Four Etudes on Songs of Robert Franz for piano solo Op.91 (2005)

I. Die Lotosblume
II. Umsonst
III. "Mutter, o sing' mich zur Ruh'!"
IV. Ständchen

Dedicated to Hai-Kyung Suh

First performed on March 24th, 2012 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City by Hai-Kyung Suh

ABOUT

Robert Franz (1815-1892) was a German composer who wrote almost exclusively songs which were highly praised in their day by Schumann and Liszt, among others. These songs used to be mainstays of the Lieder repertoire but are almost entirely neglected today. It was my love for them and my desire to see them performed that led me to transcribe four for solo piano. In my transcriptions I aimed to remain faithful to the spirit of the originals, but at the same time transform them into pianistic etudes, each focusing on different technical challenges.

The first song, “Die Lotosblume,” is based on a poem by Geibel, actually titled “Die stille Wasserrose.” Whether Franz changed this accidentally or intentionally is anyone’s guess. The poem asks the flower if it can comprehend the song of the dying swan.

The second song, “Umsonst” (“In Vain,”) to a poem by Osterwald, is built on an incessantly repeated single note that is unchanged through the entire song.  The poem’s narrator muses that although nature is cheerful his heart is not made happy.

In “Mutter, o sing’ mich zur Ruh!” to a poem by Hemans, the broken-hearted poet asks his mother to sing him to sleep like she did when he was a child.

The final song, “Ständchen” (“Serenade,”) is to another poem by Osterwald in which the poet asks the fresh spring wind to wish his beloved “good night.”