What are the main characteristics of German Lieder?

Question:

What are the main characteristics of German Lieder?

I'm singing a piece called Der Nussbaum by Robert Schumann, and my voice teacher gave me an assignment of researching German Lieder. I need to know why it is important that the melody repeats itself in places, and why the few times it deviates from the melody are important. You know... stylistic stuff. If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: That is a lovely piece of music, isn't it? And not too easy either!

It has been awhile since I've sung lieder, but here's what is mentioned in the "Concise History of Western Music (Hanning, 1998) regarding the stylistic characteristics of the lieder of Schubert and Schumann:

Schubert:

They may contain complex modulations
They may use the effect of chromaticism within the context of a prevailing key
They may illustrate some tonal amibiguity (meaning that they may hover between the major or minor of any key)
They may contain surprising cadences - for instance, ending on a minor chord when a major chord would be expected
Many are in strophic form (repeated music for each verse)
Longer texts may alternate between a declamatory style (slightly similar to the operatic recitative) and a more melodic section, but always containing recurring themes.
Piano accompaniments are an integral part of these songs, and serve to help create the mood of each piece, rather than being "background" music.

Schumann:
Expanded and explored the use of the Romantic period stylistic tendencies-
Warm and expressive melodies
Accompaniments are of even greater importance to the cohesiveness of the mood of the song.
Tonal ambiguity (see above --this was a major development of the Romantic period),
tension between piano and voice

My own thoughts here, from what I recall about lieder:
Many lied composers used the texts of Heine and Goethe, whom they felt represented the Romantic ideal in poetry.

When the music steps out of an established melody - it is often because the composer is trying to bring attention, drama, or tension to a particular line of texts. So when you translate the text, see what the words are saying in those areas, and you might see why the composer wanted to draw some attention to them.

I hope this information was helpful to you. I love the songs of Schubert and Schumann - so it was fun for me to do some reading about them again.

If you enjoy those, you might also enjoy the songs of Hugo Wolf, who was an extremely interesting character to read about! Each one of his numerous songs (about 250!) are small masterpieces.

Good luck with your voice studies! Source(s):
M.M. in vocal performance
Concise History of Western Music (Hanning, 1998)