Treading Robert Schumann’s New Path

作者：Harald Krebs · 发表于：Music Theory Online · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.30535/mto.20.4.7 · 被引用次数：28 · 研究领域：Musicology and Musical Analysis、Music Technology and Sound Studies、Diverse Musicological Studies

Robert Schumann’s late songs (1849–52) are in some respects difficult to understand and to perform. Paradoxically, it is their apparent simplicity that poses a challenge for performers; harmonically, texturally, and metrically less adventurous than the songs of 1840, they may on first contact seem rather bland. Those who wish to explore Schumann’s “second practice” of song writing must grapple with the questions: 1) What is interesting and expressive about the late songs? and 2) How can their interesting and expressive elements be communicated to listeners? One striking aspect of the songs is their manner of declaiming the texts; their vocal rhythms depart more drastically from the poetic rhythm than is ever the case in Schumann’s earlier songs. Poetic feet, which would be approximately equivalent in duration in a normal recitation, are set to a wide variety of durations, producing irregular and unpredictable vocal rhythms. Schumann’s new manner of declamation is a significant locus of expression in songs where other potentially expressive features are attenuated. Analysis and recomposition highlight Schumann’s unorthodox but expressive declamation, and help performers to make decisions that enhance the song’s expressive attributes.