“To Diotima” – this addendum to the title was preserved until shortly before publication of the piano “songs” and mystified Schumann’s contemporaries. “The Goddess to whom they are addressed has caused me quite a headache” wrote Joseph Joachim, and even Brahms was not able to identify her. The composer was referring to a novel by Hölderlin, although this work was apparently no longer generally very well-known in Schumann’s day. “Quite original pieces, there is a very particular atmosphere in them” – thus Clara passed judgement. In our revised edition Ernst Herttrich provides a detailed illumination of the background to this unusual work.
Content/Details
- Level of difficulty (Explanation)
- Other titles with this level of difficulty
- Gesänge der Frühe op. 133
Youtube
Preface
The title Gesänge der Frühe first appears in Robert Schumann’s (1810–56) Projektenbuch, where the following note is to be found: “Composition (plan) / Gesänge der Frühe. An Diotima.” The note was written between 1849 and 1851: unfortunately it is not possible to ascertain a more exact date. The supplemental An Diotima remained until shortly before printing of what … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer

Robert Schumann
Connected with his oeuvre is the term he coined, Poetic Music, with which he strove for a fusion of literature and music, a paradigm particularly seen in his lyric piano pieces prior to 1839. Thereafter he devoted himself to other genres (song, symphony, chamber music, among others).
1810 | Born in Zwickau on June 8, the son of a bookdealer. |
from 1828 | Studies law in Leipzig, piano with Friedrich Wieck. Decision to pursue a career in music. |
1830–39 | He exclusively composes piano works, mostly cycles, including “Papillons,” Op. 2 (1829–32); “Carnaval,” Op 9 (1834/35); “Davidsbündlertänze,” Op. 6 (1837); “Kinderszenen” (“Scenes from Childhood”), Op. 15 (1837/38); “Kreisleriana,” Op. 16 (1838); “Noveletten,” Op. 21 (1838). |
1832 | A paralysis of a finger in his right hand makes a career as a pianist impossible. Founding in 1833 of the fantasy brotherhood the “Davidsbund” (“League of David”). |
1835–44 | Editor of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal of Music). |
1840 | Marriage to Clara Wieck; 138 songs, including the Eichendorff Liederkreis, Op. 39; the song cycle “Dichterliebe,” Op. 48 |
1841 | Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major (“Spring” Symphony), Op. 38, and Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120. |
1842 | Three string quartets, Op. 41; further chamber music. |
1843 | Teacher of composition at the Leipzig Conservatory. Oratorio “Paradise and the Peri,” Op. 50. |
1845 | He settles in Dresden. Journey to Russia. |
1845 | Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61. |
1850 | City music director in Düsseldorf. Premiere in Leipzig of his opera “Genoveva,” Op. 81. Symphony in E-flat major (“Rhenish”), Op. 97; Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129. |
1853 | Beginning of his friendship with Brahms. Completion of the Scenes from Faust. Violin Concerto in D minor for Joseph Joachim. |
1854 | Suicide attempt and admission to the psychiatric institution in Endenich, near Bonn. |
1856 | Death in Endenich on July 29. |
About the authors
De uitgave is van een voortreffelijke kwaliteit. Aanbeloven.
Nachzulesen im spannenden und erhellenden Vorwort von Ernst Herttrich, das sich nahtlos in den hervorragenden Eindruck einfügt, den die vorliegende Ausgabe macht.