German Lieder

Catalog description

The Lied began in the 18th century as a way for the German people to celebrate their burgeoning national consciousness and entertain themselves in their leisure time by singing poetry in their own language to simple, tuneful melodies and user-friendly piano accompaniments. Over the next 150 years or so, the Lied grew into a much more complex form of profound artistic expression requiring professional performers and attentive listening, but the central role of poetry did not change. Practically every Lied began as a poem?not just any old lyrics or text, but a poem in particular?that a composer subsequently decided to set to music for voice and piano. So in order to perform Lieder well and engage audiences in this core recital repertoire, you must be able to understand and work with its poetry. This ?poetry first? approach to the Lied will inform all our activities. As we proceed, we will learn about the distinctive qualities of the Lied repertoire as it was composed and performed by some of its most prominent practitioners (including Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, and Strauss), always with an eye toward diversity and inclusivity whenever possible in an effort to expand the range of possibilities at your disposal when performing and programming Lieder. We will also tackle the practical and interpretative challenges of singing and playing Lieder through coaching and score study. Both singers and pianists are welcome to take this course.