Ex. 14-9: Die Mainacht

Brahms wrote this song in April 1866, in Karlsruhe, when he was 32. That spring Clara Schumann was away giving concerts in Vienna, Brahms's own home city, and wrote to him about her warm welcome there. It is No. 2 of his 4 Gesänge (4 Songs, Op. 43), published in December 1868.

The poem is by Ludwig Hölty (1748–1776), written in 1774. It has four stanzas, and Brahms set only three of them, leaving out the second. In the poem, the moon shines through the bushes and the nightingale sings, but the singer walks alone. He sees a pair of doves cooing together, turns away, and looks for darker shadows. He asks when he will find the one he loves, and a lonely tear runs down his cheek.

The first performance was on 11 March 1868 in Hamburg, sung by the baritone Julius Stockhausen with Brahms at the piano.

Schubert set the same poem in 1815, and so did Fanny Mendelssohn, who used the first three stanzas. Her song is also in this app. (Ex. 6-5: Die Mainacht by Fanny Mendelssohn)

From the album Schumann & Brahms Lieder by Elīna Garanča and Malcolm Martineau (2020)
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