Classical Music | Mezzo-Soprano

Recorded on 08/11/2011, uploaded on 09/26/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

In 1890, Hugo Wolf set six poems by the Swiss poet, Gottfried Keller, with the intention of presenting them as a tribute on Keller’s 71^st birthday. However, Keller died four days before his birthday. Wolf was unable to complete the songs before the poet’s untimely death, despite composing at his usual breakneck speed, and thus Keller never saw the musical settings of his poetry. The penultimate song, “Das Köhlerweib ist trunken” (“The charwoman is drunk”), tells of a drunken charwoman singing in the forest. Once she drew the attention of rich and poor men alike, each seeking in vain to be her husband. But, then she was “tricked by wine,” and now her singing is mocked by the echoes of the forest. Wolf’s setting is energetic, and effectively captures the satire of Keller’s poem. The sardonic opening motif heard in the piano’s introduction is a central element of the song, which is heard again during the first stanza and effects the transition back into the opening music at the start of the final stanza.  The middle stanza, set to slightly different music, creates the song’s tripartite form. A steady, rhythmic pulse and semitone tremolandi underpin the music during this central episode, and never allow the satire to fade, even when Keller recalls the former beauty and elegance of the woman.      Joseph DuBose