Six Songs Op 4 (1863-4)

Die Waise

Morgenthau

Abschied

Jägerlied

Das alte Lied

Wo sind sie hin?

The Six Songs Op 4 were written for Grieg’s cousin and future wife, the singer Nina Hagerup, round about the time of their engagement in 1864. At that point he knew little of Norwegian folk song - although it was soon to prove a revelation to him - and, as one might expect of a recent graduate of the Leipzig Conservatoire, his thinking was still firmly in the German tradition. That much is clear from these settings of verse by three German poets, two of whom (Chamisso and Heine) were prominently associated with Grieg’s model in his student days, Robert Schumann. He was aware of Schubert too, of course, and it is his influence that shows through most clearly in the opening Chamisso setting Die Waise. The same poet’s Morgenthau inspired something more personal, however, if not in the vocal line then at least in the charming piano figuration in the introductions to the first and third stanzas and at the end. There is genuine pathos in the chromatic harmonies and ostinato rhythms of Abschied, the declining spirit of which is effectively offset by the healthy outdoor attributes of Jägerlied. The story of Das alte Lied is simply told and is as touching in its undemonstrative way as the stormy Wo sind sie hin? with its dramatic piano postlude.