Classical Music | Soprano

Hugo Wolf

Frühling übers Jahr Play Play

Rachel Schutz	Soprano
Jonathan Korth	Piano

Recorded on 12/04/2013, uploaded on 06/25/2014

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Though Hugo Wolf today is lauded as one of the most greatest composers of German Lied during the late 19^th century (so much so that he is known almost exclusively for his songs), he struggled in vain during his lifetime to shed his reputation as a mere songwriter. His ultimate goal was to follow in the footsteps of his great idol, Richard Wagner, and become a successful opera composer. During his final days, before the ravaging effects of syphilis stripped away the last of his sanity, he worked frantically on an opera entitled Manuel Venegas, but managed only to complete fifty pages. Despite his failure at opera, Wolf did succeed at another type of large-scale composition, the Liederbuch, or songbook, of which he produced several during his career. Beginning in 1888, a violent outburst of creativity brought forth three of these collections before the end of the succeeding year. The Mörike-Lieder came first, followed by the Eichendorff-Lieder. On October 27, 1888, he began setting a collection of fifty-one poems by Goethe. Wolf composed at a breakneck pace, sometimes completing two songs a day. With the exception of “Die Spröde” which would be recomposed nearly a year later on October 21, 1889, the Goethe-Lieder was completed on February 12. It was published a year later in Vienna.

In “Frühling übers Jahr,” the poet first praises the wonders of Spring—the snow melts, and the earth comes to life with flowers and the song of birds. However, even all this is incomparable in his eyes to his beloved, whose disposition is the “richest flowering in all the garden.” Lively and joyous, Wolf’s setting renders Goethe’s lyric with an active vocal melody accompanied by an equally energetic piano accompaniment. The A major tonality combined with the brisk broken chords in the piano capture the vivacity of Spring. These broken chords, nearly throughout the entire song, appear in the treble, venturing down into the bass only during the third stanza and beginning of the fourth, and further add to the vivaciousness of the song. Wolf’s bent for chromaticism also introduces many new sonorities into the tonal fabric, providing interesting points of color that reflect the abundance and diversity of life in nature. Joseph DuBose

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Frühling übers Jahr

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The flower bed is already loosening to the sky

There sway little bells as white as snow

Crocuses show off their might glow

Some bloom in emerald, others in blood-red

Cowslips strut cheekily

Slender violets hide with diligence

Whatever else moves and stirs there,

Enough, it's Spring that moves and lives.

However, what blooms most richly in the garden