Friederich Rückert, Mahler :Kindertotenlieder

Friederich Rückert
Amanda Witkowski
October 2010
Larkowski:
Vocal Literature

Friederich Rückert (1788-1866) is recognized as one of the most prominent figures of German Romanticism. Through his lyric poetry, political writings, and poetic translations, Rückert has managed to touch most every part of German literature, leaving marks on history, poetry and German Lieder. Born in Schweinfurt, Rückert received a well rounded education. Studying at Würzburg and Heidelberg Universities, Rückert quickly demonstrated his immense talent for languages. Rückert would then translate these talents into his string of steady jobs. Some of these positions included his position on the editorial staff at Stuttgart, professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen and was privy councilor in Berlin. Throughout Rückert’s professional career he consistently wrote a steady output of poetry and literature. Rückert’s poetry subject matter included everything from love, to nature, to the emotional turmoil of the death of a child. This poetry served as the inspiration to such composers as Schubert, Robert and Clara Schumann, Brahms, Mahler, Max Reger, Richard Strauss, Hindemith, Bartók, Berg, and Hugo Wolf. Collectively there are about 121 known settings of Ruckert’s poetry, leaving him only behind Goethe, Heine and Rilke. Perhaps one of the most famous of all of these composer’s settings includes Mahler’s 5 song cycle, Kindertotenlieder. Originally written in response to the death of his two young children, Rückert’s complete work included 428 poems. These poems were described as a “singular, almost manic documents of the psychological endeavor to cope with such loss.” The emotional span of these poems include extreme grief, disbelief, mourning, happy remembrance and transcendence. In the fourth song of Mahler’s setting, "Oft denk' ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen" Rückert narrates his struggle with the fact that he feels that his children have just left for the day, and feels that they will be returning at any moment. With this last stanza, Rückert ends the poem on the idea that someday he will rejoin his children in a new home of Heaven. They have just gone out ahead of us, and will not be thinking of coming home.
We go to meet them on yonder heights
In the sunlight, The day is fine. Rückert’s Liebst du um Schönheit, a poem from his lyric verse, Liebesfrühling (Dawn of Love) is perhaps one of his best known works. Originally written as a marital poem for his wife Luise Wiethaus, this cycle and more specifically this poem are noted as Rückert’s greatest poetic works. Still quite famous today, Liebst du um Schönheit has enjoyed its longevity through the prolific settings of such composers as Mahler, Reutter and Clara Schumann. This poem, in particular, has become synonymous with German love song. Both Mahler and Schumann set this poetry as a gift to their lovers, and in turn have made this 8 line poem into a standard in the Lieder repertoire. The poem describes different motives for love, loving for beauty, for youth, and for riches, and then ends with this thought:
If you love for love, oh yes love me!
Love me ever, I’ll love you always!

Rückert makes a poignant statement of loving for loves sake, and this beautiful message has resonated not only with these composers, but with many future arrangers for such settings choral and instrumental arrangements. Although originally published under the pseudonym Freimund Raimar, Rückert made a great impact on the German political scene with his anti Napoleonic works with the publication of his first volume, Deutsche Gedichte (German Poems) and Geharnischte Sonette (Sonnets in Arms/Harsh Words). In these works Rückert describes the political unrest and mood of his fellow countrymen during these tumultuous times. Rückert was a literary genius of many talents. While widely recognized as one of the most influential poets in German Romantic poetry, Rückert was also known for his many contributions as a translator. Said to have spoken 30 languages, Rückert made a living as a scholar, teaching at the University of Erlangen as the professor of Oriental Languages. As a master of the Orient languages, Rückert made a significant mark on literary history with his poetic translations of Oriental poetry, and some original compositions set in the Oriental style and subject matter as well. Some of Rückert’s more significant translations include, the mahatma of Al-Hariri of Basra (Hariris Makamen), Rostem und Suhrab, eine Heldengeschichte (Rostem and Suhrab, a Story of Heroes), and Hamasa, oder die ältesten arabischen Volkslieder (Hamasa, or the Oldest Arabian Folk Songs). His original compositions included, Morgenländische Sagen und Geschichten (Oriental Myths and Poems), Erbauliches und Beschauliches aus dem Morgenland (Establishments and Contemplations from the Orient), and Brahmanische Erzählungen (Brahmin Stories). Although not as well known internationally today as he was during his lifetime, Rückert’s contribution to German Romanticism and literature are remarkable. His talent for language and translation allowed him to capture the spirit and flow of some 30 languages and hence gave German society a look into the then distant foreign ideals of the Orient. His mastery of the German language, rhyme scheme and meter, allowed him to write in such a way that inspired some of the greatest German composers of all time. Rückert’s place in Romanticism and Lieder are assured through these truths and made apparent through such musical and literary masterpieces as Kindertotenlieder and Liebst du um Schönheit.

Works cited.
Browning, Robert M., ed. Poetry 1750-1900. Vol. 39. New York: Continuum, 1984. Print.

Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich. The Fischer Dieskau Book of Lieder. New York: Alfer A Knopf, 1976. Print.

Larkowski Lecture Notes: April 2010, October 2010

Rus, Vladimir. Selections from German Poetry: A Bilingual Selection. New York: Harvey House Inc, 1966. Print.