TAFELLIED--“DANK DER DAMEN” (“THE LADIES’ TOAST”),
GLEE FOR
SIX-VOICE MIXED CHORUS AND PIANO, OP. 93b
Recording: North German Radio Chorus, conducted by Günter Jena;
Gernot Kahl, piano [DG 449 646-2]
Published 1885.
To
the friends in Krefeld on January 28, 1885.
In terms of performance time (but not musical
content),
this is Brahms’s shortest separately numbered work. It is
also
perhaps the most singular. Although the vocal quartets have
always been frequently sung by small choirs (a practice of which
Brahms
approved in most cases), this is the only published piece
specifically
written for full choir with piano (rather than organ or
orchestral)
accompaniment. It is also perhaps unexpected that Brahms
would
write something so “frivolous” as a drinking glee, although the
words
are by one of the great German romantic poets. It was
written for
the community choral society in Krefeld, which celebrated its
fiftieth
anniversary in 1885. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the little
chorus
transcends its genre and makes an extremely satisfying effect
through
careful planning and an extremely brilliant ending. By using
three basic forms of the verse and alternating between three-part
men
and three-part women, Brahms ensured that each group sang each
verse
form exactly twice. The groups come together for the
exciting
final stanza. Perhaps realizing that it was a slight work,
but
also that it was worthy of publication, Brahms decided to share
the
opus number 93 with the just-published unaccompanied part songs, Op.
93a (so “separately numbered” must be qualified). The
piece is,
however, actually closer in character to the vocal quartets (such
as
the contemporary Op. 92), and could
convincingly be presented by a
sextet of solo voices.
Note: The link to the English translation of the text is from
Emily
Ezust’s
site at http://www.lieder.net.
For
the most part, the translation is line-by-line, except where the
difference between German and English syntax requires slight
alterations to the contents of certain lines. The German
text
(included here) is also visible in the translation link.
IMSLP
WORK PAGE
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition from Brahms-Institut
Lübeck)
ONLINE
SCORE FROM IMSLP (From Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche
Werke)
Tafellied--“Dank der Damen” (“The
Ladies’ Toast”).
Text by Joseph
Karl Benedikt von
Eichendorff. Allegretto grazioso. Alternating strophic
form. B-FLAT MAJOR, 2/4 time.
German Text:
Die Frauen:
Gleich wie Echo frohen Liedern
Fröhlich Antwort geben muß,
So auch nahn wir und erwidern
Dankend den galanten Gruß.
Die Männer:
Oh, ihr Güt’gen und Charmanten!
Für des Echos holden Schwung
Nehmt der lust’gen Musikanten
Ganz ergebne Huldigung!
Die Frauen:
Doch ihr huldigt, will’s uns dünken,
Andern Göttern nebenbei.
Rot und golden sehn wir’s blinken
Sagt, wie das zu nehmen sei?
Die Männer:
Teure! zierlich, mit drei Fingern,
Sichrer, mit der ganzen Hand -
Und so füllt man aus den Dingern ’s
Glas nicht halb, nein, bis zum Rand.
Die Frauen:
Nun, wir sehen, ihr seid Meister.
Doch wir sind heut liberal;
Hoffentlich, als schöne Geister,
Treibt ihr’s etwas ideal.
Die Männer:
Jeder nippt und denkt die Seine,
Und wer nichts Besondres weiß:
Nun - der trinkt ins Allgemeine
Frisch zu aller Schönen Preis!
Alle:
Recht so! Klingt denn in die Runde
An zu Dank und Gegendank!
Sänger, Fraun, wo die im Bunde,
Da gibt’s einen hellen Klang!
English Translation
0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza 1 (a). The piano plays the
gentle
refrain that will provide its interludes as well. The left
hand
plays detached broken octaves while the right hand presents the
lilting
ascending line with three similar gestures. The women begin
with
the jaunty main verse, a bright melody harmonized in three
parts.
The piano is reduced to broken octaves until the last line, where
right
hand chords are played above bass octaves. The third line
introduces a dotted (long-short) rhythm also heard at the end of
the
piano refrain. The last line, with its joyous ascent, is
repeated
after a piano bridge on the harmonized dotted rhythm.
0:25 [m. 17]--Stanza 2 (b). The piano refrain
moves at
the last minute to the “dominant” key of F major. The first
half
of the men’s verse (also in three-part harmony) is set in that
key. It emphasizes the dotted rhythm more than did the main
verse. The piano bass plays low, detached octaves while the
right
hand plays ascending, often harmonized three-note figures
beginning off
the beat. The second line is repeated with a broader,
higher-reaching range and a leaping bass part.
0:40 [m. 26]--The last two
lines of stanza 2 move abruptly back to B-flat, and the setting
resembles the main verse (a).
The
piano now has rolled chords after the beats, the left hand leaping
from its bass octaves. The first statement of the last line
is
quite chromatic (half-steps and notes outside the key), but its
repetition comes to another full cadence in B-flat, as had stanza
1.
0:49 [m. 32]--Stanza 3 (c). The piano refrain is
reduced to a single ascending gesture. The women enter with
the
third form of the verse. This sets the first line to short
phrases with breaks between them. The first line seems to
move to
D major in its first short phrase, but the second short phrase is
back
in B-flat. These short phrases are each followed by a piano
refrain gesture. The second line moves more strongly away
from
B-flat to D, first suggesting D minor, then decisively to D
major. The piano right hand is slightly syncopated.
The
repetition of line 2 swells to a notated hold (fermata) on the “dominant”
chord of
D major.
1:06 [m. 41]--The last two
lines, as in stanza 2, are more similar to the main verse.
They
are sung in D major, with the two lower parts (Alto 1 and Alto 2)
providing a gently propelling oscillation. The music has
reached
a loud (forte) level for
the
first time. The piano accompaniment is similar to that in
the
first two lines of stanza 2, with right hand ascents off the beat,
but
the left hand now leaps down to low notes from chords. The
last
line is again repeated, suddenly quietly, with a hint of the minor
key
at the cadence (in D).
1:16 [m. 47]--Stanza 4 (a). The piano interlude,
rather than using the refrain, now uses downward leaping octaves
and
chords in both hands to move back to B-flat and further settle
down in
volume. Because the verses alternate between men and women
and
because there are three different forms, the women and men now
sing on
the verse forms they did not use in the first three stanzas.
The
men stretch out the opening upbeat, but the verse is essentially
as it
was in stanza 1, with minor changes in the part writing. The
piano part is different, with chords alternating between the right
and
left hands. The accompaniment in the last two lines is as in
stanza 1, with the dotted-rhythm bridge between the repetitions of
the
last line.
1:40 [m. 62]--Stanza 5 (b). The piano refrain
leads to
F major, as before stanza 2. The stanza is sung by the women
in a
very similar manner to the men in stanza 2, again with some small
changes in part writing. The piano part is slightly altered
to
avoid the lower bass octaves under the women and make the left
hand
generally lighter. Motion back to B-flat for the third and
fourth
lines, and rolled piano chords after the beat, as at 0:40 [m.
26]. The piano left hand is still lighter than it was under
the
men in stanza 2.
2:05 [m. 78]--Stanza 6 (c). The piano left hand
suddenly becomes heavy again, and adds lower octaves not present
in
stanza 3 to add more support to the men. This is the
opposite
process to that in stanzas 2 and 5. The part writing is very
different in the two short phrases in the first line, with some
actual
part inversion. The differences are not as great in the
second
line. As in stanza 3, there is motion to D major and a swell
to
the fermata or hold.
2:21 [m. 87]--The last two
lines begin as in stanza 3 at 1:06 [0:41], with the two bass parts
providing the “propelling oscillation.” The piano part is
also
the same here as in stanza 3. The repetition of the last
line,
however, is extended. Brahms marks it animato, and there is a
palpable
speeding. The men draw out the excitement for the D-major
cadence
by stretching out the word “Schönen” (“beautiful ones”), the
tenors reaching their highest note in the song (a high A).
The
piano adds strongly descending right hand chords.
2:32 [m. 94]--Stanza 7 (a’). As the men reach
their
powerful D-major arrival, the women immediately overlap with the
beginning of the last verse. They sing descending octave
leaps on
“Recht so!.” These generally move down the voices, the men
joining in their turn. The second altos do not sing octaves
in
their first two statements. The first altos and first basses
sing
shorter notes on their octaves. The descending octaves and
overlapping voices lead from D back home to B-flat. All
parts
sing “Recht so!” four times except for the second basses (who sing
it
three times). These repetitions merge directly into the
first two
lines of the verse, which are now more full and rich with all
parts
singing. The piano’s double octave leaps in the “bridge”
break
into large “outward” leaps on rolled chords and octaves under the
actual lines.
2:41 [m. 102]--The piano
drops
out under the last two lines, the voices continuing in their
exuberant
block harmony. The lines diverge from their expected
direction,
however, and the voices change key again, to a completely
surprising G
minor (the relative minor key). The piano joins with a
punctuating bridge, and the voices repeat “einen hellen Klang,”
holding
the last chord a bar and a half (a D-major chord that works as the
tension-filled “dominant“ of G minor).
2:51 [m. 109]--The piano
again
briefly drops out, and the voices begin their only real passage of
counterpoint in the song for a restatement of the last two lines,
the
lower parts leading the upper parts, and the first sopranos
entering
last. The music is now in G minor. The piano enters
with
the first sopranos, playing thumping bass octaves and right hand
chords
after each half-beat. The counterpoint is on a variant of
the
stanza 1 music with the “joyous ascents” from the original last
line,
now also sung on the last line of the verse. All parts
except the
first sopranos (who enter later) and the tenors (who sing longer
notes)
repeat “die im Bunde.” The last line is repeated in all
parts
except for the tenors, who finish their slow statement of line 3
under
the first statement of the last line in the other
parts.
The last line transitions back to B-flat.
3:01 [m. 116]--The home
key of
B-flat is finally reached again, and the voices come strongly back
together for a final brilliant statement of the last line in block
harmony. The words “einen hellen Klang” are again repeated
to
stretch out the cadence. The piano abandons its previous
pattern
of thumping bass octaves and after-beat chords to more closely
follow
the voices with block chords. The piano actually imitates
the
vocal lines leading into the repetition of “einen hellen
Klang.”
The piano continues its block chords (all of them B-flat major
chords),
with leaps down to bass octave B-flats in the short, punctuating
postlude.
3:21--END OF WORK [124 mm.]
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