THE LIBRARY | SONGS

The 32nd-note arpeggios that make up the piano accompaniment of this song perfectly capture the “schaurn und beben” (shiver and tremble) in Heine’s poem with their delicate and nervous energy. Many of Schumann’s piano textures blur the line between what is the melody and accompaniment, a technique the composers uses often in songs with ambiguous or contradicting moods. This is one of several songs where Schumann puts the emotional climax in the piano postlude, giving new weight to the pianist’s role in song.