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Frühlingsnacht (Op.38, No.12), S.568Year: 1872
Genre: Other Keyboard
Pr. Instrument: Piano
"Frühlingsnacht" (Spring Night) is the twelfth song in Schumann's Liederkreis (Song Cycle), Op. 39. Liszt transcribed it for piano in the early 1870s, and published it in 1872. It was one of twelve Schumann songs he transcribed, the most popular of which is probably "Widmung."
Liszt's method of song transcription generally involved fairly literal quotations of the thematic material, while making certain concessions to the sonic character of the piano in the process. Here, he takes this love song, enacting both its piano accompaniment and vocal line with imaginative writing, catching the emotions and images, and infusing them with a great range of color. He does expand somewhat on both the accompaniment and vocal music. Still, the end result is less a reworking of Schumann's music than an effective transformation of it to another genre.
The mood of the piece is one of joy and the passions of youthful love. The breezes in the woods and "fragrance of spring", too, become vivid in Liszt's shimmering chords, the vocal line resting well on the keyboard, alien though its songful character might seem on the "non-sustaining" instrument. When the music from the refrain is reached, "She is yours, she is yours," Liszt captures the full measure of the score with all its emotional outpourings. He was a master at turning operatic, choral and vocal music into effective piano works.
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