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ROBERT
SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
‘Widmung’
(Rückert) and ‘Stille Liebe’
(Kerner)
Facsimile
of the Autograph MS with
Schumann’s Dedication in The
Juilliard Manuscript
Collection, New York
With
Critical Appreciation by
Michael Musgrave |
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Of
all the many works inspired by
his beloved wife Clara Wieck/
Schumann, Robert Schumann’s song
‘Widmung’ is probably the very
best known. Not only for its
title, ‘Dedication’, but for its
ecstatic text by Friedrich
Rückert beginning ‘Du meine
Seele, du mein Herz’ (‘You my
soul, you my heart’), that seems
to capture all their joy and
relief in finally being able to
anticipate marriage, after the
opposition of Clara’s autocratic
father and piano teacher
Friedrich Wieck. The wedding
took place on 12 September 1840,
the day before Clara’s 21st
birthday, at the church at
Schönefeld, then on the
outskirts of Leipzig. Moreover,
‘Widmung’ stands at the head of
the collection ‘Myrthen’ that
Schumann dedicated specifically
to Clara as a wedding gift. And
in the piano transcription by
Liszt, the song soon reached
(and still reaches) a much wider
audience. The songs of the
‘Myrthen’ collection were among
the first of the flood of songs
Schumann produced in his ‘Year
of Song’ 1840: up until that
year he had never published any
songs. They were written in
February 1840, Robert explaining
to Clara on 22nd of the month:
‘Since yesterday I have written
24 sides of music ...and I
laughed and cried for joy... O
Clara, what joy it is to write
for the voice’. Only two
MS copies of ‘Widmung’ are now
known to have existed, and only
one, reproduced here along with
the song ‘Stille Liebe’, is
known to be extant. This copy
has a clear provenance and
personal associations, and is
the only known dedicated
manuscript copy. It is signed
and inscribed by the composer to
‘Frau Majorin Serre / zu
freundlicher Erinnerung / Robert
Schumann’. The manuscript
strikingly displays Schumann’s
characteristically precise,
small, quickly written, yet
elegant hand, on manuscript
paper printed for solo voice,
piano treble/bass with ledger
lines in groups of one plus two
staves. (Michael Musgrave)
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Title
page of first printed edition
with autograph dedication |
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Portraits
of Clara and Robert Schumann,
made around the time of their
wedding |
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♡ ♡ ♡
This
edition has been
underwritten by Mr. David
Tyler of London on the
occasion of his marriage
to the pianist Margaret
Fingerhut on July 7, 2017.
The facsimile, presented
as a surprise to his
bride, follows the spirit
of Robert Schumann's
original gift of the
‛Myrthen’ cycle to Clara
for their wedding in 1840.
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Salzburg,
2017. Oblong 33 x 25 cm, ix, 8,
iii pp. Hardbound
ISBN
978 1 5272 0957 2
The facsimile is available in
two versions:
*velvet
bound w/gold lettering $325
linen
bound w/gold lettering
$125
*Robert Schumann
commissioned his
original gift to be
bound in red velvet
and gold embossed
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Thomas
Quasthoff singing
‛Widmung’ in a 1975
performance with
pianist Justus Zeyen |
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Worldwide distribution: (dealer inquiries welcome)
OMI - Old Manuscripts
& Incunabula PO Box 6019 FDR Station,
New York NY 10150
tel/fax 212/ 758-1946 •
www.omifacsimiles.com • immels@earthlink.net
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