Late 18^th century Lied composers:

In the late 18^th century, there was a greater interest in the development of the Lied among composers. This could be due to the lyrical poetry of Goethe (dates?).

Johann Hiller (1728-1804) Primarily a composer of comic operas, but also composed several collections of Lieder.

Johann Abraham Peter Schultz (1747-1800). Worked for most of his life in

Berlin and did not begin seriously composing until 1773. He is best known for his Lieder. He published his first collection of lieder (Gesänge am Clavier) in 1779. It comprises folk-like lieder in the style of the first Berlin lied school (C. P. E. Bach), with optional accompaniments secondary to the vocal line. He purposely chose texts by leading poets such as Claudius, Voss, Bürger, Klopstock and Hölty, as well as Metastasio and Beaumarchais, Schulz set a standard of excellence for other Lied composers.

Lieder im Volkston: His most influential collection of songs. 3 volumes (1782, 1785 and 1790).

Lieder should have the “appearance of familiarity” on first hearing, thus resembling folk music and should use only the work of the best poets. The musical setting should reflect and enhance the meaning of the text, rather than being independent. This aesthetic, and Schulz’s own simple, accessible style, influenced lieder into the 19th century.

Johann Freidrich Reichardt (1752-1814). German composer, political writer and writer on music. He was a friend of Goethe and the poet preferred Reichardt’s settings of his poetry to any other composer. Goethe wrote that Reichardt was ‘the first to make my lyrical works known to the general public through music, in a serious and steady manner.”

His songs departed from the rigid plainness of the ‘Berlin School’ odes and looked toward the folk styles and dramatic gestures of early Romanticism. He composed about 1500 songs, on texts by some 125 poets. They cover a range of styles probably unsurpassed until Schubert, whom he influenced considerably.

Reichardt’s songs show their composer’s preference for the song “as a correct, complete whole, its real value consisting in the unity of the song.”

Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758-1832). A champion of music education and high quality sacred vocal music. His many pupils included Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Otto Nicolai. Zelter was a close friend of Goethe and they corresponded for many years. Their discussions often turned to the importance of the Lied in German music. Zelter is remembered primarily as a composer of Lieder. Of his 210 solo Lieder, 75 are to texts by Goethe

Zelter described his aesthetic principles in songwriting:

the text must take priority,

the strophic song is to be preferred to ‘absolute through-composing’,

the accompaniment must stay in the background (so that ‘if necessary the

melody could exist without it’).

Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg: (1760-1802) German composer and conductor. Began

studies in sculpture but moved to music. He studied the cello Eberhard Malterre and with the cello soloist and court Kapellmeister, Agostino Poli, who also taught him composition. He was a close friend of the poet Schiller. Many of Zumsteeg’s early Lieder are settings of Schiller. From 1781 Zumsteeg held the post of solo cellist in the court orchestra at Stuttgart. Composed many dramatic works there. As a conductor he was responsible for the first performances in Stuttgart of many of Mozart’s operas.

His name became widely known through his ballads and lieder, about 300 altogether. They are historically significant for their midway position between the Berlin song school and Schubert. These songs had a particular influence on the young Schubert, who, according to his friend Josef von Spaun, could “revel in these songs for days on end.” Schubert’s ballad settings from the years 1811–16 reveal striking similarities to those of Zumsteeg.

Zumsteeg’s contemporaries regarded his works as models of interpretative word-setting. His aim was to reflect in the melodic line both the overall mood and the individual words, without thereby neglecting a true cantabile. Recitative is employed circumspectly in the ballads; Zumsteeg was one of the first to use it with any frequency in lyric song. The piano accompaniment of many Lieder is often simple and betrays its derivation from continuo practice. The ballads, on the other hand, make extensive use of descriptive figurations, and their detailed description of mood reveals their dependence on melodrama.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Like Haydn, he was first a composer of instrumental music. Vocal forms were not always as successful (excepting, of course the choral music of his late period).

32 songs before 1800

Notable songs:

“Adelaide” (1794-5)

“Der Wachtelgesang”: operatic scena.(1803)

“An die Hoffnung” (1804)

“In questa tomba” (1806-7)

“Der Kuss” (1822)

Notable Song-sets:

Six Songs (Gellert), op.48, (1801-3)

Bitten

Die Liebe des Nächsten

Vom Tode

Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur

Gottes Macht und Vorsehung

Busslied

Six Songs, op. 75 (1809)

Mignon (Goethe)

Neue Liebe, neues Leben (Goethe)

Aus Goethes Faust, with unison vv

Gretels Warnung (G.A. von Halem)

An den fernen Geliebten (Reissig)

Der Zufriedene (Reissig)

Four Ariettas and a Duet (Soprano and Tenor), op. 82 (1809) Hoffnung

Liebes-Klage (Metastasio)

L’amante impatiente (Metastasio), arietta buffa L’amante impatiente (Metastasio), arietta assai seriosa Lebens-Genuss (Metastasio), duet

An die ferne Geliebte (1816) the FIRST SONG CYCLE!

Auf dem Hügel sitz ich spähend

Wo die Berge so blau

Leichte Segler in den Höhen

Diese Wolken in den Höhen

Es kehret der Maien

Nimm sie hin denn diese Lieder

(Abrupt key changes, recurrent themes).

Recordings of Beethoven songs in the Library

CD: M1620.B44 L8 1985 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone ; Gerald Moore, piano. Salzburg, Aug. 13, 1965. In questa tomba oscura : WoO 133 An die Hoffnung : op. 94 Sech Lieder, op. 48 Der Wachtelschlag : WoO 129 An die ferne Geliebte : op. 98 Adelaide : op. 46 Wonne der Wehmut : op. 83,1 Mailied : op. 52,4 Sehnsucht : op. 83,2 Neue Liebe, neues Leben : op. 75, 2 Mephistos Flohlied : op. 75,3. Aus Goethes Faust : Mephistos Flohlied : op. 75, no. 3 (1:58) 3 Gesänge, op. 83 (6:44) An die Hoffnung : op. 94 (7:48) Lied aus der Ferne : WoO. 137 (3:50)

CD: M1621.4.B44 F47 2000 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone and Jörg Demus, piano. Berlin, Apr. 14-18, 1966. An die ferne Geliebte : op. 98 (13:43) Adelaide : op. 46 (6:29) Zärtliche Liebe : WoO. 123 (2:18) L'amante impaziente : op. 82, no. 3 (1:42) L'amante impaziente : op. 82, no. 4 (2:15) Ariette : Der Kuss, op. 128 (1:52) In questa tomba oscura : WoO. 133 (3:33) Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur : op. 48, no. 4 (2:31) Maigesang : op. 52, no. 4 (1:59) Marmotte : op. 52, no. 7 (:33) Seufzer eines Ungeliebten--Gegenliebe : WoO. 118 (5:49) Andenken : WoO. 136 (2:53) Der Wachtelschlag : WoO. 129 (3:51) Der Jüngling in der Fremde : WoO. 138 (1:21) Der Liebende : WoO. 139 (2:23) Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel : WoO. 150 (5:03).

Louis Spohr (1784-1859) Composed about 90 Lieder.

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) Composed about 85 Lieder and Gesänge, most were published in 14 authorized collections. This output is largely overlooked in histories of German song, though many contemporaries, including the poet Wilhelm Müller considered Weber a major figure in this genre. He purposely set texts that had not been set to music already. He avoided the great German poets of the 18th and early 19th centuries and tended instead to set folk-poetry and the verses of poets with whom he had personal connections. Weber's songs rarely attain the depth and intensity of expression associated with Schubert and the later Romantics. More often, the songs aim to entertain through wit or sentiment.