Scenes from Goethe's Faust
- Scenes from Goethe's Faust
Written between 1844 and 1853, "Szenen aus Goethes Faust" ("Scenes from Goethe's Faust") has been described as the height of composer Robert Schumann's accomplishments in the realm of dramatic music.[John Daverio: "Schumann, Robert", "Grove Music Online" ed. L. Macy (Accessed October 26, 2007), .] ]Schumann's work on what he labeled an oratorio began just over a decade after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's completion of Part Two of the dramatic poem "Faust" in 1832, the year of Goethe's death.["Goethe, Johann Wolfgang van", "The Columbia Encyclopedia", 6th ed. (2001-2005) (Accessed October 26, 2007), .] Many contemporary readers of the poem found "Faust" daunting and difficult to grasp, and the author himself had declared only Mozart fit to write the music for "Faust" (though Mozart died in 1791, almost 20 years prior to the completion of Part One of "Faust"). " [S] o any composer would not only be judged by his treatment of one of the seminal and most-widely acclaimed works in German literature, but would also be setting himself up to be compared to Mozart."][Ann Feeney: "Scenes from Goethe's Faust", All Media Guide (Accessed October 26, 2007), .] Although Schumann thus understandably expressed reservations about publication and performance of the work in a letter to Felix Mendelssohn of 1845,]Schumann's music suggests the struggle between good and evil at the heart of Goethe's work, as well as Faust's tumultuous search for enlightenment and peace.[ After the overture, the music depicts Faust's wooing of Gretchen. For Gretchen's story, Schumann employs operatic music, beginning with a love duet, proceeding to Gretchen's passionate and desperate aria, and concluding with a church scene.]Although often overlooked within Schumann's impressive oeuvre, "Szenen aus Goethes Faust" has been rated among Schumann's most moving works, and a pinnacle of his quintessentially Romantic concern with the extra-musical, and especially literary, potential of music.[Brian Schlotel: "Schumann, Robert (Opera)", "Grove Music Online" ed. L. Macy (Accessed October 26, 2007), ] ]References
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