Lieb Liebchen, leg's Händchen / Schumann

Composer: Schumann, Robert
Dates: 1810-1856
Song title: Lieb Liebchen, leg's Händchen
Opus, no., etc.: op.24, Nr.4
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: Lieb Liebchen, leg's Händchen aufs Herze (Go to text and translation)
Source of poem: Buch der Lieder: Junge Leiden: Lieder, Nr.4
Date of composition: 1840
Nationality of composer: German
Language(s) of text: German
Tempo marking: Nicht schnell
Key: original key E minor (several others available in various eds.)
Time signature: 2/4
No. of measures: 37
Approximate duration: 45 sec.
Form: Strophic
Vocal range: B to e' [b to e"], tenor/soprano or high baritone/mezzo
Vocal tessitura: lower middle tessitura (f to b) (Go to chart)
Vocal rhythms: mostly by alternating quarter notes and eighth-note duplets, spiked with a pair of quarter-note triplets
Vocal intervals: mainly by step, introduced in the first two phrases by one or two ascending fourths
Vocal comments: -
Textual variants, etc.: -
Instrumental part(s): piano part deceptively simple at first glance, mostly syncopated chords in the right hand, often without a bass line; the eighth-note rests between the chords denote separation, not staccato, which is sparingly indicated; too light a touch would add a humorous air to the song: these are heartbeats and hammer blows, but subtle ones, neither light-hearted nor ponderous
Summary: Syncopations, offbeat "hammerings" in the piano, an insistent "knocking" pattern in the voice, interrupted phrases and an unprecedented unaccompanied ending characterize this miniature tour-de-force. It combines subtle tone-painting with a bold realization of the poem's confrontation with death. (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.