Was will die einsame Thräne
| Scoring | one voice and piano |
| Text | Heinrich Heine |
| Date | 1908 |
| Premiere | December 9, 1910, by Rodolphe Plamondon (tenor) and Nadia Boulanger (piano) at a concert titled the “Five O’Clock du Figaro” in Paris |
| Duration | 2 min |
Commentary
A generous inspiration pervades this second song on a poem by Heinrich Heine. The shadow of Robert Schumann still lingers, but the harmonic writing breaks further free of it. From the very first measures, the tears of the poem (“Thräne”) bring in an altered chord that lends the key of C minor a more ambiguous coloring. At the start of the second stanza, the syncopated accompaniment signals a passionate feeling, which culminates in the lyrical exaltation of the firmament (“Die blauen Sternelein”) and then in the evocation of intertwined joy and sorrow. The last stanza, to be declaimed fortissimo, lies far from the world of the Schumann lied. Here the despair of the lovelorn poet is forcefully revealed: in the piano, unusual, heavily accented chords bring an unexpected tragic solemnity.
Editions
© Hamelle 1909
© Leduc 2017
Notes
This song was published in Volume II of the Mélodies pour voix moyenne. It is the second of a triptych on poems by Heinrich Heine (see O schwöre nicht ! and Ach ! die Augen sind es wieder).
© Anthony Girard
Recordings Recording
