Heine-Lieder : Der arme Peter, I (Die Hans und die Grete tanzen herum) / Schumann

Composer: Schumann, Robert
Dates: 1810-1856
Song title: Der arme Peter, I
Opus, no., etc.: op.53, Nr.3
Music collection title: Romanzen und Balladen für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, Heft III
Imprint(s): Leipzig: F. Whistling, 1858
Source(s) for score: Schumann, Sämtliche Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung, Bd. I, ed. Friedländer -- Originalausgabe (hohe Stimme) -- NY : C.F. Peters, [n.d.] Pl. no.9307
1st line of poem: Der Hans und die Grete tanzen herum (Go to text and translation)
Source of poem: Buch der Lieder: Junge Leiden: Romanzen, Nr.4a
Date of composition: 1840
Nationality of composer: German
Language(s) of text: German
Tempo marking: Nicht schnell
Key: G major
Time signature: 3/4
No. of measures: 58
Approximate duration: 1 min., 15 sec.
Form: through-composed
Vocal range: f-sharp to e' [f-sharp' to e"]
Vocal tessitura: medium (Go to chart)
Vocal rhythms: quite variable: dotted quarter-, eighth-, quarter-note measures alternate with ones of half- and quarter-notes and dotted half-notes; a few short eighth-note melismas
Vocal intervals: mostly stepwise, with a few descending thirds; the ascending sixths which begin the last two phrases are therefore all the more effective
Vocal comments: narrow compass and repetitive folk-like tune call for carefully thought out variations in vocal color
Textual variants, etc.: 2nd stanza, line 4: Peters ed. has "Werkeltagkleide" as opposed to "Werkeltagskleide" in BDL final ed.; 3rd stanza, line 2: Peters has "schauet" BDL has "schaut"; 3rd stanza, line 4: Peters has zu Leide, BDL has "zuleide"
Instrumental part(s): fairly easy for Schumann, with much pedal work and jumping around in the left hand; drone chords à la bagpipe begin the song, after which most measures have a pedal tone followed by eighth-note octave alternations
Summary: This song conveys perfectly the folk-song-like surface simplicity of Heine's poem. A slight, banal, repetitive dance-tune of narrow compass is the wedding dance of Hans and Grete, who are blissfully unaware of what the "odd man out" is suffering. But the song's bipartite musical structure of AABAAC is at odds with the poem's three quatrains, and some subliminal tension is the result. The G-major, mezzo-forte monotony is unremitting, except for a brief swing to the dominant at the start of the second stanza, which portrays even more joyfully the happy couple's dance. A nice touch here is the canonic imitation of the voice in the piano, perhaps signifying the pair whirling each other around. Apart from the two diminished chords which underly "steht" and "leise" (subtly belying Peter's outer calmness), his torment becomes musically apparent only in the final phrases which quote him: the sudden switch from mezzo-forte to piano is coupled with expressive upward leaps of a sixth, as if a heartfelt cry is kept to himself. The postlude, building on material from the second stanza over a chromatically descending bass line, finally breaks from from the songs strict diatonicism in familiar Schumannian fashion.