Composer: Schumann, Robert
Dates: 1810-1856
Song title: Morgens steh ich auf und frage
Opus, no., etc.: op.24, Nr.1
Music collection title: Liederkreis nach Gedichten von
Heinrich Heine für eine Singstimme mit Klavier
Imprint(s): Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1840
Analysis: There are four vocal phrases (one for every two lines of text) of 7 or 8 measures each, with 2 interludes (both 2 measures long) before the second and third phrases. A quiet four-measure piano introduction sets out D major unequivocally with a standard descending bass-line figure, and is repeated verbatim when the voice enters. The unusual factor is the already-mentioned pulsating off-beat eighth-notes in the right hand, establishing the simultaneously agitated and dream-like character of the song. According to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Robert Schumann, Words and Music : the vocal compositions, trans. Reinhard G. Pauly -- Portland, Ore. : Amadeus Press, 1988): "such improvisatory agogic notation had never been previously used." This continues throughout the song, interrupted only by four ritardandos at crucial expressive points, most importantly at the end of the word "Schlummer" in the middle of the last phrase (emphasizing the chromatic descent of the voice from the high point of the song: e'-e-flat'-d'). As the song progresses, the "dreamy wandering" is also characterized by frequent modulations: to the dominant by the end of the first phrase, then a quick shift to the relative minor for the second. Only a few touches in the last two phrases (the single beat rest rather than the usual interlude before the final phrase, syncopation on "lieg' ich wach," and "wie im halben Schlummer," along with the rising tessitura and jumps to high e' for the latter words) suggest a progression of mood from relative placidity to a sense of more agitation or urgency. The third phrase shifts to G major, followed by a passage of somewhat ambiguous tonality, appropriately enough on the words "Träumend, wie im halben Schlummer," ending up in D major for the last line of the poem. Even in this early song, Schumann's tendency towards lengthy piano postludes is in evidence. This one is ten measures long, nearly a quarter of the song's length, continuing the same restless, regular rhythm until the final few lyrical measures, which end with a typical Schumannian triplet grace-note on the down-beat, over an arpeggiated final chord.
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Copyright © 2000, Peter W. Shea