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Nicholas Boschert Pablo Gorra Jordan Stern

‘’Mondnacht’’ (English: ‘’Moonlit Night’’) is a romantic era German poem by Josef Freiherr von Eichendorff written around 1835 and published in 1837. It has been set to music by both Robert Schumann (Liederkreis, Op. 39 (Schumann)) and Johannes Brahms (WoO 21).

Textual Analysis
The first two stanzas focus on nature imagery, describing a tranquil landscape. In the first stanza, Eichendorff personifies the relationship between the earth and the sky. Note that, in German, “Himmel” (“sky” or “heaven”) is a masculine noun and “Erde” (“Earth”) is feminine. The English translation uses the word “she” to refer to the word “Earth”, and “him” to refer to the “sky.” With this clarification in mind, it is clear that the first stanza only describes the earth and the sky--it does not introduce a male character and a female character as the English translation may suggest.

The second stanza embellishes this description of the setting. The first three lines all describe specific features of the scene, emphasizing their tranquility with words like "sacht" (gently) and "leis" (faintly). The first three lines also share a simple sentence structure, which contrasts with the syntax of the final line. This contrast distinguishes the final line, which informs the context of the stanza, from the other three.

According to Dr. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert, the poem focuses on the death of the narrator, and the serenity that his soul experienced upon its release. This interpretation focuses on the last stanza, where the narrator is introduced and death is suggested by the description of the flight of the narrator’s soul as it returns “home.”

Seiffert also notes “the subtle intertwining of nature and personal inner reflections” in Eichendorff’s poem. Herein lies the connection between the first two stanzas and the third stanza. Seiffert’s interpretation suggests that the peaceful natural imagery described in the first two stanzas provides a setting for the death of the narrator in the third stanza. Hence, in this view, the theme of the poem is a peaceful death.

The rhyme scheme of the poem consists of even lines ending in perfect rhymes, and odd lines ending in near rhymes.The poem consists of three strophes, each with four verses, which alternately rhyme: the 1st and 3rd lines rhyme, as do the 2nd and 4th in each stanza.

Schumann Setting
Schumann’s setting of “Mondnacht” is part of a larger work--a song cycle entitled Liederkreis, Opus 39 (Schumann). The score can be found here.

Dr. Curt Cacioppo of Haverford College asserts that Schumann “matches the art of the poet in richness, nuance and form, creating a context in which verbal and musical elements embrace and reinforce one another.” Specifically, Schumann's rhythmic, harmonic, and formal devices capture the meaning of Eichendorff’s poem.

Rhythmic and Metric Structures
Mondnacht is broken up into three quatrains in iambic trimeter. The first and third line of each quatrain is composed of three iambic feet and an extra syllable. The second and fourth lines have only three iambic feet, as the lines alternate between having seven and six syllables. This pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the poem is captured by the succession of alternating eighth notes and quarter notes in Schumann’s melody. Eighth notes occurring on upbeats correspond to unstressed syllables while quarter notes occurring on downbeats correspond to stressed syllables.

Schumann's choice of phrasing follows the rhythmic cadences of the poem. The last syllable of each pair of lines is stressed, which creates a caesura at the end of each couplet. In general, the longest rests in Schumann’s setting occur between stanzas, and the next longest rests occur between couplets, with only brief pauses between the lines in each couplet.

Pitch Structures
Schumann also uses a variety of harmonic techniques. For example, the piano alternates between dissonances (mainly by using the interval of the second), and consonances (chords built from thirds). Schumann starts each phrase with a dominant functioning chord. He also tends not to resolve to the tonic chord; typically his phrases resolve to a dominant harmony.

For example, the last word of the poem, “Haus” (home) is not accompanied by a PAC [cadence|PAC]. Instead, a V4/2 leads to V6/5 of IV. Landing on a secondary dominant chord leads away from the tonic chord and a full PAC, with root position V7 to I motion, is not achieved in the coda.

Formal Structures
The formal layout of Schumann’s setting is ambiguous– it could be considered strophic since the music is the same for the setting of the first two stanzas, but the third stanza is set to different music, which could be considered a coda. This matches the description of the text above section. Specifically, the focus of the text clearly shifts when the narrator is introduced in the third stanza, and this shift is reflected in Schumann’s music: harmonically, melodically, and through use of dynamics. The texture becomes denser and the stanza starts with an unusual ii6 to I6 to V4/3, which is sustained for 3 measures whereas the other stanzas began with a circle of fifths progression– V6/5 of ii to ii to V6/5 to I. He reduces the length of rests between melodic lines and ends on the tonic, in contrast to how the harmony has resolved to the dominant in previous stanzas. Energy is also built significantly in the third stanza from the frequent use of crescendo markings.

From the Tuesday/Thursday presentation on 2/24: Reformatted for wikipedia. Not sure if you guys want to use this or the one below? Maybe a combination of the two would be better?

Brahms: Mondnacht

Brahms Setting
This early work, now catalogued as WoO 21, was published in an 1854 album of eight songs by various composers, and reissued separately in 1872.

Rhythmic and Metric Structures
This composition is written in triple meter (⅜). There is rhythmic consistency in the piano part, which can emphasize some of the harmonic suspensions and resolutions. The upper system in the piano part has continual sixteenth notes, while the lower system has eighth notes and dotted-quarter notes.

Pitch Structures
Brahms’ setting relies heavily on V7 and V7/V chords in the opening section. Instead of rigidly adhering to the traditional Tonic-Predominant-Dominant-Tonic harmonic format, the piece alternates between I and V7 throughout much of the A section. Since the A section repeats, more than half of the material is simply I and V chords (t not including the F flat chord and following harmonies from measure 20-23). In the B section, the harmonies are more complex through use of chromaticism, but Brahms follows a more traditional T-P-D-T format near the end, and it ends with a PAC.

Formal Structures
The piece is consistent and simple in form. It begins with a lyrical vocal line and a flowing piano accompaniment (this is section “A”) which is repeated, resulting in a doubled A section (AA). In the B section, the listener is presented with new material and harmonic progressions. Hence, the piece is AAB, known as a Bar form. The form follows the text. The final stanza is more personal to the speaker of the poem and has more action than the first two. Indeed, the speaker’s “soul stretched its wings out far and flew.” This provides good material for the contrasting B section toward the end of the music, and once again shows that the formal structure helps reflect the poetic material in the poem.

Secondary Parameters
The piece has a flowing dynamic form throughout the A section that ebbs and flows as the vocalist describes scenes of nature and compares them to the feelings of love. In the B section, however, the vocalist goes on to talk about how he himself feels and says the following: “So sparkling clear was the night. And my soul stretched its wings out far, Flew through the still lands, as if it were flying home.” While the vocalist goes on to describe the power this feeling has over him, his intensity grows as he builds in dynamic. The piano backs up the dynamics and the piece climaxes in the B section. Brahms repeats the words “Nach Haus” (“to home”) multiple times in the the concluding measures, which thematizes the importance of the sense of return.

Relationship of Musical Structure to Extramusical Elements
The vocal line is written within one octave (ranging from G4 to a Gb5). This range-set is very interesting for a piece that deals with the concepts of departure, travel, and intense existential feelings. In a piece that deals so freely with emotions, one might expect a vocal range that reflects such a large scope. Instead, the vocal line has a small tessitura and antithesizes these elements.

=reference: https://books.google.com/books?id=prf-hcMtg18C&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=mondnacht+brahms&source=bl&ots=zVF1BOCAoR&sig=jGrL8QqqT3o1w17mKU0yQ1ucAuY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CH7qVNmhMYKRyQSo84DADA&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=mondnacht%20brahms&f=false ====References===