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Agawu - Structural Highpoints in Schumann's Diechterliebe
Agawu - Structural Highpoints in Schumann's Diechterliebe
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INTRODUCTION
The phenomenonofclimaxis centralto our musicalexperience.*In no other
repertoireis thismoreevidentthanthatof thenineteenth century.When we
hear a symphonyby Bruckneror Mahler,a tone poem by Liszt or Richard
Strauss,or even a song by Schumannor Wolf, our experienceis shaped
primarilyby those focal pointsinto whichthe variousstrandsof the piece
seemto coalesceand therebymakea strongemotionalimpact.Thus we speak
of 'devastatingclimaxes', 'moving climaxes', 'terrible climaxes', 'anti-
climaxes', and so on. Yet, among the large numberof music-theoretical
studies that have emerged in recent years, there are few attemptsto
incorporate thisexperienceintotheformulation ofan analyticalmodel.'
This omissionbecomes especiallyapparentin analyticalstudiesof those
pieces whoseinternaldynamicis shaped fundamentally by such focalpoints
or highpoints.Consider,forexample,WilliamMitchell'swell-knownstudy
of the TristanPrelude (1967). Mitchell makes only brief and passing
referencesto the varioushighpointsthatshape the piece, indeed shape our
experienceoftheverylinearprocessesthathe is primarily concernedwith.In
the end, he missesthe mostapparentand immediateoverallgestureof the
piece, namelythe riseto a tensionalhigh-point(b.83) followedby a graceful
decline.
Considertoo PeterBergquist'sextensiveSchenkeriananalysisof the first
movementof Mahler's Tenth Symphony(1980). For the averagelistener,
the salientfeatureof the piece is the pair of shatteringclimaxesthatoccurs
about two-thirds of the way through(Figs 26 and 27+5). These moments
standout not onlybecause theyreachhighdynamiclevelsbut because they
have been prepared consistentlyfromthe beginningof the movement.2
Bergquist,however,has littleuse fortheseimportantrhetoricalsignals.In
bothhis and Mitchell'sanalyticalschemes,thesehighpointsare 'foreground
events'.
Further survey of the literatureshows that writers who concern
*I would like to thankProfessorArndBohm of BrynMawr Collegeforsharingwithme his insightsinto
Heine's poetry.This essayis dedicatedtomyfriendand mentorRonaldWoodham.
WennichindeineAugenseh',
So schwindetall'meinLeidundWeh;
DochwennichkiissedeinenMund,
4 So werd'ichganzundgargesund.
Wennichmichlehn'andeineBrust,
Kommt's iibermichwieHimmelslust;
Dochwenndu sprichst:Ichliebedich,
8 So mussichweinenbitterlich.*
The poem is typicallyshort- two four-linestanzas- withan end-rhyme
scheme.The narrative proceedsincouplets(Hallmark1979:49), andthe'sting'
occursin the last couplet(lines 7-8). In otherwords,Heine's descriptionof
variouslevelsof intimacy- froma merelook (line 1), througha kisson the
mouth(line 3), to lyingon thebeloved'sbreast(line 5) - proceeds'linearly'
towardsa highpoint.Butthelastlineeruptswitha changeinthedirectionofthe
narrative:to his beloved's'Ich liebedich', theprotagonist
mustweep bitterly.
The ironicnatureofthispoemhas beendiscussedbyseveralcommentators (for
exampleSams 1975: 111, Komar 1971: 10 and Hallmark1979: 44-50). The
mainpointis thesurpriseending,thechangefromincreasing levelsofintimacy
to thesheddingofbittertears.
SeveralofthepoemsofDichterliebe use thisdevice.Song 11is anothercase in
point:
liebteinMiidchen,
EinJiungling
Die hateinenandern erwaihlt,
DerAnd'reliebteineAnd're,
4 Undhatsichmitdieservermiihlt.
*See Appendixfortranslations
Ex. 1: bs 1-4ofDichterliebe,
Song7
Nicht zu schnell
ImfL
Ichgrol-tenicht undwenndas Herz auch brichf.
imf
thekeyword'Herz'inDichterliebe
Ex. 2: Phrasescontaining No. 7
UndwenndasHerz-auch brict-r
Nacht
in dei-nes Herz-ens
n de i-nesHerz-ensRau-me
reduction
A-rhythmic showing andregistral
intervallic inapproachtto
expansion highpoint:
Ex. 3: Melodicdescent
from inSong7 (bs27ff.)
highpoint
I
S
Ii
f
II Ii
I
h I
bist. Ich grol-len
I I
I I
III
tounderlinetheascenttothehighpoint
chromatically (Ex. 4). This is especially
obviousfromthecumulativemelodicascentto theprimary note,Eb, in b. 32.
Ex. 4: Chromatic
intensification
inapproach
tohighpoint
inDichterliebe
No. 11,bs25-32
chromatic
ascent
I w
chromaticascent
I
G
No. 1 (bs4-12)
ofvocalline,Dichterliebe,
Ex. 5: Contour
F#
F
E
D#
C#2
C
A#
B
G
F0
90ebt
No. 1
Ex. 6: Bars8-12ofDichterliebe,
I edI w
. It c-I- f ,
I.-
IV
The examplesdiscussedso farhaveshownthehighpoint as a singlemoment,
on of in
usually a singlesyllable text.But thereare songs whichSchumann
replacessuch a momentby an extendedregion,whichmaybe describedas a
'highregion'.This is a stretchofmusicofhighactivity,preparedin thesame
way as other but
highpoints, prolonged overa period.Song 13offers
significant
an example.The textis:
Ichhab'imTraumgeweinet
Mirtraumte,dulagestimGrab.
Ichwachteauf,unddieThrine
FlossnochvonderWangeherab.
Ichhab'imTraumgeweinet.
Mirtraumt', mich.
duverliessest
Ichwachteauf,undichweinte
Nochlangebitterlich.
Ichhab'imTraumgeweinet,
Mirtraumte,duwarstmirnochgut.
Ichwachteaufundnochimmer
Str6mtmeineThrinenfluth.
gut Ichwach-te auf und noch im mer meine Thr?- neu- flufh.
str6mf
' u lmlm:
..PE. .wPEI .
v"r'L~..f " -:
Lanpqam.
Ex. 8
I.&LA. U_
k.
I-
IL
-------.--t , : , .
A-- _= _ d,',-'-'"
W"- = ' e,' if
or dei men na,so Pill
"ad.
pr
, g
- -
--'L-
AN -I_
IF 6,9 l
bEM.
~
Ex. 10:Expansion
ofbs 1-8ofSchenker's
graph(Ex 9)
t
A A A
3 5 1)
II I(to b.9) X X
i6 e a6-I
G: I -- of1Y
X = sequentialrise to highpoint
VI
NOTES
1. Thereare some significant exceptions, however.Newman(1952) is, to my
knowledge,the first
studydevoted tothephenomenon
exclusively ofclimax.Muns
(1955)developsandamplifies Newman's framework.
ideasina historical Muns's
studyis veryusefulinproviding an overview ofvariousoccurrences ofclimaxin
musicfrom themedieval periodtotheearlytwentieth butitisnecessarily
century,
initsanalytical
limited rigour.Pierce(1978,1979and1983)isa three-part studyof
climaxfrom a performer'sviewpoint. Although itis notpresentedinanyspecific
Meyer(1980)isthemostrecent,
mould,itisfullofinsights.
theoretical and,formy
purposes,themost usefulstudyof the phenomenon, whichattemptstointegrate
thenotionofhighpoint withideasaboutRomanticism ingeneral.
2. For a differentanalyticalapproachto thefirstmovement of Mahler'sTenth
see
Symphony, Kaplan(1981), where theauthor a
providesconvincing explanation
forthestructural ofthecentral
origins climaxofthepiece.
REFERENCES
Benary,Peter, 1967: 'Die Technikder musikalischenAnalysedargestellt
am ersten
Lied aus RobertSchumann's"Dichterliebe"', in Benary,ed., Versuche musikal-
ischer
Analysen(Berlin:Merseburger),pp. 21-9.
Bergquist,Peter, 1980: 'The First Movementof Mahler's Tenth Symphony:An
Analysisandan ExaminationoftheSketches',TheMusicForum,Vol. 5, pp. 335-94.
APPENDIX
TranslationsfromKomar(1971):
Dichterliebe
No. 4
WhenI look intoyoureyes
all mysorrowand pain disappear;
butwhenI kissyourmouth,
thenI becomewhollywell.
Dichterliebe
No. 11
A boylovesa girl
whohas chosenanother;
theotherlovesstillanother
and has marriedthisone.
The girltakesoutofspite
thefirst,mosteligibleman
whocomesherway;
theboyis miserableoverit.
It is an old story,
yetitremainsevernew;
and whoeverexperiencesit,
has hisheartbrokenin two.
Dichterliebe
No. 13
I criedin mydream:
I dreamedthatyoulayin yourgrave.
I wokeup, and thetears
werestillstreamingdownmycheeks.
I criedinmydream:
I dreamed thatyouhadforsaken
me.
I wokeup,andI cried
stilllongandbitterly.
I criedinmydreams:
I dreamedthatyoustilllovedme.
I wokeup,andstill
thefloodofmytearsis streaming.