Much of Schumann's music for several voices was composed for public consumption, thus, it is not difficult to perform. The vocal range is narrow and there is little independent movement between the voices—when they appear together they move in the same rhythm, often a third or sixth apart.

This is generally the case with the Vier Duetten (Four Duets), Op. 78, which Schumann began on July 25, 1849, and completed by the end of August the same year. Throughout the set, Schumann employs a triplet pattern in the piano accompaniment, linking the pieces. The only song that does not have the triplet pattern is the first, which is in triple meter. The Op. 78 set of four duets for soprano and tenor was published in 1850 by Luckhardt.

"Tanzlied" (Dance Song), by Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866), is set in G major and is the most ebullient of the four. The text is a conversation in which a woman begs her sweetheart to join her in a dance with other couples, but the man, whose heart is pounding, would rather not. As the man offers his objections, the harmony slips into G minor, conveying his dread of dancing in public. Through-composed, the song develops unity through repeated fragments of melody. It is the most adventurous of the set and was probably too difficult for the average amateur.

"Er und Sie" (He and She), by Justinus Kerner, is another conversation, but in this one the man and woman think along the same lines. Perhaps because of this they sing together more often than in "Tanzlied." In E flat major, the song features unusual passages of contrapuntal writing separated by a refrain, "Tret' ich an mein Fenster," which is always set to the same melody.

In contrast to the first two songs of Op. 78, "Ich denke dein" (I Think of You) contains voice parts that move in exactly the same rhythm, and set the same words, from beginning to end. This is appropriate for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's (1749-1832) text, in which numerous aspects of the world make each person think of the other. Throughout, contrast between the triplets in the piano part and duplets in the voice parts create forward energy in the varied strophic setting that begins in E minor and closes in G major.

"Wiegenlied" (Lullaby), setting a poem by Friedrich Hebbel (1813-63), is framed by a refrain that juxtaposes the constant triplet motion of the bulk of the song with an eighth-note duplet rhythm in the piano. The refrain, "Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf" (Sleep, little child, sleep), also separates the two, strophically set verses. As in "Ich Denke dein," the voice parts move together and in duplets that contrast with the triplets in the accompaniment. "Wiegenlied" closes the set in G major.

© John Palmer, All Music Guide

1.Tanzlied

Like the text of Robert Schumann's Romanzen und Balladen volumes, those of his Vier Duette, Op. 78, were also comprised of subjective lyrics and dramatic dialogues, the latter of which easily gave way to entertaining duets, as shown in "Tanzlied," Op. 78/1 (Dance song). With words by Rückert, it has an infectious dance-like quality and is a bit like a waltz. It is a dramatic intertwining of statements between a soprano who encourages dancing and the tenor who replies, and to some, the reckless abandon of the woman and the regretful anxiety of the man is simply too exuberant for the drawing room. If used in a dance setting, participants should listen for a third-related modulation, which signals their shift in partners. The other three songs of the cycle, "Er und sie," Op. 78/2, "Ich denke dein," Op. 78/3, and "Wiegenlied," Op. 78/4, approximately equal in popularity, are much more conservative.

© All Music Guide