Recording: Edith Mathis,
soprano; Brigitte Fassbaender, alto; Karl Engel, piano [DG 449
641-2]
Published 1874.
Brahms
returned to the vocal duet for the first time since Op. 28 ten years
previously. These four pieces were published together with
a reissue of his Op.
20 duets, also for soprano and alto. None of them
are dialogues, and the voices mostly sing in straight, often
parallel harmony, but all are exquisite and polished, especially
the masterful No. 3. No. 2 is the earliest duet he ever
wrote, in 1852, thus preceding Op. 20, but he held it back at that
point. Despite the early composition date, its archaic
sound and daring choices, such as the a cappella endings
of the first two stanzas, along with tonally ambiguous
“Phrygian” cadences, place it a rung above the often-criticized
Op. 20, and it
fits well with the other three. Robert Schumann had set
this same Kerner text for women’s chorus (Op. 69, No. 3).
While there are two characters in the sisters’ song of No. 1,
the point is how indistinguishable they are, so they sing
together. When they share one thing too many at the end,
the perspective switches to a third-person narrator and the key
from minor to major. Brahms evokes folk song here, as does
the Mörike poem. The piano’s postlude after each stanza is
delightful. No. 3 is a deeply evocative setting of a
profound Goethe text. The main four-note motive pervades
the song in an unobtrusive way, often concealed, like its first
appearance in the piano introduction. The use of canon
in the middle stanza is the only extensive counterpoint or even
asynchronous singing in the set. No. 4 is an exuberant
outburst of pure joy. The sophisticated construction of
the strophe, with three ten-measure phrases and strategic text
repetition, mitigates any sense of monotony from its three
nearly exact iterations. Even the accommodations for
different line lengths in the stanzas are expertly
handled. The duets have pleasing contrasts with each other
and work well when performed as a group, but each also stands on
its own. One more excellent set of soprano/alto duets, the
five of Op. 66,
followed a year later.
Note: Links to English translations of the
texts are from Emily Ezust’s site at http://www.lieder.net.
For the most part, the translations are line-by-line, except
where the difference between German and English syntax requires
slight alterations to the contents of certain lines. The
German texts (included here) are also visible in the translation
links.
IMSLP WORK PAGE ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First
Edition from Brahms-Institut Lübeck) ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (From
Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche Werke)
1. Die Schwestern (The Sisters). Text by
Eduard Mörike. Allegretto. Strophic form with modified
final verse. G MINOR, 2/4 time.
German Text:
Wir Schwestern zwei, wir schönen,
So gleich von Angesicht,
So gleicht kein Ei dem andern,
Kein Stern dem andern nicht.
Wir Schwestern zwei, wir schönen,
Wir haben nußbraun Haar’,
Und flichtst du sie in einen Zopf,
Man kennt sie nicht fürwahr.
Wir Schwestern zwei, wir schönen,
Wir tragen gleich Gewand,
Spazieren auf dem Wiesenplan
Und singen Hand in Hand.
Wir Schwestern zwei, wir schönen,
Wir spinnen in die Wett’,
Wir sitzen an einer Kunkel,
Wir schlafen in einem Bett.
O Schwestern zwei, ihr schönen,
Wie hat sich das Blättchen gewandt!
Ihr liebet einerlei Liebchen --
Jetzt hat das Liedel ein End’. English Translation
0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 1, lines 1-2. The
singers begin without introduction on an eighth-note
upbeat. Initially in unison on an ascending broken G-minor
chord, they quickly split into harmony of mostly thirds and
sixths. The piano has a simple accompaniment of staccato
bass notes followed on the offbeats with right-hand chords or
two-note harmonies. The words “wir schönen” are repeated
in all stanzas. On both statements of “schönen,” the alto
leaps down in a quick long-short rhythm. On the second
line, the singers, harmonized in pure thirds, smoothly turn up,
down, and back up, ending on the “dominant” harmony. 0:10 [m. 7]--Lines 3-4. The singers ascend on the
third line, then continue in harmonies of thirds and sixths,
utilizing the borrowed harmonies of D minor, A minor, and F
major, along with the “relative” B-flat major. After
descending on “andern,” the words “kein Ei dem andern” are
repeated on two similar drooping descents of a third.
Here, the piano briefly abandons its established pattern to
reinforce the descents, with the left hand briefly moving to
off-beat notes. The pattern is restored under line 4,
which returns to G minor with straight notes harmonized in
thirds. After a gentle syncopated leap on “nicht,” the
full line is repeated, descending to a decisive cadence. 0:18 [m. 15]--Beginning on a half-measure upbeat, the
piano has a cheeky postlude. Two leaping figures, the
second reaching higher, maintain the character of bass notes
followed by off-beat harmonies, but both hands are playing
continually. These first figures are piano and leggiero,
but then the concluding figures are suddenly forte.
These are introduced by faster sixteenth notes in the right
hand, touching on C minor, leading to more upward leaps and a
forceful G-minor cadence. 0:23 [m. 19]--Stanza (strophe) 2, lines 1-2.
Strophic repetition of the opening music with the new second
line. Brahms altered the poet’s “lichtebraune” (“light
brown”) to “nußbraun” (“nut brown”) for easier declamation. 0:30 [m. 25]--Lines 3-4. They are set as in stanza
1 with an added long-short rhythm to accommodate “einen
Zopf.” The repeated text is “in einen Zopf.” Line 4
and its repetition have the same declamation as in stanza 1. 0:39 [m. 33]--Piano postlude, as in stanza 1 at 0:18 [m.
15]. 0:43 [m. 37]--Stanza (strophe) 3, lines 1-2. The
vocal lines are the same as in the previous two verses, but the
piano is given a variation to its motoric accompaniment.
There is now a light descent in harmonies that are doubled in
octaves between the hands after the upbeat. This breaks
after a measure, with the right hand continuing down before
passing the descent to left-hand octaves as it returns to
off-beat harmonies. The original accompaniment is restored
in the fourth measure under the second line. 0:51 [m. 43]--Lines 3-4. The vocal declamation
matches stanza 2, and the repeated text is “dem
Wiesenplan.” The piano again varies its accompaniment with
a similar descending pattern to that of the first two lines, but
matching the harmony used for these lines. The right hand
now has off-beat harmonies under the textual repetition, the
first measure of which has descending bass octaves. The
original accompaniment returns for the fourth line and its
repetition. 1:01 [m. 51]--Piano postlude, as in stanza 1 at 0:18 [m.
15] and stanza 2 at 0:39 [m. 33]. 1:07 [m. 55]--Stanza (strophe) 4, lines 1-2. The
new accompaniment pattern from stanza 3 is retained here, with
the light descent in the first three measures. 1:14 [m. 61]--Lines 3-4. The accompaniment is as in
stanza 3. The vocal declamation is varied here because of
the accentuation. The words “sitzen an” in line 3 are set
to a long-short-short rhythm, and the later long-short rhythm
from the previous two stanzas is not present. The repeated
text is “an einer Kunkel,’ and it is declaimed like stanza
1. Line 4 and its repetition also use the new
long-short-short rhythm for “schlafen in.” to accommodate an
extra syllable. 1:22 [m. 69]--Piano postlude, as in stanza 1 at 0:18 [m.
15], stanza 2 at 0:39 [m. 33], and stanza 3 at 1:01 [m. 51]. 1:28 [m. 73]--Stanza (strophe) 5, lines 1-2. The
tables are turned on the sisters when it is revealed that they
love the same man. The narrative voice switches to the
second person, addressing them. The key changes to G
major, but the lowered leading tone F-natural is retained for
the two statements of “schönen.” Line 1 otherwise has the
same contour as in the previous verses, but without the skipping
long-short rhythm in the alto. The accompaniment is back
to the pattern from the first two stanzas, but with the bass
venturing lower. The music for the second line is more
varied, with a major-key descent in both voices, harmonized in
thirds. A long-short rhythm is added on “Blättchen
gewandt’ to accommodate the extra syllable. 1:35 [m. 79]--Line 3. It is stretched from four
measures to six, not through more repeated text, but by
lengthening the actual notes. The full statement of the
line takes three measures instead of two and includes dissonant
voice crossing, with the soprano dipping below the alto before
rising on “einerlei” and the alto crossing back above on
“Liebchen.” The text “einerlei Liebchen” is repeated with
an added “ja” (“yes”) for emphasis. This repetition is
also expanded to three measures, the sopranos crossing back over
on “einerlei” and both voices holding out “Liebchen.”. The
piano has inward-moving staccato arpeggios. A
colorful harmonic sequence of B, C, D, and E major leads to a
close on A minor instead of F major. 1:42 [m. 85]--Line 4, also expanded from four measures to
six. Sung in major, the first statement is declaimed as
usual, with an added long-short-short rhythm on “Liedel
ein.” The syncopated leap arrives as expected, and the
regular line repetition seems to follow, but the voices pause
for a half-beat after “Liedel,” then give “das Liedel” an extra
repetition, adding a measure. The piano bass octaves move
up by half-step here. The second added measure comes with
a full-beat pause before the final “ein End,” given on a
forceful quarter-note descent to a G-major cadence. 1:49 [m. 91]--Piano postlude. The first piano
figures are played in G major, but the concluding forte
figures move strongly back to G minor, adding a distinctly sad
note after the irony of the major key. 1:57--END OF DUET [94 mm.]
2. Klosterfräulein (The Young Nun). Text by Justinius
Kerner. Andante. Strophic form with varied
accompaniment. A MINOR, 2/4 time.
German Text:
Ach, ach, ich armes Klosterfräulein!
O Mutter! was hast du gemacht?
Lenz ging am Gitter vorüber,
Und hat mir kein Blümlein gebracht.
Ach, ach, wie weit, wie weit hier unten
Zwei Schäflein gehen im Tal!
Viel Glück, ihr Schäflein, ihr sahet
Den Frühling zum ersten Mal!
Ach, ach, wie weit, wie weit hier oben
Zwei Vöglein fliegen in Ruh’!
Viel Glück, ihr Vöglein, ihr flieget
Der besseren Heimat zu! English Translation
0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza
(strophe) 1, line 1. The piano strikes and holds the
“dominant” note E in the left hand. The voices enter off the
beat, descending while harmonized in sixths, contracted to thirds
on an upward leap and further descent to ‘dominant” harmony.
The piano’s right hand doubles the voices. The three-measure
phrase concludes with a “sighing” gesture in the piano left hand,
up and back down from its E. 0:09 [m. 4]--Line 2. Its contour is like line 1, but
its vocal harmonies are more varied, including a fifth and a
fourth on the first descent. The upward leap is a third
higher (to G-natural) in the soprano. The alto holds a note
and trails after the soprano on “gemacht,” the only time in the
duet that the voices do note move together. After dropping
from the E down to a D and adding a lower voice harmonizing the
alto line, the piano left hand moves back up to E and adds a grace
note to its “sighing” gesture heard at the end of line 1. 0:17 [m. 7]--Line 3. The voices sing unaccompanied
for two measures, starting on the downbeat. The soprano
remains fixed on B while the alto, beginning on G-sharp, descends
two half steps and a whole step. In contrast to the flowing
rhythm of the first two lines, the pattern is
long-short-short. In the third measure, the soprano also
moves up as the alto continues to move down, then they collapse
inward to a unison A. The piano left hand enters here to
play its “sighing” gesture with the grace note. 0:23 [m. 10]--Line 4. It starts on the upbeat as the
piano finishes its “sigh.” Like line 3, the voices move
outward, here with the soprano moving up from the outset by
half-step. The rhythm is also like line 3. The piano
provides a full synchronous accompaniment, adding to the vocal
harmony. The line ends with a faster long-short (dotted)
rhythm and a so-called “Phrygian” cadence from a wide tenth to an
octave E, with the soprano descending to the E by a
half-step. The piano harmonizes this cadence with the
“dominant” E-major harmony, creating an ambiguous closure.
This is amplified by an unaccompanied repetition of “kein Blümlein
gebracht” that stretches the “Phrygian” cadence to four measures,
disrupting the three-bar pattern. 0:41 [m. 17]--Stanza (strophe) 2, line 1. The vocal
parts are sung as in stanza 1. In a subtle but significant
variation, the left hand of the piano plays and reiterates an open
fifth A-E instead of holding the bare E. The “sighing”
gesture is heard as in the first line before, without the grace
note. 0:47 [m. 20]--Line 2. The pattern continues. At
the end, there is variation in the vocal parts from stanza
1. Where the alto had held a lower note and trailed the
soprano in its descent, here it leaps up with the soprano to
harmonize the high G-natural a third below and descend with it in
parallel thirds. The leap stretches one syllable on three
notes that had been used for single syllables, and the descent
places two syllables where one was before (the whole line is one
syllable shorter). The voices end where they did in stanza
1. The piano right hand doubles the voices, but the left
hand dispenses with the added lower voice, compensated by the low
A of the A-E fifth. The “sighing” gesture follows as
expected with the added grace note. 0:55 [m. 23]--Line 3. Its presentation is unaltered
from stanza 1, including the unaccompanied first two measures and
the entry of the “sighing” gesture with grace note in the third. 1:02 [m. 26]--Line 4. Both the line and the
stretched-out unaccompanied repetition of the “Phrygian” cadence
are mostly unchanged from stanza 1. It is a syllable
shorter, however, so the long-short rhythm before the cadence is
replaced by a single note in both voices. The accompaniment
also enters off the beat and after the voices on “Frühling.”
The repeated text for the four-measure cadence reiteration is “zum
ersten Mal,” a syllable shorter than in stanza 1 and sung without
the (longer) long-short rhythm. 1:19 [m. 33]--Stanza (strophe) 3, line 1.
After the previous verses were sung softly, the piano rings out
with a new forte accompaniment. Instead of the held
note or fifth in the left hand, the “sustained” element is a
forceful repetition of the “sighing” gesture high in the right
hand in fast triplet rhythm. Under this, the left hand moves
to the treble range and doubles the voices, whose parts are
unchanged from the first two stanzas other than now being sung in
an urgent forte. At the end of the phrase, the
expected “sighing” gesture, which is the basis for the fast
right-hand triplets, is accomplished by expanding the right-hand
triplets to broken octaves that move up and down. The left
hand repeats its last two harmonies under this. 1:25 [m. 36]--Line 2. The pattern continues.
The voices sing as in stanza 2, with the alto moving up to descend
in parallel thirds, and with the same syllable declamation.
The fast right-hand triplets are reiterated as in the first line,
but the left hand adds the original low E to the doubling of the
voices, which is an octave lower than in line 1. The fast
triplets suggest the flying of the birds, and this is graphically
represented where the “sighing” gesture would be expected.
The triplets keep the up-down pattern, but after converting F to
F-sharp, they shoot up to B and C-sharp and then to E and F-sharp
an octave higher, finally landing on the E yet another octave up
on the downbeat of line 3. The left hand adds support to the
E’s and the B. 1:32 [m. 39]--Line 3. The voices are suddenly back to
piano and follow the pattern from the previous
stanzas. Other than the very high E on the downbeat, the
first two measures are again unaccompanied. The “sighing”
gesture enters in the third measure as expected, but it is now
decorated by the fast “triplet” rhythm in the right hand, which
follows each left hand note with an off-beat F-E pair. 1:39 [m. 42]--Line 4. The first statement is as in
stanza 2, including the piano. The reiteration of the
cadence on “der Heimat zu” is also sung as in stanza 2, and pianissimo
as in both previous stanzas, but now it is not
unaccompanied. The piano harmonizes each note with high
chords, and instead of the “dominant” E-major harmony that was
heard in all three stanzas under the initial “Phrygian” cadence,
the closing harmony is the home A-minor chord, removing the
uncertainty that was amplified by the previous unaccompanied
closure. 1:57--END OF DUET [48 mm.]
3. Phänomen (Phenomenon). Text by Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe, from West-Östlicher Divan. Poco
Andante. Ternary varied strophic form (ABA). B MAJOR,
3/4 time.
German Text:
Wenn zu der Regenwand
Phöbus sich gattet,
Gleich steht ein Bogenrand
Farbig beschattet.
Im Nebel gleichen Kreis
Seh ich gezogen;
Zwar ist der Bogen weiß,
Doch Himmelsbogen.
So sollst du, muntrer Greis,
Dich nicht betrüben:
Sind gleich die Haare weiß,
Doch wirst du lieben.
English Translation (Phoebus is an
alternate name for Greek/Roman deity Apollo)
0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza 1 (A), introduction. The
four-measure lead-in sets the stage for the whole duet,
introducing the main motive. The left hand plays a broad
rising B-major arpeggio, and the right comes in with a chord on
the second beat. The next measure has two more descending
chords over an arpeggio beginning off the beat. The top note
of the second chord, which is held over the bar line, becomes the
first note of the duet’s main melodic motive (B, A-sharp, C-sharp,
F-sharp), which is continued in the next measure with two faster
notes over another arpeggio, both hands using a colorful
“diminished” harmony. The fourth measure completes the
motive with a downward leap and B-major harmony. 0:11 [m. 5]--Lines 1-2. The soprano sings the first
line to the main motive, the alto harmonizing below in sixths and
thirds. The melody is doubled in both hands of the piano,
the right hand adding downward undulations after the beat.
The melody is marked dolce. The line is completed
with a gentle upward motion and a long-short rhythm. The
second line has the soprano reaching up and descending and the
alto briefly adding an asynchronous lower counterpoint with a
long-short rhythm on “Phöbus.” The voices come together
again on “gattet.” The right hand continues its undulating
pattern with doubling, but the left hand, in bass octaves,
reiterates the main motive under “Phöbus.” 0:19 [m. 9]--Lines 3-4. Line 3 is sung to the same
music as line 1, but line 4 makes a striking harmonic turn up a
third to D-sharp major (an “enharmonic” notation of E-flat major)
via the “relative” G-sharp minor. The contour is like line
2, but the alto does not have its brief asynchronous
counterpoint. The main motive is again heard in the piano
bass, shifted down to G-sharp, but its final note is hidden in a
chord sounded after the left hand holds an octave over a bar
line. That final note could also be interpreted as being the
first note (D-sharp) of the next measure. 0:28 [m. 13]--Line 4 is sung again, with extra reiteration
of the word “farbig.” The voices and piano turn quickly back
home to B major on the first “farbig,” yearning upward before a
downward leap. The first three notes of the main motive are
heard in the piano bass starting on D-sharp. Back home on B
with the second “farbig,” the voices move to a gentle cadence with
a long-short rhythm as the piano right hand continues its
undulation but breaks the melodic doubling. The cadence
overlaps with the first measure of a full restatement of the
piano’s introduction. 0:41 [m. 19]--Stanza 2 (B), lines 1-2. These
lines are set to a canon between the voices, the alto
beginning two measures after the soprano and a fourth lower.
The melody used is an inversion of the main motive, turning it
upside down. The soprano sings line 1 on the inverted
motive, suggesting E minor, but then has a new fast descent in the
home minor key, B minor as the alto enters with its statement of
line 1 on the inverted motive. The piano’s right hand has
winding figuration, but its left hand subtly states the original
version of the main motive, beginning on the last beat of the bar
and dovetailing with a similar upper voice. It is also heard
under the alto’s entry. The alto sings line 2, ending on
F-sharp minor. 0:52 [m. 24]--Line 3. This line is set to an entirely
new canon with an ascending arpeggio and a descent.
This is also related to the main motive, reversing its intervals,
a fifth then a third on the arpeggio, and then a descending step
(the main motive has a step, then a third, then a fifth in
alternating direction). The soprano’s entry overlaps with
the alto’s conclusion of line 2. The alto now imitates at
the distance of only one measure and a fifth below. The key
is still centered on B minor, with motion to E minor/major on the
alto entry. The piano here has right hand chords on the
first two beats of each measure against a rising left-hand
arpeggio beginning off the beat of each measure. 0:59 [m. 28]--Line 4. The voices come together here,
beginning on the last beat of the previous measure with notes held
over the bar line. The soprano swoops down, as does the alto
a beat later. The key moves clearly to D major (“relative”
to B minor). The alto finishes the line before the soprano,
as the soprano stretches out the third syllable of “Himmelsbogen”
to overlap with the coming repetition of line 3. The piano
here has broad left-hand arpeggios against two-note harmonies in
the right hand. 1:04 [m. 30]--Line 3, second statement. It is again
set to the new canon, but now led by the alto, the soprano
imitating a fourth above. The key moves by the circle of
fifths, to G major on the alto entry, then to C major (very
distant from the home key of B) on the soprano entry. The
piano patterns are as they were on the first statement.
Differing from the first statement of this line, the leading
voice, here the alto, does not cut off after the statement, but
continues the descent to harmonize with the soprano by repeating
the words “der Bogen,” thus also aligning textually with the
soprano at the arrival on C major. 1:12 [m. 34]--Line 4, second and third statements.
The voices again begin on the last beat of the previous measure
and hold over the bar line, making a strikingly direct motion back
to the home key of B major. Instead of the previous leaping
gestures, the soprano now sings the line to the main motive at the
original pitches. The alto line is a more direct linear
descent but still harmonizes the soprano in thirds or
sixths. The line is repeated, but the penultimate syllable
is stretched out and the alto continues to move down, creating a
mild dissonance on the longer note. The piano’s left hand
has regular arpeggios, but the gently rocking right hand holds
chords over bar lines throughout. A one-measure arpeggio
leads to the reprise. 1:26 [m. 39]--Stanza 3 (A), lines 1-2. The
vocal lines follow the same pattern as in stanza 1 at 0:11 [m. 5],
with the asynchronous counterpoint on “dich nicht betrüben.”
The piano, however, is enriched, with added harmonies in the
moving left-hand lines and added upper notes to the right
hand. The right hand stays at a generally higher
level. The melodic doubling is internal and concealed.
The left hand still has the motive in bass octaves underneath line
2, as it did before, along with the vocal doubling. 1:35 [m. 43]--Lines 3-4. The vocal lines are as at
0:19 [m. 9], as is the harmonic motion toward D-sharp. The
piano is again enriched, most notably the higher right hand under
line 4, which has a more continually descending shape with the
inexact and concealed vocal doubling. The piano bass again
has the main motive in octaves transposed to begin on G-sharp
under line 4. 1:43 [m. 47]--Repetition of line 4, as at 0:28 [m. 13],
with added reiteration of “doch wirst.” The piano returns
here to its original pattern from stanza 1 until the vocal
cadence, where it begins a new postlude. The bass arpeggios
in this postlude begin off the beat, and the right hand has a
mildly chromatic undulation and descent in thirds. The main
motive is then heard one last time, richly harmonized and with
doubled note values. The second note is held over a bar
line, creating a hemiola with an implied 3/2 measure over
two notated 3/4 bars. Each note is given its own three-note
arpeggio in the left hand. The metric sense is restored with
the last note and longer bass arpeggio. That note then tops
the final sonorous B-major chord. 2:07--END OF DUET [54 mm.]
4. Die Boten der Liebe (The Messengers of Love).
Text by Joseph Wenzig after a Bohemian folk source.
Vivace. Strophic form. D MAJOR, 9/8 time.
German Text:
Wie viel schon der Boten
Flogen die Pfade
Vom Walde herunter,
Boten der Treu;
Trugen mir Briefchen
Dort aus der Ferne,
Trugen mir Briefchen
Vom Liebsten herbei!
Wie viel schon der Lüfte
Wehten vom Morgen,
Wehten bis Abends
So schnell ohne Ruh;
Trugen mir Küßchen
Vom kühligen Wasser,
Trugen mir Küßchen
Vom Liebsten herzu!
Wie wiegten die Halme
Auf grünenden Bergen,
Wie wiegten die Ähren
Auf Feldern sich leis;
“Mein goldenes Liebchen,”
Lispelten alle,
“Mein goldenes Liebchen,
Ich lieb’ dich so heiß!” English Translation
0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza (strophe) 1, introduction. The
piano sets an exuberant tone for the duet. Beginning with an
upbeat, a joyously leaping melody in an upper voice is decorated
with downward-swooping arches in the swinging 9/8 meter.
After the initial upward leap, the right hand introduces a
stepwise descent in an upper voice at the beginning of each
measure while the left hand has a distinctive long-short figure on
the second and third beats of the 9/8 “compound triple” time
measure. These become mildly chromatic at the end of the
five-bar introduction as the piano quiets down in preparation for
the vocal entry, and the right-hand notes have a brief hemiola
with two-beat units. 0:11 [m. 6]--Lines 1-4. In a rapturous mezza voce,
the voices are in sixths, sometimes contracted to thirds.
They start on an upbeat and utilize the stepwise descents and the
long-short figures from the introduction. The piano’s
broadly sweeping, downward-dipping lines are mostly played in
octaves with some deviation to emphasize the downbeat in the left
hand, and the octave expands to a tenth at the end of line
2. Line 3 is like line 1, but then line 4 briefly breaks the
synchronous motion as the alto leads the soprano in a descent on
the long-short rhythm. The piano changes here, with downward
arches in the right hand against rising arpeggios in the
left. Line 4 moves to the “dominant” (A) and is repeated,
creating a ten-measure phrase. 0:25 [m. 16]--Lines 5-6. Here, upbeats are eliminated
in favor of longer notes to begin the measures. Line 5
starts with the “subdominant” G-major harmony. The voices
sing mostly in closer thirds instead of sixths. The
long-short rhythm is still prominent after the downbeat. The
piano’s hands are now independent of each other, with swaying
long-short rhythm, including downward arches, in the right hand
against rising two-note figures in the left. Line 6 is a
very subdued, murmuring pianissimo. Connecting to
line 7, the piano’s right hand has three rising upper melodic
quarter notes that disrupt the 9/8 flow by grouping the last two
“compound” beats of that measure into an implied 3/4 bar. 0:31 [m. 20]--Lines 7-8. Line 7 (the same text as
line 5) is sung two times on a descent and a leap over a steady
buildup, the second statement a third higher. Reaching a forte
climax for the eighth and final line of the stanza, the soprano
reaches her highest note yet (G). The harmonies on the
long-short rhythm introduce two fourths among the nearly constant
thirds or sixths. Both voices introduce colorful chromatic
notes as they approach an implied cadence that will be
averted. The six measures here balance the four used for
lines 5-6 to create another ten-measure phrase. 0:40 [m. 26]--The last two lines are fully sung two more
times in a third ten-measure phrase. Beginning piano
and building with the first restatement of line 7, the soprano
sings the long-short rhythm against straight notes from the
alto. This is reversed in the second measure. The
harmony suggests the “subdominant” G major at first, but quickly
moves back to D. The alternation of long-short rhythm and
straight notes continues for the first measure of line 8 before
longer soprano notes and moving alto notes on “herbei” lead to the
next statement. 0:47 [m. 30]--Reaching another climax, the couplet is sung
a third time beginning on the harmony of E minor, with both voices
in straight notes. The piano’s left hand follows its
established pattern, but now the right hand overlaps the left’s
on-beat ascents (mostly broken octaves) with descents (the first
note of which is harmonized) off the beat. The soprano soars
up to a new high point of A, stretching the word “Liebsten.”
She then has an incredible hemiola to conclude the phrase,
with three long two-beat notes superimposed on two 9/8 measures,
creating a broad implied 3/2. The alto, however, maintains
the 9/8 flow and repeats “vom Liebsten” to align with the soprano
as the harmony moves from E to A major to the D-major cadence. 0:54 [m. 35]--Stanza (strophe) 2, introduction. The
vocal cadence merges into a full restatement of the piano’s
opening measures, without the upbeat and with the left hand’s
downbeat octave D moved lower. 1:01 [m. 40]--Lines 1-4, sung mostly as in stanza 1.
There is an adjustment to the declamation of lines 3-4 since line
3 is a syllable shorter and line 4 a syllable longer than in
stanza 1. The accommodation is accomplished by simply
shifting the upbeat from line 3 to line 4. The alto
stretches “Morgen” at the end of line 2 to two notes to compensate
for the lack of an upbeat, and the words “abends so” that bridge
the two lines are sung to three notes that were used for two
syllables (“unter”) in stanza 1, creating the upbeat. The
upbeat is also discreetly added to the repetition of line 4. 1:17 [m. 50]--Lines 5-6, sung as in stanza 1 with an upbeat
added (using the long-short rhythm) for the additional syllable in
line 6. The implied 3/4 in the partial 9/8 measure again
leads into the last two lines. 1:22 [m. 54]--Lines 7-8, first statement (with two
statements of line 7), sung as in stanza 1 at 0:31 [m. 20]. 1:31 [m. 60]--Second statement of lines 7-8, sung as in
stanza 1 at 0:40 [m. 26]. 1:37 [m. 64]--Third statement of lines 7-8, sung as in
stanza 1 at 0:47 [m. 30], with the alto again reiterating the
words “vom Liebsten” to align with the soprano hemiola. 1:46 [m. 69]--Stanza (strophe) 3, introduction, again
merged with the vocal cadence. 1:52 [m. 74]--Lines 1-4, sung mostly as in stanzas 1 and
2. Only the first line has the same number of syllables as
both stanzas, and line 2 has one more than either. The added
upbeat for line 2 is simple since “Boten” in stanza 1 and “Lüfte”
in stanza 2 were sung to three notes. Line 3 is sung with
its upbeat, as in stanza 1, and line 4 is also sung with its
upbeat, as in stanza 2. In the repetition of line 4, the
upbeat for “auf” is now a full compound beat (dotted quarter note)
instead of the short eighth note used in stanza 2. 2:07 [m. 84]--Lines 5-6, sung as in both stanzas. A
short upbeat is now used for line 5, which has an extra
syllable. Line 2 lacks an upbeat, as in stanza 1. The
pianissimo murmur is especially appropriate here in line 6
with the word “lispelten” (“whispered”). Again, the implied
3/4 leads to the last two lines. 2:13 [m. 88]--Lines 7-8, first statement, as in the
previous stanzas at 0:31 [m. 20] and 1:22 [m. 54]. Upbeats
are added to both statements of line 7, short for the first and
long for the second. 2:23 [m. 94]--Second statement of lines 7-8, as in the
previous stanzas at 0:40 [m. 26] and 1:31 [m. 60]. Here
Brahms does not use an upbeat for line 7, simply omitting the
first word “mein.” 2:28 [m. 98]--Third statement of lines 7-8, as in the
previous stanzas at 0:47 [m. 30] and 1:37 [m. 64]. For the
upbeat in line 7 on “mein,” Brahms simply cuts off the last word
“heiß” earlier than he had the corresponding words in the previous
stanzas and uses the last note of the previously stretched out
words. The alto repeats “ich lieb dich” (previously “vom
Liebsten”) to align with the soprano hemiola. 2:38 [m. 103]--The cadence merges into the first measure of
the introduction. After that measure, it is abbreviated to a
postlude, with the melodic notes continuing to plunge down the
D-major chord in the next measure, still with the
downward-swooping arches. The last measure is an emphatic
block D-major chord with the third (F-sharp) on top. The
left hand has a low bass D on the first beat and jumps to the
chord on the second beat. This final measure is notated with
only two beats (six eighth notes) to compensate for the upbeat at
the beginning, but the chord is marked to be held with a fermata. 2:47--END OF DUET [105 mm.] END OF SET