Memories Spoken and Unspoken: Hearing the Narrative Voice in Dichterliebe

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe question of what happens when a composer alters a poet's poetic cycle haunts examinations of many song cycles and has proven especially problematic for Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe. The long-held view that Schumann crafted a clear plot from Heine's non-narrative Lyrisches Intermezzo has recently been questioned in favour of a view of the cycle as an incoherent fragment. Using the tools of narratology, this article argues that Dichterliebe is both a fragment and a coherent whole, a string of memories held together by a distinct narrative logic. Identifying two poetic voices illuminates the cycle's narrative strategy and also sheds light on problematic aspects of the music, including Schumann's deletion of four songs, the voice–piano relationship and the enigmatic final postlude. This article proposes answers to age-old questions about Dichterliebe while also offering a fresh approach to the study of song cycles.