Schumann and the Lied

In the year of 1840, Robert Schumann wrote more than 150 songs - can you even imagine composing that many pieces? That just about like composing a piece every two days or so. He was a very busy man!

Schumann composed a lot of a type of piece called a Lied - a piece where a German poem is set to music.

Here is one that I will be busy studying this week. The translation of the German poem by Heinrich Heine is included below the video.


If only the little flowers knew,
How deeply wounded my heart is,
They would cry with me,
To hear my sorrow.

And if the nightingales knew,
How sad and sick I am,
They would gladly release a torrent
Of restorative sound.

And if they knew my pain,
The little golden stars,
Would come down from heaven,
To give me comfort.

But all of them cannot know,
One alone understands my suffering.
It is she who has rent,
Rent my heart.

(In true romantic fashion, Schumann uses a very emotional text and creates some equally emotional music to go with it!)