Widmung, Op. 25, No. 1

Composer: SCHUMANN, Robert
  • “Widmung” (Dedication) opens Schumann’s Op.25 song cycle Myrthen1 (“Myrtles,” a reference to the herb, which has been associated with Aphrodite since Ancient Greece, and which was traditionally carried in German bridal bouquets)2
  • Schumann composed Myrthen in 1840, his “Liederjahr” (Year of Song). In 1840 he married Clara Wieck, and the year saw a great outpouring of song composition, also including his Liederkreis and Frauenliebe und -Leben.3
  • Robert gave a new bound copy of Myrthen to Clara in September 1840 as a gift before their wedding. The edition was apparently quite pretty, printed with a myrtle wreath on the cover.4
  • Clara Schumann arranged “Widmung” for piano solo in her volume of Thirty Lieder and Songs by Robert Schumann Transcribed for Piano, published in 1873.5
  • Song Text

Sources

  1. John Daverio and Eric Sams, “Schumann, Robert,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed June 2, 2021,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040704.
  2. Julia Blakely, “Myrtle: The Provenance and Meaning of a Plant,” Smithsonian Library and Archives (June 28, 2018), accessed June 2, 2021, https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2018/06/28/myrtle-the-provenance-and-meaning-of-a-plant/#.YLgcleRHbYU.
  3. John Daverio and Eric Sams, “Schumann, Robert,” Grove Music Online.
  4. Graham Johnson, “Myrthen, Op.25,” Hyperion (2002), accessed June 2, 2021, https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W3223.
  5. Nancy B. Reich and Natasha Loges, “Schumann [née Wieck], Clara,” Grove Music Online (March 29, 2021), accessed June 2, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-90000380188.

Cut IDs

15340 17891 18541 23119