A Study On The Tenor Singing Of Brahms's "Four Serious Songs"

Johannes Brahms(1833-1897)is one of the greatest German composers,often regarded by music scholars as the last classicist at the end of the 19 th century Romantic period,because he can wonderfully handle the relationship between the rationality of classical music and the lyricism of Romanticism."4 Ernste Gesange(The Last Four Songs)" is Brahms' last song cycle with lasting masterpiece of later generations.The lyrics of the whole work are derived from the Bible,whose accomplishments have transcended the music itself.Besides its profound religious significance,it also includes Brahms' understanding and exploration of life and death of all things.Therefore,it can be said that these 4 Ernste Gesange are Brahms' greatest works of art in his life.Brahms completed his last song cycle,4 Ernste Gesange(op.121),in 1896,and died the following year.The lyrics of the whole work respectively describe that human beings and animals are equal before death,vulnerable people are bullied and nobody cares about it,anyway,the death is the relief of all misery,and I would like to save everything with love.The main body will discuss this work one by one from the following aspects: the background of creation,the lyrics and melodies of the music,the form and the voice,the piano accompaniment and the emotional grasp of singing,showing the general structure of this work,comparing the similarities and characteristics of baritone and tenor singing,and finally discussing the composer's creative style and tenor's singing style.In practice,the vast majority of singers are baritone version of deduction,tenor attempts being few.Therefore,the author takes advantage of spectral analysis,text analysis,historical data combination,literature,practice,illustration,comparison and so on,through the discussion of the tenor version of '4 Ernste Gesange' musical characteristics and deductive experience,to give reference opinions to other deducers.