The Complete Morike Songs. With a New Prose Translation of the Texts by Stanley Appelbaum. [paperback]

"For me the sovereign principle in art is rigorous, harsh and inexorable truth, truth to the point of cruelty." -- Hugo Wolf
In 1888, in a splendid outpouring of creativity, Austrian composer Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) composed 53 songs set to work of the German poet Eduard Mörike. The suddenness, spontaneity, and productiveness of this period in Wolf's life has been likened to similar songwriting outbursts by Schubert in 1814-15 and Schumann in 1840-41.
Although Wolf composed in other forms, his fame rests almost entirely on his songs. Highly original, intuitive, intensely dramatic, Wolf's musical interpretations perfectly matched Mörike's complex, quasi-symbolic style. In addition to a superb awareness of verbal rhythm and vocal inflections, Wolf also brought a delicacy of psychological insight to his compositions that made the song "a reincarnation of the poem in another medium."
The present volume contains all 53 of the Mörike songs, Wolf's complete treatment of the poet, reproduced from the 2nd revised Heckel edition. Stanley Appelbaum has provided new literal prose translations of the lyrics, as well as alphabetical lists of song titles and openings, and a glossary of German musical terms.
Songs include: Der Genesene an die Hoffnung; Im Frühling; Lebe wohl; Der Tambour; Auf ein altes Bild; Der Jäger; Fussreise; Charwoche; Der Feuerreiter; Verborgenheit; Neue Liebe; Gesang Weyla's; Elfenlied; Frage und Antwort; Auftrag; and 38 more.
Wolf's lieder rank at the very summit of the genre. As the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians notes: "He intensified the expressive vocabulary of the lied to a pitch never since surpassed. By his musical sensitivity to poetic values and meanings which he embodied in each separate aspect of the song ... he was able, like Schubert before him, to condense the dramatic intensity of opera into the song form."
Lovers of lieder have long sought a convenient, comprehensive, inexpensive edition of all 53 Mörike songs. They will find it here, in a sturdily bound, clearly reproduced, permanent volume -- a fitting tribute to Wolf's status as a supreme master of the art song.

Descripcion: Austrian composerŽs splendid settings of 53 poems by German poet Eduard Mörike. Includes Der Tambour, Verborgenheit, Elfenlied, 50 more. New literal prose translations of the lyrics provided, with lists of song titles and openings, and glossary of German musical terms. Sturdily bound,clearly reproduced collection of some of the finest lieder ever composed. Table of Contents for The Complete Mörike Songs Alphabetical List of Song Titles Alphabetical List of Song Openings Glossary of German Terms Occuring on the Music Pages Translations 1. Der Genesene an die Hoffnung 2. Der Knabe und das Immlein 3. Ein Stündlein wohl vor Tag 4. Jägerlied 5. Der Tambour 6. Er istŽs 7. Das verlassene Mägdlein 8. Begegenung 9. Nimmersatte Liebe 10. Fussreise 11. An eine Aeolsharfe 12. Verborgenheit 13. Im Frühling 14. Agnes 15. Auf einer Wanderung 16. Elfenlied 17. Der Gärtner 18. Citronenfalter im April 19. Um Mitternacht 20. Auf eine Christblume I 21. Auf eine Christblume II 22. Seufzer 23. Auf ein altes Bild 24. In der Frühe 25. Schlafendes Jesuskind 26. Charwoche 27. Zum neuen Jahr 28. Gebet 29. A den Schlaf 30. Neue Liebe 31. Wo findŽ ich Trost 32. An die Geliebte 33. Peregrina I 34. Peregrina II 35. Frage and Antwort 36. Lebe wohl 37. Heimweh 38. Lied vom Winde 39. "DenkŽ es, o Seele" 40. Der Jäger 41. Rath einer Alten 42. Erstes Liebeslied eins Mädchens 43. Lied eines Verliebten 44. Der Feuerreiter 45. Nixe Binsefuss 46. Gesang WeylaŽs 47. Die Geister am Mummelsee 48. Storchenbotschaft 49. Zur Warnung 50. Auftrag 51. Bei einer Trauung 52. Selbstgeständiss 53. Abschied