Heine-Lieder : Die feindlichen Brüder (Oben auf der Bergesspitze) / Schumann

Composer: Schumann, Robert
Dates: 1810-1856
Song title: Die feindlichen Brüder
Opus, no., etc.: op.49, Nr.2
Music collection title: Romanzen und Balladen für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, Heft II
Imprint(s): Leipzig: F. Whistling, 1858
Source(s) for score: Schumann, Sämtliche Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung, Bd. II, ed. Friedländer -- Originalausgabe (hohe Stimme) -- NY : C.F. Peters, [n.d.] Pl. no.9559
1st line of poem: Oben auf der Bergesspitze (Go to text and translation)
Source of poem: Buch der Lieder: Junge Leiden: Romanzen, Nr.3
Date of composition: April 1840
Nationality of composer: German
Language(s) of text: German
Tempo marking: Bewegt
Key: B minor
Time signature: common time
No. of measures: 75
Approximate duration: 2 min., h15 sec.
Form: modified strophic (ABA'A")
Vocal range: f-sharp to g' [f-sharp' to g"]
Vocal tessitura: medium to slightly high (Go to chart)
Vocal rhythms: dotted quarter-, eighth-note pattern is ubiquitous, occasionally relieved by straight quarters and eighth-note duplets
Vocal intervals: mostly stepwise motion, occasional thirds, fourths and sixths
Vocal comments: Major challenge is keeping the relentless forward motion from either becoming breathless or dragging; focused intensity is the key
Textual variants, etc.: first word of last line of 5th stanza "böses" is replaced by "grausig"; last two lines of sixth stanza are repeated, emphasizing the tale's central fact of mutual fraternal murder
Instrumental part(s): Taken at a fast tempo this can be quite challenging; through much of the song the ubiquitous left hand octave half notes are followed by three staccato eighth-note thirds or fourths in the right hand; in the third and fourth stanzas the right hand has a respite in legato thirds and sixths, but syncopated eighth-note chords dominate the final stanzas; throughout the song the top voice of the right hand doubles the vocal melody
Summary: This is at first hearing a rather simple, straightforward setting of a typically gruesome medieval ballad, and indeed it is quite effective when heard in that way, the vocal and accompanimental rhythms combining to give an almost hypnotic air of inevitability to the bloody tale. But with Heine there is always the possibility, even the probability, that he has his tongue firmly in cheek, and the exaggerated atmospheric touches in both poetry and music (e.g. the second and third stanzas) can also suggest that both Heine and Schumann are poking fun both at an old literary tradition and the perennial penchant of all young men (including themselves) to take love far too seriously. Whichever way it is understood, this can be a breathtaking tale when performed with the requisite intensity.