Greatest Moments of Singing XIV

The great Elisabeth Schwarzkopf captures all of the essential qualities of Schumann's immortal Lied. (Whose genius could equal that of Schumann? My God!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InzzwObiTY4

Der Nussbaum

Es grünet ein Nussbaum vor dem Haus,
Duftig, luftig breitet er blättrig die Blätter aus.
Viel liebliche Blüten stehen dran;
Linde Winde kommen, sie herzlich zu umfahn.

Es flüstern je zwei zu zwei gepaart,
Neigend, beugend zierlich zum Kusse die Häuptchen zart.
Sie flüstern von einem Mägdlein,
Das dächte die Nächte und Tage lang, Wußte, ach! selber nicht was.

Sie flüstern - wer mag verstehn so gar leise Weis'? -
Flüstern von Bräut'gam und nächstem Jahr.
Das Mägdlein horchet, es rauscht im Baum;
Sehnend, wähnend sinkt es lächelnd in Schlaf und Traum.

Text: Julius Mosen (1803-1867)

The Walnut Tree

Green before the house a walnut stands.
spreading, fragrant, airy, its leafy branches.
Many lovely blossoms it bears;
gentle winds visit them with loving embrace.

Paired together, they whisper,
gracefully inclining delicate heads to kiss.
Whisper of a maiden who
night and day pondered, ah, and knew not what.

Whisper - who can understand so soft a song? -
of a husband-to-be, of next year.
Then maiden listens, the tree rustles;
yearning, hoping, she sinks, smiling, into sleep and dreams.

English translation © George Bird and Richard Stokes, The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder, pub. Victor Gollancz Ltd.

CHOPIN

Today marks the 200th birthday who, for most of my life, has been my ultimate favorite composer.

It can be said that some Brahms sounds like Schumann or Beethoven, or that some Bach sounds like Pachelbel or Buxtehude. Whom does Chopin sound like? He must certainly have been the most original composer in the history of Western music.

I'm happy to announce that in September and October of this year, I will play six Chopin recitals at First Church (formerly First & Second Church) in Boston's historic Back Bay. It will be a labor of love.

Brahmsian News

You heard it here first: an exciting new Brahms project, slated for completion this summer, to be published by CIC.

For over a hundred years, Brahms's final opus, the beautiful Eleven Chorale Preludes for Organ (Op. 122), has inspired both admiration and curiosity. George Bozarth, Barbara Owen, and other musicologists have opined that Brahms actually intended Fourteen Chorale Preludes, divided into two groups of seven.

The order of the first seven in Brahms's manuscript is 1, 5, 2, 6, 7, 3, 4. Clearly, the current No. 11 would be No. 14. That leaves Nos. 8, 9, and 10. What would comprise the missing three?

The splendid Prelude and Fugue on O Traurigkeit (WoO 7) spring to mind. But that still gives us only 13.

Rumor has it that Brahms sketched a few measures of a canonic treatment of Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen. We know that several of Op. 122 are revisions of earlier works. We know also that Brahms and Joachim liked to write canons, during the great days when Schumann was still among the living.

In this spirit, CIC is preparing the very first edition of "Brahms's Vierzehn Choralvorspiele (Fourteen Chorale Preludes), Op. 122a." Set I will consist of Nos. 1-7 (in the afore-mentioned order). Set II will include (in a yet-to-be-determined order), Nos. 8-11, O Traurigkeit, and Yours Truly's own canonic treatment of Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen, in a Brahmsian harmonic language but with the canonic technique employed by Schumann in his Six Studies for Pedal Piano, Op. 56

This exciting publication will be available on or before September 1st.