Schumann's "Song Cycle Op.39" Research

Schumann was a famous German composer in19thcentury. He composed manyfamous art songs and song cycles, such as Op.48Dichterliebe, Op.42Frauenliebe und–leben,and so on. Op.39Liederkreis is also an excellent song cycle. The poems usedin Op.39are from the works of Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff. The contents areabundant, subtle, and imaginative. The compose of this song cycle by Schumann isalso impressive---highly melodic, varied rhythm. The melodies fit the lyrics perfectly,and create such beautiful Artistic conceptions.In this thesis, I will research on Op.39Liederkreis from different angles, improvethe analysis on music and singing technique done by former researchers. On this basis,I will expand the research about language and literature (including completeword-to-word translation), explore the profound meaning in the works, try to reflectthe truth of the work, and, balance the depth and breadth of the study. Make sure theresearch could provide the reference about language, literature, style, and performancetechnique for further performer and researcher.The thesis has four sections1. Foreword In this section, I will introduce the present research status ofOp.39Liederkreis at home and abroad, and expound the the research value andsignificance of the thesis.2.Chapter One Schumann’s life and brief introduction to his creation(especially the achievement in artsongs composition)3.Chapter Two The style of Op.39Liederkreis and its background. In thissection, I will expound the origin, meaning and evolution of the word “Liederkreis”,which could be widely seen in German song cycles. After that, I’ll card thebackground of the creation of Op.39Liederkreis. This will be very helpful tounderstand this work full of metaphor. On the basis of the analysis of Schumann’s life,emotional experience, I will resolve the big order change of songs Op.39Liederkreisafter publish, analyze the difference and find out the deep-seated reason, compare twoversions and figure out the change of theme, emotion expression and performanceresults.4. Chapter Three Analysis of Op.39Liederkreis’ language, music andperformance. In this section I will analyze the whole song cycle from three aspects: First, word-to-word translation for each songs. Rigour and accuracy are high priorities;Second, at the basis of accurate translation, interpret the poems used in this songcycles from different angles, fully understand the meaning of Eichendorff’s poemswhich are full of metaphor, symbol and intimation. Clarify the expression intention ofeach song with the combination of background of Schumann’s creation. At last, withthe help of understanding of the content and analysis about sheet of music, summarizehow to perform this song cycle perfectly.Through the in-depth study of Op.39Liederkreis, We could comprehend thebrilliant creation of Schumann’s “year of songs” from one side, feel his uniquecreation style, and experience the powerful and unconstrained style of Eichendorff.This is a significantly valuable reference for learning and performingGerman/Austrian art songs.