Robert Schumann Loves His Wife

One of my personal favorite lovesongs is "Der Nussbaum" (The Walnut Tree) by German composor Robert Schumann.  He wrote this song in 1840 for his soon to be wife Clara, and presented it to her on their wedding day.  Clara and Robert met each other through her father, who was Robert's piano teacher at the time. Clara, who was a very gifted piano player was her father's favorite. In fact, her father considered her too precious to marry Robert, who hadn't achieved his fame yet. Her father forbid them from seeing each other, and it took several years and a court trial to eventually be able to marry each other.

The lyrics for "Der Nussbaum" were taken from Julius Mosen's poem with the same title. Schumann wrote the song while he was away from his fiancee, and it focuses on their seperation. The song talks about two walnut trees that softly whisper to eachother. They whisper about a young woman who is seperated from her lover, whom she will marry the following year.

"Der Nussbaum" is one of 26 other (beautiful) songs Schumann wrote for their wedding day. The collection called "Myrthen, Op. 25" all focus on the various feelings and emotions that come along with being in love. "Die Lotusblume" and my other favorits "Aus den Östlichten Rosen" and "Widmung" are also included in this bundle. 

"Der Nussbaum" is the third song on "Myrthen" and became one of Schumann's most popular songs. It is much appreciated for its splendid integration of the voice and accompanying piano. Many opera singers gave their own rendition of the song, but my favorite by far is this version by Victoria de Los Angeles with Manuel Garcia-Morante on the piano: "Der Nussbaum". A YouTube version of the song, sung by Victoria de Los Angeles but with a different pianist can be found here.

Robert Schumann with his wife Clara,
 somewhere between 1840 and 1856

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One of the Most Covered Songs in History

A few years ago the British newspaper The Indepedent published a list of the ten most covered songs in history:

1. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
2.Yesterday - The Beatles
3. Cry me a River -  Julie Londen
4. And I Love Her - The Beatles
5. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
6. Imagine - John Lennon
7. Summertime - Abbie Mitchell
8. Blackbird - The Beatles
9. Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
10. The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield

This blog post is about number 7 on this list: "Summertime". I have to admit I've never heard of Abbie Mitchell's version of "Summertime", nor had I ever heard of Abbie Mitchell before. But her rendition of the song is how Gershwin originally intented it to be, and it is indeed beautiful. In 1933 Gerswin wrote the opera Porgy and Bess and included the lullaby "Summertime". The character Clara sings this song at the start, and its melody can be heard several times throughout the opera. In 1935, when Porgy and Bess was first performed on stage, Abbie Mitchell played Clara's part. Mitchell recorded the first version of "Summertime", and 38,324 recordings of the song were made after Mitchell's version.

In 1936, Billie Holiday's cover of "Summertime" was the first that entered the American music charts. About two decades later, Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong also recorded an excellent rendition of the song. Their version became that popular, that most people actually think that Fitzgerald and Armstrong were the first who recorded this song.

Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong - "Summertime"

Since "Summertime" was recorded many times and by so many different people, it was done in an enormous variety of styles. Janis Joplin's version of the song is one of my favorites. She is one of few people who were able to add an extra dimension to an already beautiful song.

Janis Joplin - "Summertime"

I won't bother you here with all the 38,325 recorded covers of this song, but if you're interested check this website which lists them all. Miles Davis, Sam Cooke, Billy Stewart and Scarlett Johansson were among the many to record "Summertime"

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A Beautiful Voice

Exactly 10 years ago I saw my first opera. It was the year 2001 and I was in my first year of college. My best friend and I bought tickets to Bizet's opera "Carmen". Way too expensive for our student budget, but I never did regret this purchase.

The opera was beautiful. There were real horses on stage, a huge ensemble, and the music was, as you may already know, amazing. Soon after, I bought my first opera cd. It was actually a collection of four cd's by Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballet, another male singer (whose name I forgot) and my all time favorite female opera singer: Victoria de Los Angeles.

Vicotria de Los Angeles is a Spanish soprano singer, who achieved world fame in the 1950's and 1960's. She sang in various famous opera's (Carmen among others) and continued singing untill 1983. My favorite song of this cd collection is "Una Voce Poco Fa". An absolutely beautiful song and part of Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville".

This opera was first performed in 1816 and has been performed numerous times since.  In this particular aria the heroine sings about her admirers' voice, who just sang a love song underneath her balcony. She promises herself to soon make this admirer her own. 

Victoria de los Angeles - "Una Voce Poco Fa"