The Lied: Mirror of Late Romanticism.
Roberts, Kenneth B.
The nineteenth century was the era of song. In this important book,
Edward Kravitt, who has spent a lifetime learning about and living with
the German lied, dazzles us with the development of the solo song, the
song cycle, and finally, the orchestral song. He centers his
presentation on the works of five major composers: Gustav Mahler,
Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf, Hans Pfitzner, and Max Reger, but mentions -
sometimes tantalizingly, considering that they are rarely given music
examples - many minor composers. One of the book's flaws is the
lack of a list of music consulted and available anthologies. The reader
is left wondering how to get at this music (only books, articles, etc.,
are listed in the bibliography). Indeed, in the largest music example,
the Mahler "Urlicht" is given complete, as if we didn't
have this available! To be sure, there are Gesamtausgaben for Mahler and
Reger, and a wonderful multivolume set of Strauss songs from Boosey
& Hawkes. But where does one go to see the examples discussed, by
composers such as Walter Courvoisier, Rudi Stephan, Heinrich Kaspar
Schmid, or Martin Plueddemann, to name a few?
There is a glossary, with detailed information as to terms and the
author's definition considering the development of the lied in the
century. The writing is sprinkled with wonderful insight and nuggets of
information. The time period ends with Schoenberg achieving a new style
in the Hanging Garden cycle and indeed one truly feels as if there is a
Toynbean decay, an exhaustion at century's end and the need for a
break with the past as the logical end of this rich development from
Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann onward. The author is careful to
point out the distinct division between Claude Debussy and
impressionism, the change in Reger's music after he moves to a more
metropolitan Munich, the fact that Strauss considered a fifth song (an
early one!) for the Four Last Songs, and he includes much information
about sprechstimme (including Pierrot Lunaire; Kravitt states that
Schoenberg didn't care if the pitches were exact as long as the
hallucinatory style was present).
Of special interest is the information about the large number of
vocal recitals, especially during the last quarter of the century and
the way in which they were done (I should like to have heard Strauss
improvising themes from his operas while connecting songs in recital!).
Kravitt relies on interviews made with singers and accompanists,
creating an oral history of music tradition, a valuable part of the
book. He conceives the lied as a part of German nationalism and fully
discusses Kaiser Wilhelm II's attempts to create a special kind of
folklike song (Volkstumlicheslied) - an amusing tale of futility.
It is frustrating to read about a composer such as Pfitzner, and not
be able to see - in this volume or in most libraries - scores, or to
hear his songs. Perhaps the appearance of this fact-filled survey,
written from a personal perspective, will help publishers and performers
expand their repertories. We are hearing orchestrations of Schubert
lieder this anniversary year; one can hope that eventually we shall hear
some of the orchestral songs (and not just by Mahler) unearthed by
Kravitt and discussed with texts and music. There is a goldmine of
information in this book, for which we must thank the author.
KENNETH ROBERTS Williams College
