CHAPTER VI - CHORAL, NARRATIVE, AND DRAMATIC WORKS

Summary

The compositions to which the above title is to be applied date, one and all, from the period of Schumann's life which we called the third, viz., the years 1848—1856; indeed, the first work of the kind, “Paradise and the Peri,” was written in the first year of that period. Of the composer's friend, Emil Flechsig, who now appeared as the translator of Moore's words, mention has been already made. Much alteration was necessary before the poem could be effectively set to music, and this alteration was undertaken by Schumann himself. The resulting libretto was fitted to music which in construction approaches more nearly the oratorio than any other form, since the dramatic element is modified, if not removed, by the employment of a “narrator” This feature has in some quarters been objected to on the ground that it is imitated from the Passion-music of Bach; but the objection is a purely superficial one, for Schumann uses not merely one particular solo voice, but different soloists, and even chorus, to deliver the narrative portions of the text. Though Moore's poem contains much that is eminently suited to musical treatment, there is yet a certain similarity in the incidents and in. the way they are told. which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to avoid some degree at least of monotony.