jan 1, 1840 - Dichterliebe

Description:

Written during his year of song. Dichterliebe is the outstanding product of the 1840, Schumann's year of long deferred marital bliss. Heine's lyrics trace a dismal emotional trajectory, a painful saga of unrequited love. DIsmal, yes, but not tragic, the way Schubert's Die schone Mullerin is tragic, for the cycle ends not with suicide but (as Heine tells us) with renunciation and (as SChumann tells us) with eventual healing. Heine was a master of emotional ambivalence, and that made him the perfect partner for Schumann.

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