Liebeslieder, Op.52, and Neue Liebeslieder, Op.65

Rede, Mädchen, alzu liebes, Op.52, No.1

Am Gesteine rauscht die Flucht, Oop.52, No.2

Wie des Abends schöne Röte, Op. 52, No.4

Ein kleiner hübscher Vogel, Op.52, No.6

Die grüne Hopfenranke, Op.52, No.5

Nagen am Herzen, Op.65, No.9

Nein, es ist nich auszukommen, Oop.52, No.11

Wenn so lind dein Auge mir, Op.52, No.8

Am Donaustrande, Op.52, No.9

“I know of some famous composers,” wrote Wagner, “who in their concert masquerades choose the disguise of a cabaret singer one day, the hallelujah periwig of Handel the next…” He was referring, of course, to the distinguished composer of the Liebeslieder waltzes and the triumphlied. but what wagner chose to scorn in brahms we, on the contrary, tend to admire; the creative personality is as distinctive in a domestic setting as it is on the great public occasion.

Actually, there is an even bigger contraste between the Liebeslieder Op.52 and the very next work he wrote, the Alto Rhapsody, OP.53, which is a setting of profoundly serious txt by no less a poet than Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In comparison with that, Georg Friedrich Daumer’s verses in Polydora are frankly trivial. But they were just the words Brahms wanted for his waltz-time tribute to the Vienna of Schubert and Johann Strauss - rhythmical, flirtatious, and so little burdened with thought that it doesn’t matter how quickly they spin past the ear.

Th Liebeslieder, Op.52, were first published in 1869 as “Waltzes for Piano Duet (and Voices ad libitum)” which gives a good idea of Brahms’s prioritis. They proved so popular with drawing-room singers, however, that when he was persuaded to write a second set five years later, the Neue Liebeslieder, OP.65, he dscribed them as “Waltzes for four Voices and Piano Duet” and gave th singers equal status with the pianists, making a special point of giving them a solo opportunity from time to time - as in the sad little soprano song, Nagen am Herzen, Op.65, No.9, in the middle of today’s slction. Of course, far from neglecting the interest of the vocal parts in the earlier set, he did whatever he could to vary the texture. Rede, Mädchen, allzu liebes, Op.52, No.1, for example, is in the form of a question-and-answer dialogue between the male and female voices; Am Gesteine rauscht die Flucht awardes a brief starring role to the tenor line; Wie des Abends schöne Röte is for female voices only.

The shape of th songs is similarly varied. In contrast to Wie des Abends schöne Röte, which is a simple binary construction, Ein kleiner hübscher Vogel is a miniature rondo with a dramatic change of key for eachof the two episodes,. Whereas Die grüne Hopfenranke is based on one thm and the same two-not rhythm throughout, Nein es is nich auszukommen, OP.52 No.11, is a ternary construction with a uieter middle section in the relative miinor, and there is a similar contraste between the last two songs in this selection, Wenn so lind dine Auge mire and Am Donaustrande.