the intention to »balance tensions inherent in the
relationship between text and music«.26
His text commences as on the left hand side below:
Es zogen zwei rüst’ge Gesellen Es zogen zwei rüst’ge Gesellen
Zum erstenmal von Haus, Zum erstenmal von Haus,
So jubelnd recht in die hellen, So jubelnd recht in die hellen,
In die klingenden, singenden Wellen Klingenden, singenden Wellen
27
Des vollen Frühlings hinaus. Des vollen Frühlings hinaus.
(First stanza of Eichendorff’s poem)
Set in the key of D major, the lied, to be played in a lively, fresh way, commences
as a jaunty march with a dotted rhythm and emphatic accents occurring on the
rhymed words (see Figure 5, p. 215). This cheerful, carefree manner is also accentu-
ated by ascending fourths and sixths and a horn call motif, all symbolic of the
outdoors. The first two strophes are identical and the third is virtually the same but
there are subtle changes. Eichendorff had accentuated the ordinariness of the first
man’s life by the use of three end stopped lines in the stanza. In order to maintain
the feeling of banality of the first fellow’s world created by the poet, Schumann
softens the march rhythm, the right hand now having straight eight notes. He also
instructs the pianist to play mezzoforte rather than forte (Figure 6, p. 215).
In the fourth and fifth strophes, the vicissitudes of the second journeyman are
reflected by tonal change. A sense of the D minor key immediately darkens the
mood, the melody moves to a lower register and the overall texture thickens
25
J. THYM, op.cit., 85-86. Translation of original version of poem:
Two hale and hearty journeymen/travelled for the first time away from/ home. Rejoicing they
went into the/ bright, sounding, and singing waves of/ the flourishing springtime.
They had high aspirations. In spite of/ pleasure and pain they were going to/ achieve something
right in the world./ And whoever met them was left with a/ happy heart and soul.
The first journeyman found a sweetheart;/ his mother-in-law bought them land and/ house. Soon
he was rocking a little boy/ in the cradle and was gazing from a cosy/ little room complacently out into
the/ open country.
Thousands of voices from the depths sang/ to the second journeyman and/ deceived him: seduc-
ing sirens drew/ him into the colourfully sounding abyss/ of wooing billows.
And as he emerged from the abyss, he/ was old and tired. His small boat lay on / the bottom. It
was very quiet all around,/ and over the waters a chilly wind is/ blowing.
The waves of springtime are singing/ and sounding above me. And whenever/ I see such jaunty
journeymen, tears well/ up in my eyes – alas, God, guide us kindly to thee.
26
Ibid, 74.
27
The fourth line of Eichendorff’s first stanza has been changed from »Klingenden, singenden
Wellen« to »in die klingenden, singenden Wellen.« Six further changes occur elsewhere in the lied.
214

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(Figure 7, see below). This is accompanied by a continuing ritardando as the fellow

descends into the abyss and emerges as an old man. According to Thym, »the
music does not get anywhere harmonically: destruction, stasis, death.«28
Whilst the last strophe is a recapitulation of the first three strophes, the
exuberance is lost as the piano music is now simple quarter notes; the march
rhythm has been abandoned (Figure 8, p. 216). Indeed, the strophe takes on a
hymn like quality which is particularly emphasised by the repeat phrase »Ach
Gott, führ’ uns liebreich zu dir« added by the composer.
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
Figure 7.
28
J. THYM, op.cit., 412.
215

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Figure 8.
From these two examples, it can be seen that Schumann has responded to his
own premise expressed in his writings as a critic that »the lieder composer is
enjoined to reflect the »truth« of the poem but with »beautiful garb.«29 His
particular sensitivity in translating ideas and impressions from poetic text into his
music led Camille Mauclair to declare: »Schumann’s piano music has been, since
1830, the exact image of that which artists, forty years later, would call
impressionism.«30 Mauclair felt that Schumann »does not directly express nature’s
sensations, but transposes them; he does not describe the countryside but tells us
of the emotion it arouses in him.«31 And as expressed in a chosen poem, Schumann
reflects that mood and emotion in his music.
Mauclair’s comments were made at the end of the nineteenth century, yet the
question remains as to what impact Schumann’s music made on the French form
of lied.
Robert Schumann’s name was first mentioned in La Revue et Gazette Musicale
de Paris in 1837 by the young Franz Liszt: »M. Schumann’s music is aimed par-
ticularly at meditative souls, at serious minds who do not stop at the surface but
know how to plunge into the water’s depths to find the hidden pearl.«32 Although
Robert Schumann, himself, never visited Paris, news of his musical works continu-
ed to appear from time to time in French news journals as his wife Clara began to
perform her husband’s pieces publically around Europe. However, according to
Frits Noske, Schumann’s lieder were not introduced into France until 185533 and,
29
J. DAVERIO, op.cit., 211.
30
C. MAUCLAIR, Schumann, 38: »Cette musique de piano de Schumann est, dès 1830, l’image
exacte de ce que quarante ans plus tard, la peinture appellera l’impressionisme.«
31
Ibid., 38: »Il n’exprime pas directement les sensations de nature, il les transpose, il nous dit non
ce qu’est un paysage mais l’émotion qu’il en a reçue.«
32
Liszt cited by Elaine BRODY, in ‘Schumann’s legacy in France’, Studies in Romanticism, vol.13,
no.3, Summer 1974, 189: »La musique de M. Schumann s’adresse plus spécialement aux âmes médita-
tives, aux esprits sérieux qui ne s’arrêtent point aux surfaces et savent plonger au fond des eaux pour
y chercher la perle cachée.«
33
F. NOSKE, French Song from Berlioz to Duparc (New York: Dover Publications, 1978), 213.
216

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seemingly, they made little impact on the French public until the 1860s. In 1862,
the Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris mentioned that a M. Lindau, accompanied by
Clara, sang two of Schumann’s lieder: the second being encored – »a jewel chiselled
with infinite art and grace. […] The music is so eloquent that the listeners […]
were able […] to grasp everything.«34
Schumann’s lieder were starting to be featured on the programs of singers of
important reputation such as Pauline Viardot-García35 and Julius Stockhausen.36
The political events, however, in the following decade dampened the French
enthusiasm for German music and after the 1870 Prussian invasion of Paris, in
reaction, the Société Nationale de Musique was created in 1871 to promote first and
foremost, French music. One of the founders was the composer, Camille Saint-
Saëns (1835-1921). As a young man, he had been an advocate for most of the
modern music of the day particularly that of Schumann, Liszt and Wagner. He
had experienced Schumann’s music in Germany and contributed to making the
German composer’s name known in Paris by performing the latter’s works in the
French capital during the 1860s decade. Indeed, it has been noted that his own Le
Sommeil des fleurs (Slumbering flowers)37 written in 1855, when he was 20, is remi-
niscent of Schumann’s Mondnacht.38
Saint-Saëns set the music for Le Sommeil des fleurs in the key of B flat major
and the first fifteen bars are set in a simple 2/4 time which lack the harmonic rich-
ness of Mondnacht. (See figure 9, p. 218). However the introduction of semiqua-
vers which then descend in the dominant key at bar 20 echo the opening melody
of Schumann’s piece. Descending arpeggios at bars, 29, 30 (see figure 10, p. 218)
and from bar 45 to the end of the music continue the echo. (See figure 11, p. 218).
Notwithstanding, the mesmerising effect that the poetically sensitive Schumann
created in Mondnacht is not present in Saint-Saëns’ music. The latter also chose a
34
The Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris, 23 March 1862, 96: »petit bijou ciselé avec infiniment d’art
et de goût. […] La musique est là si éloquente que les auditeurs […] ont tout deviné.« Adolphe Botte.
35
Pauline Viardot-García (1821-1910) was a leading nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano
and composer of Spanish descent. She was on very friendly terms with Clara Schumann.
36
Julius Stockhausen (1826-1906) was a German singer, singing master and conductor who had
studied with Manuel García, father of Pauline, at the Conservatoire de Paris.
37
Poem by Gustave de Penmarch:
Le soir, quand le soleil vers l’horizon s’incline,/ Il descend à regret de colline en colline,/ Con-
temple longuement tous les lieux qu’il dorait,/ Puis disparaît./ Alors les fleurs au val referment leur
calice,/ Afin que, lui parti, nul regard ne ternisse/ Le trésor de fraîcheurs que garde à son retour/ Leur
chaste amour./ De même à ton depart, ô chère bien aimée,/ Comme ces pauvres fleurs mon âme s’est
fermée,/ Et pendant ton absence elle ne veut s’ouvrir/ Qu’au souvenir,/ Qu’au souvenir.
Evenings, when the sun towards the horizon inclines,/ It sets to the regret of hill upon hill,/ Con-
templating at length all the places it has gilded,/ Then disappears./ Then the flowers in the valley, again
close their chalice,/ So whilst he has left, no regard diminishes/ The treasure of freshness which keep till
his return./ Their pure love./ The same at your departure, oh dear beloved,/ Like these poor flowers, my
soul is closed,/ And during your absence it does not want to open,/ But at the memory (of you).
38
F. NOSKE, op.cit., 221.
217

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poem from a little known French poet who did not appear to express his verses
with the same subtlety as Eichendorff.
Figure 9.
Figure 10.
Figure 11.
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Saint-Saëns would later deny the influence of German composers such as

Schumann on his musical creations when during the two decades after the Prus-
sian invasion, anxiety about German influence had become so rampant that the
French were eager to assert that their melodies were eminently French »with roots
firmly entrenched in the ancient régime«.39 In addition, Saint-Saëns had become a
staunch advocate of the Société Nationale de Musique’s motto »ars gallica«, promot-
ing French composers’ music.
It was some time before German composers found favour amongst the French
again and this was due, in a large part, to the great popularity of Richard Wag-
ner’s music. Recognition in France of Schumann as an accomplished composer
came slowly and was most likely through the efforts of Clara Schumann and by
189040 his reputation had become firmly established. The preference of Robert
Schumann for a »dreamlike atmosphere«, »mosaic textures«, and desire to »com-
bine music with other elements«41 such as literature surely fell in line with French
sensibilities. His style appealed to both composers and poets such as the Symbol-
ists, alike. References to Schumann began to appear in writings of composers such
as Vincent d’Indy and in literature relating to French song cycles. According to
Elaine Brody, many compositions written in France in this period reveal
Schumann’s influence such as Claude Debussy’s Children’s Corner (1908), Maurice
Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye (1908), Vincent d’Indy’s Schumanniana (Op. 30, 1887) whilst
she notes that Jules Massenet’s song cycles and Gabriel Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson
derive from Schumann.42 Added to this, by the fin-de-siècle, during Camille Mau-
clair’s time, Robert Schumann’s lieder had become well established in the programs
of singers such as Victor Maurel (1848-1923), Jeanne Raunay (1868-1942), Meyri-
ane Héglon (1867-1942) and Jeanne Renacle (1868-1942).
In his article ‘Le Lied en France’ in the Revue des Revues in August, 1900, Mau-
clair drew attention to Schumann’s unique style with respect to his lieder composi-
tions: »By destroying the stanza, freely inverting the rhyme, suppressing the oblig-
atory refrain, by following the text syllable by syllable without being preoccupied
with enslaving [the music] to periodic repeats, nor requiring each couplet to be
sung to the same music, he reveals the sentiment [of the poem] not just the fixed
form […] thus he has made gigantic progress towards the fusion of verse and
music in the same language of the soul […] natural movements of pure emotion.
39
Annegret FAUSE, ‘What’s in a Song? Camille Saint-Saëns’s Mélodies’, in: J. PASSLER, Saint-
Saëns and his World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012), 217.
40
In 1890, Clara Schumann commented to a friend in a letter that she had received 1000 francs in
royalties over the past three years for French performances of Robert’s works. See E. BRODY, op.cit.,
206.
41
E. BRODY, op.cit., 206.
42
E. BRODY, op.cit., 207. Massenet’s song cycles include: Poème d’avril (1868), Poème du souvenir
(1868), Poème pastorale (1874), Poème d’octobre (1876), Poème d’amour (1879), Poème d’hiver (1882), Poème
d’un soir (1895). G. Fauré: La Bonne Chanson (Op.61, 1892-93).
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Robert Schumann is the direct initiator of today’s French lied.«43 Such skill would
no doubt have been a topic of conversation amongst Mauclair’s Symbolist
colleagues who appreciated a musician’s ability to capture the essence of poetry
in music.
Turning his attention towards the French composers of the day who had a
similar ability, Camille Mauclair noted in the same article that Fauré was the first
amongst them to interpret Symbolist poems, choosing works from Paul Verlaine,44
such as Clair de lune (1887-8), Cinq mélodies »de Venise« (1891-2) and La Bonne Chan-
son (1892-3). In fact, in the space of seven years, Fauré set eighteen of Verlaine’s
poems to music. He is cited as being »truly Verlaine’s composer«,45 interpreting
the flowing and uneven metres of Verlaine’s poetry in a »harmonic and rhythmic
language flawlessly enhanc[ing] the images and settings created by the poet.«46
Such comments echo the observations that have been made here about Robert
Schumann’s musical interpretation of poetry.
For La Bonne Chanson,47 Gabriel Fauré arranged nine of Verlaine’s poems to
form a story with interludes and postludes of »pantheistically inspired« land-
scapes.48 Features of the song cycle are harmonic instability, frequent use of chro-
maticism that disguises tonality and rhythm and tempo fluctuations. In La lune
blanche,49 for example, the rhythm changes from 9/8 to 3/4 to 4/4 to 9/8 and
concludes in 3/4 time. Such tempo changes counteract any feeling of monotony
which could have resulted from the persistent triplets present from the beginning
of the piano part. (Figure 12, p. 221). Instead they promote the sense of tranquil-
lity inherent in Verlaine’s poem.
43
C. MAUCLAIR, »En détruisant la strophe, en intervertissant librement la rime, en supprimant
le refrain obligatoire, en suivant syllable à syllable le texte sans se préoccuper de l’asservir à des retours
périodiques, ni de faire chanter chacun des couplets sur la même musique, il donne au sentiment, et
non plus à la forme fixe […] il fait ainsi un progrès gigantesque vers la fusion du vers et de la musique
dans un même langage de l’âme […] les mouvements naturels de l’émotion pure. Robert Schumann est
le promoteur direct du lied français actuel.« ‘Le Lied en France’, Revue des Revues, August 1, 1900, 273.
44
C. MAUCLAIR, op.cit., 279.
45
Graham JOHNSON, Gabriel Fauré (London: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2009), 189.
46
Lynell LEWIS, The Poetry of Symbolism and the Music of Gabriel Fauré, Master of Music thesis, Ball
State University, Muncie, Indiana, July 2009, 16.
47
La Bonne Chanson: ‘Une Sainte et son auréole’, ‘Puisque l’aube grandit’, ‘La lune blanche’,
‘J’allais par des chemins perfides’, ‘J’ai presque peur en vérité’, ‘Avant que tu ne t’en ailles’, ‘Donc ce
sera par un clair jour d’été’, ‘N’est-ce pas?’, ‘L’Hiver a cessé’.
48
Jean-Michel NECTOUX, Gabriel Fauré, a Musical Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1991), 184.
49
La lune blanche, Translation: The white moon/Shines in the woods;/ From every branch/ There
comes a voice/ Under the foliage…/ O beloved./ The pool reflects,/ Deep mirror,/ The silhouette/ Of the
dark willow/Where the wind weeps…/ Let us dream, it is the hour./ A vast and tender/ Soothing/
Seems to descend/ From the firmament/ That the star makes iridescent…/ It is the exquisite hour./
220

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La lune blanche
Luit dans les bois;
De chaque branche
Part une voix
Sous la ramée…
Ô bien-aimée.
L’étang reflète,
Profond miroir,
La silhouette
Du saule noir
Où le vent pleure…
Rêvons, c’est l’heure.
Un vaste et tendre
Apaisement
Semble descendre
Du firmament
Que l’astre irise…
C’est l’heure exquise.
Original key F sharp major

Figure 12.
As in the poem, Fauré also gives special attention to the single lines ‘Ô bien-
aimée’, ‘Rêvons c’est l’heure’ and ‘C’est l’heure exquise’. In the first case there are
221

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tempo changes with crescendo to forte markings, whilst the second example is
expressed in pianissimo tones, retaining the dotted minim effect of ‘Ô bien-aimée’
and the last line concludes as dolcissimo with accompanying arpeggios of the tonic
chord. The tranquil mood of the whole piece is enhanced with a stilling effect
towards the end of the music when the rhythm changes to 3/4 time and remains
till the conclusion. The arpeggios in the final bars (figures 13, 14; see below) also
accentuate the shimmering iridescence of the moonlit night.
Figure 13.
Figure 14.
Throughout the entire cycle of La Bonne Chanson, there is the echo of Ver-
laine’s symbolism of light and darkness. The darker minor keys in the centre of
the cycle are encased by major keys which ensure the overall sunny nature of the
music.
Table 1. La Bonne Chanson cycle

Title Key
Une sainte en son aureole A flat
Puisque l’aube grandit G
La lune blanche F sharp
J’allais par des chemins perfidies F sharp minor
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Title Key
J’ai presque peur en vérité E minor
Avant que tu ne t’en ailles D flat
Dont ce sera par un clair jour d’été B flat
N’est-ce pas? G
L’hiver a cessé B flat
Having created a »story« from the poems he had selected, Fauré also rein-
forced both tonal and textual coherence within the cycle using several recurring
themes.50
According to the critic, Samuel Langford, Fauré, more than almost any other
writer in the world »commanded the faculty to create a song all of a piece and
with a sustained intensity of mood which made it like a single thought«.51 Again,
such comments fall in line with remarks such as those made by Camille Mau-
clair’s on Schumann’s lieder style: »Schumann had the secret of enclosing a whole
psychological drama in one or two pages«.52
Apart from Gabriel Fauré, Mauclair listed many other French composers of
his time who had »elevated the French lied to an admirable height amongst the
arts«.53 These included Henri Duparc, Vincent d’Indy, Ernest Chausson, Claude
Debussy, Reynaldo Hayn, Albéric Magnard, Florent Schmitt, Gustave Samazeuilh
and Gustave Charpentier. Their Symbolist poet of choice was Paul Verlaine
although the verses of Stéphane Mallarmé, Maurice Maeterlinck and Camille
Mauclair himself were also featured in their lieder.
Schumann’s particular style of combining music and poetry had infiltrated
the »esprit« of French composers. As the musicologist Jean Chantavoine noted on
the centenary of Schumann’s death in 1910: »Schumann, so German, is more pop-
ular in France than in Germany [and] for some time French poetry and music
have taken a direction bringing us closer to Schumann.«54 Thus from the discus-
sion and examples given in this paper, the influence of Robert Schumann on the
French lied cannot be ignored despite the fact that the French would later go on to
defend their art song as being an »aristocratic, refined genre«55 that had arisen
solely from French origins.
50
See J.-M. NECTOUX, op.cit., 184.
51
Samuel LANGFORD, ‘Gabriel Fauré’, The Manchester Guardian, 5 November 1924, 16.
52
C. MAUCLAIR, Schumann (Paris: Renouard, 1926), 40: »Schumann a eu le secret d’enclore tout
un drame psychique en une ou deux pages«.
53
C. MAUCLAIR, ‘Le Lied en France’, 279.
54
Jean Chantavoine quoted in E. BRODY, op.cit., 208-9.
55
A. FAUSER, op.cit., 218.
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Sažetak
Robert Schumann i francuski lied
U drugoj polovici 19. stoljeća lied kao već ustaljeni glazbeni žanr bio je popularni izbor
za skladanje mnogih francuskih kompozitora. Pjesmovnu formu koja uključuje usku i jez-
grovitu vezu između teksta i melodije počelo se shvaćati kao da je proizašla iz francuskih
utjecaja poput inspiracije u pjesmama pjesnika kao što je Paul Verlaine ili iz korijena aristo-
kratskog podrijetla. Takvo se nacionalističko shvaćanje posebno čvrsto ukorijenilo nakon
pruske invazije na Francusku 1870. godine.
Malo se pozornosti poklanjalo mogućem utjecaju glazbe njemačkog skladatelja Ro-
berta Schumanna na stil francuskog lieda. Robert Schumann (1810-56) imao je veliko na-
gnuće spram književnosti i bio je plodan skladatelj solo pjesama od kojih su mnoge bile
nadahnute ljubavlju spram vlastite supruge Clare. U godini njihova vjenčanja, 1840., često
označavanoj kao godini lieda (Liederjahr), napisao je nekih 130 pjesama. U Francuskoj su
upoznali Schumannovu glazbu zahvaljujući tome što je Clara Schumann izvodila njegova
djela širom Europe. Krajem 19. stoljeća autor i pjesnik Camille Mauclair u nekoliko je čla-
naka i u malenom životopisu skladatelja promicao aktivno Roberta Schumanna kao začet-
nika francuskog lieda.
U ovom se članku ukratko prikazuju ranije godine Roberta Schumanna, nakon čega
slijedi rasprava o dvjema njegovim pjesmama, Mondnacht i Frühlingsfahrt. Potom slijede
kratki kronološki dokazi o svijesti i izvedbama Schumannovih pjesama u Francuskoj. Na
posljetku se na primjerima po jedne pjesme Camillea Saint-Saënsa i Gabriela Fauréa ispi-
tuje moguća vjerojatnost da je Robert Schumann bio začetnik francuskog lieda.
224

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Robert Schumann and the French liedAuthor(s): Rosemary Yeoland

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26844621

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UDC: 784 SCHUMANN, R.

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Es war als hätt der Himmel

Die Luft ging durch die Felder,

Und meine Seele spannte

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(First stanza of Eichendorff’s poem)

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(Figure 7, see below). This is accompanied by a continuing ritardando as the fellow

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Saint-Saëns would later deny the influence of German composers such as

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Rêvons, c’est l’heure.

C’est l’heure exquise.

Original key F sharp major

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Table 1. La Bonne Chanson cycle

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Robert Schumann i francuski lied

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