Ein kleiner, hübscher Vogel

ABOUT THE PROGRAM SONGS OF LOVE, FATE AND FORTUNE

It is important to add that an arrangement of this work solely for piano four hands (no sung text) appeared in 1874, suggesting that Brahms did not consider the Daumer poetry as an inextricable element of his work. This act of separating text from music reifies Brahms’s place in opposition to the programmatic tendencies of The New German School, which considered a musical piece conceived with text as a whole, singular unit. The cover design of the first edition of the Liebeslieder Walzer highlights an uncommon editorial direction: “Pianoforte in vier händen” in large decorative font and, below it, “(und Gesang ad libitum)” in significantly smaller plain font. This is not the more common musical “ad libitum”—a freedom of rhythm or style—but rather an indication that the voice parts may be sung by whatever ensemble is available: anything from four soloists to a full SATB choir. This editorial designation refers to the practical nature of the pieces: Brahms likely intended them to be sung in the parlor rather than on the professional stage. Indeed, they were so well received by the general public that Brahms published the Neue Liebeslieder (“New Love Songs”) in 1875.

While Brahms is often remembered for his “absolute” music, Carl Orff (1895–1982) preferred the drama of programmatic music and musical drama itself, including genres like the cantata, opera, the orchestral play, and instrumental music for straight plays. As the first part of a musical triptych, his Carmina Burana premiered in Frankfurt on the June 8, 1937 and subsequently saw several successful German performances during World War II. As a composer living in Germany under the Third Reich, Orff was required to join his colleagues (those that did not flee) in the Reichsmusikkammer (“Reich Chamber of Music”). Despite a postwar psychological evaluation determining he was “not a subscriber to Nazi doctrine,” the extent of Orff’s relationship the Nazi regime is still contested. In any case, the composer believed this to be his first work of consequence, and it certainly found immense popularity beyond Germany despite its political circumstances; today it is generally understood to be without an underlying message. In the composer’s words, Carmina Burana was first created as a “scenic cantata” involving various artforms—staging, dance, and visual design—intended to accompany the music. The piece’s original subtitle demonstrates its variety: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis (“Secular Songs for Singers and Choruses to Be Sung With Instruments and Magic Images”).