Heine-Lieder : Es treibt mich hin / Schumann

Composer: Schumann, Robert
Dates: 1810-1856
Song title: Es treibt mich hin
Opus, no., etc.: op.24, Nr.2
Music collection title: Liederkreis nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine für eine Singstimme mit Klavier
Imprint(s): Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1840
Source(s) for score: Schumann, Sämtliche Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung, Bd. II, ed. Friedländer -- Originalausgabe (hohe Stimme) -- NY : C.F. Peters (Pl. no.9559)
1st line of poem: Es treibt mich hin, es treibt mich her (Go to text and translation)
Source of poem: Buch der Lieder: Junge Leiden: Lieder, Nr.2
Date of composition: 1840
Nationality of composer: German
Language(s) of text: German
Tempo marking: Sehr rasch
Key: original key B minor (several others available in various eds.)
Time signature: 3/8
No. of measures: 74
Approximate duration: 1 min.
Form: Through-composed
Vocal range: A-sharp to g' [a-sharp to g"]
Vocal tessitura: voice does not stay for more than a few measures in a single part of the range, and no line stays above d' for more than a measure at a time (Go to chart)
Vocal rhythms: Quite varied and fluid (quarter/eighth measures alternating with even eighths and dotted-eighth/sixteenth/eighth measures), with many ritardandi called for
Vocal intervals: Interesting alternation between narrow-compassed phrases with mostly stepwise movement, and extremely wide-ranging phrases with many, sometimes quite wide skips
Vocal comments: Fischer-Dieskau says "The fast tempo demands extreme concentration on the part of both the pianist and the singer, especially for precise ensemble during the rubatos. Careful attention must also be given to the clarity of the consonants." (Robert Schumann, Words and Music : the vocal compositions, trans. Reinhard G. Pauly -- Portland, Ore. : Amadeus Press, 1988). Two low-lying phrases have higher ossias when the voice goes below d, and the final phrase has an e' alternative to the high g'. Male singer (tenor) more appropriate to text.
Textual variants, etc.: In order to emphasize the laziness of the hours, "niemals liebten die Horen" is repeated (after an extra "niemals") on a ritardando
Instrumental part(s): The piano part can be quite difficult to coordinate with the singer. Special care must be taken not to make it too heavy. Although there are often three- or four-note chords in both hands, the frequent staccato signs indicate a necessary lightness of touch.
Summary: The least heavy-handed setting of this poem. Captures both the "impassioned restlessness" of the waiting lover and Heine's subtle self-mockery. Other than the excursion to the dominant in the third stanza and some secondary dominants, this song stays in B minor. Its major points of interest lie in its intervallic dynamism and rhythmic fluidity. The latter especially (e.g. constant rubati, syncopations, staccato-legato contrasts) is what makes it both the most successful and most difficult to perform of the settings reviewed. (Go to analysis) For a fascinating analysis of the entire Heine Liederkreis see Berthold Hoeckner's "Poet's Love and Composer's Love" in Music Theory Online, Volume 7, Number 5, October 2001.