The Auditory

“Erinnerung”, composed by Josephine Lang

Dana McKay, soprano; Therese Lindquist, piano

For my inaugural post here at The Auditory, I have decided to focus on one of the more obscure female composers (perhaps the phrase “obscure female composers” is a little redundant…). Josephine Lang (1815-1880) was one of the most talented, repsected, and widely published song composers of the 19th century. Her associations with prominent musicians such as Felix Mendelssohn, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Ferdinand Hiller lend credence to her place among the most respected of the time. Unable to access a “proper” musical education, even upon the insistence of Mendelssohn and due to her father’s lack of financial means and concern over her health, Lang’s musical potential never came completely to fruition. Mendelssohn voiced his concern with her objectification:

“It has unfortunately become the fashion to beg the little maiden for a song, and to take the candles away from the piano, in order to enjoy her melancholy.”

Regardless of Lang’s adverse situation (being a woman was such a burden), her songs remain as some of the most emotionally and poetically sound compositions of the time.

Today I have for you her song, “Erinnerung”. Having a penchant for all that is sorrowful and heavy hearted, of course this is my favorite of Lang’s output. Composed on September 15, 1939, Lang set a German translation of the poem, “Rememberance” (1806), by Lord Byron.

Due to Lang’s obscurity from musical history, there are not many recordings of her songs. However, this collection of Lang songs from McKay and Lindquist provides an excellent look into Lang’s versatility as a song composer. It proves to be an appropriately subtle and sensitive performance.

This song is set in the key of E-flat minor, a key that Lang used in no other song. The song starts out with a truly melancholic introduction which is affirmed by the vocal melody that churns itself out above. Lang flirts with reminisces of “love, hope, and joy” and teases the ear by suggesting such with her juxtoposition of major and minor. She harnesses the somber reality of the text by concluding the song with the same melancholic theme heard in the introduction.

‘Tis done! — I saw it in my dreams;
No more with Hope the future beams;
My days of happiness are few:
Chill’d by misfortune’s wintry blast,
My dawn of life is overcast;
Love Hope, and Joy, alike adieu!
Would I could add Remembrance too!

Mein Ende zeigt mir jeder Traum!
Mir lacht nicht mehr der Zukunft Raum!
Kaum weiß ich noch, was Freude sei,
In meines Lebens Frühling fiel
Des Unglück’s wint’rig Flockenspiel,
Lust, Hoffnung, Liebe sind vorbei,
Ich wollt’ Erinn’rung wär’ dabei!

You can find a copy of the score here.

L