A Discussion Of Robert Schumann's Compositional Process In The Song Cycle Frauenliebe Und -leben

Robert Schumann’s compositional work during 1840 stands out as an unexpected turn of events. With relatively no background composing songs, Schumann suddenly produced a plethora of widely successful and monetarily lucrative songs all within one year. Perhaps most fascinating was the amount of detail Schumann placed into each song. This detail can be seen in the sketches which include the composer’s handwritten edits in both the piano and vocal scores. With a focus on Schumann’s song cycle, Frauenliebe und -leben the qualities of Schumann’s songs and the compositional process used to create the songs’ final versions are examined through this study. The origins of the poems and their author, Adelbert von Chamisso, are investigated in addition to the relationship created by Schumann between the poems and vocal lines. Main emphasis is placed on tracing the progression from the rough vocal lines found in the autograph score to the relatively finished copyist’s score and finally to the final published version of the cycle