"Dichterliebe, A Poet's Love," composed in 1840, is the most famous song cycle by Robert Schumann (Op. 48). The words for its 16 songs are from "Lyrisches Intermezzo," a collection of poems written by Heinrich Heine between 1822 and 1823. This collection was later published as part of Heine's larger work, "Das Buch der Lieder." Along with the song cycles "Die schöne Müllerin" and "Winterreise" by Franz Schubert, Schumann's "Dichterliebe" is considered a key example of this type of musical work in literature.

Source: Heine'sLyrisches Intermezzo

Heine, the author of the sarcastic work Die Romantische Schule, was a strong critic of German romanticism. However, he is often seen as a classic example of a Romantic writer. In some of his poetry, especially in Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen (1844), he used romantic poetic styles to express sharp, funny criticism. Dichterliebe, which was written before Deutschland, does not seem to include this ironic tone. Scholars have different opinions about how much Schumann intended to show this aspect.

Heine’s Lyrisches Intermezzo includes a verse prologue and 65 poems. The prologue, titled Es war 'mal ein Ritter trübselig und stumm ("There once was a Knight, woeful and silent"), tells the story of a sad knight who sits alone in his house during the day but dances with his fairy bride at night until dawn returns him to his small poet’s room. The 65 poems that follow include 16 from Dichterliebe. The ending of the work describes the poet placing all his old sad songs, dreams, and painful love into a large coffin, which 12 giants will throw into the sea. This ending is somewhat similar to Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin, where the hero drowns himself in the stream he has followed throughout the cycle.

Song cycle

"Das Buch der Lieder" received its second edition, with a preface from Paris, in 1837. The songs were composed in 1840, and the first edition of Dichterliebe was published in two volumes by Peters in Leipzig in 1844. In the original 1840 version, which included 20 songs (originally dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy), the cycle had the longer title: "Gedichte von Heinrich Heine – 20 Lieder und Gesänge aus dem Lyrischen Intermezzo im Buch der Lieder" ("Poetry by Heinrich Heine – 20 Lyrics and Songs from the Lyric Intermezzo in the Book of Songs"). Although Schumann originally wrote music for 20 of Heine's poems, only 16 of these were included in the first edition. "Dein Angesicht" (Heine no. 5) is one of the songs left out. "Auf Flügeln des Gesanges," or "On Wings of Song" (Heine no. 9), is best known for a version by Felix Mendelssohn.

The famous introduction to the first song, "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai," is directly taken from Clara Wieck-Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor (1835). It comes from the third beat of measure 30 through the second beat of measure 34 in the second movement. Robert Schumann used the same key, melody, accompaniment style, tempo, and rhythm in the opening measures of Dichterliebe as in Clara's concerto.

The poems' very sensitive emotions are reflected in Schumann's music, which uses small, detailed chromatic notes and suspensions. The poet's love is described as a place where subtle feelings are expressed through delicate references to flowers, dreams, and fairy tales. Schumann sometimes repeated phrases or reworded lines to create the desired musical ending. Dichterliebe is a complete artistic work, separate from the Lyrisches Intermezzo, but it was inspired by it. Schubert chose different themes for his own settings of Heine's poems.

Although Dichterliebe is often linked to male voice singing, it was originally dedicated to the soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient. This shows that the work was meant to be performed by a female voice. The first full public performance of the piece in London was given by Harry Plunket Greene, who was accompanied from memory by Leonard Borwick, on January 11, 1895, at London's St. James's Hall.

Songs

• Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (Heine, Lyrical Intermezzo no 1). ("In beautiful May, when the buds began to grow, love began to grow in my heart. In beautiful May, when the birds sang, I told you about my desires and longings.")
• Aus meinen Tränen sprießen (Heine no 2). ("Many flowers grow from my tears, and a nightingale choir comes from my sighs. If you love me, I will gather all of them for you, and the nightingale will sing at your window.")
• Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne (Heine no 3). ("I once loved the rose, lily, dove, and sun with joy. Now, I love only the small, the delicate, the pure, and the One. You are the source of all these things.")
• Wenn ich in deine Augen seh (Heine no 4). ("When I look in your eyes, all my pain and sadness fade. When I kiss your mouth, I feel whole. When I rest on your chest, I feel heavenly joy. And when you say, 'I love you,' I cry bitterly.")
• Ich will meine Seele tauchen (Heine no 7). ("I want to bathe my soul in the cup of the lily. The lily will ring and sing a song about my beloved. The song will tremble and shake, like the kiss of her mouth that she gave me in a special moment.")
• Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome (Heine no 11). ("In the Rhine, in the sacred stream, the great holy city of Cologne and its cathedral are reflected. There is a face painted on golden leather that has shone into my life. Flowers and cherubs float around Our Lady. Her eyes, lips, and cheeks look like those of my beloved.")
• Ich grolle nicht (Heine no 18). ("I do not scold you, even though my heart breaks and love is lost to me. Though you shine in a field of diamonds, no light reaches your heart's darkness. I have always known this. I saw the night in your heart and the snake that destroys it. I saw, my love, how empty you are.")
• Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen (Heine no 22). ("If the little flowers knew how deeply my heart is hurt, they would cry with me to heal my pain. The nightingales would sing to comfort me, and even the stars would fall from the sky to speak to me. But they cannot know, because only one person knows, and it is she who has broken my heart.")
• Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen (Heine no 20). ("There is a loud sound of flutes, violins, and trumpets because they are dancing the wedding dance of my beloved. There is thunder and booming from kettle drums and shawms. Between the noise, you can hear the good cupids crying and moaning.")
• Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen (Heine no 40). ("When I hear the song that my love once sang, my chest fills with deep sadness. A dark longing drives me to the forest hills, where my great sorrow pours out in tears.")
• Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen (Heine no 39). ("A young man loved a girl who chose someone else. That person loved another girl and married her. The girl married, out of anger, the first man she met. The young man was sickened by this. It is an old story, and it is always new. The one she turns away from, she breaks his heart

Recordings

These are some important recordings of Dichterliebe among many others:

• Ian Bostridge with Julius Drake (1998)
• Suzanne Danco with Guido Agosti, 1949, (Decca 78 rpm AK 2310–12).
• Thom Denijs (tenor) with Enni Denijs-Kroyt, 1928 (First complete electric-microphone recording) (His Master's Voice 78 rpm D2062–64).
• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Alfred Brendel (Philips CD Dig 416 352–2).
• Fischer-Dieskau with Jörg Demus, EMG review November 1957 (DGG LPM 18370).
• Fischer-Dieskau with Christoph Eschenbach (1973–77) (DGG CD 439 417–2).
• Fischer-Dieskau with Vladimir Horowitz (live recording, 1976) (Sony Classical 074644674323).
• Wolfgang Holzmair with Imogen Cooper (Philips Dig 446 086–2).
• Gerhard Hüsch with Hanns Udo Müller (1930s) (HMV 78 rpm).
• Lotte Lehmann with Bruno Walter (1940s) (Philips Minigroove LP ABL 3166, Columbia 10-inch LP 33C1020).
• Walther Ludwig with Michael Raucheisen, EMG review April 1955 (DGG LP 16029).
• Charles Panzéra (baritone) with Alfred Cortot (HMV DB 4987–89).
• Ian Partridge with Jennifer Partridge, 1974 (CfP CD CFP 4651).
• Peter Pears with Benjamin Britten.
• Aksel Schiøtz with Gerald Moore (1946), (HMV 78 rpm DB 6270–72, HMV BLP 1064).
• Peter Schreier with Norman Shetler (issued 1972) (DGG LP 2530 353).
• Schreier with Christoph Eschenbach (issued 1991) (Teldec 3 CDs 2292–46154).
• Bernhard Schütz with Reinhold Friedl (issued 2011) (Bôłt CD BR POP01).
• Gérard Souzay with Dalton Baldwin, 1962 (Philips CD 442 741–2).
• Souzay with Jacqueline Bonneau, 1953 (Decca CD 440 065–2).
• Souzay with Alfred Cortot (Live, Paris 1956) (Italian Cetra LP LO 501).
• José van Dam with Dalton Baldwin (Kerner lieder and Dichterliebe) (Forlane CD B0000541 FL).
• Georgy Vinogradov with Georg Orentlicher, 1950–1951. In Russian (Preiser Records, CD. PR89118).
• Fritz Wunderlich with Hubert Giesen (DGG CD 449 7472).

In literature

• The song cycle Dichterliebe is an important part of Jon Marans's play Old Wicked Songs. In the story, a young American pianist goes to Europe to solve a problem with creating art that could end his career. He works with a famous Viennese musician who has a complicated history, and together they explore ideas about meaning and art through Robert Schumann's music. The play's title comes from the final song of the cycle.
• The first song, Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, is an important element in Julio Cortázar's short story "The Secret Weapons."
• In Michael Nyman's chamber opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, one character sings the song Ich grolle nicht.
• In Maria Kuncewiczowa's story "Cudzoziemka," the song Ich grolle nicht is a key part of the main character's experience.