Ex. 12-5: Lied aus dem Gedicht 'Ivan'

No. 4 of Brahms's 6 Gesänge (6 Songs, Op. 3), composed in 1853. The words come from a poem called "Ivan" by Friedrich von Bodenstedt. It is in E-flat minor and marked "Mit feurigem Schwung" — "with fiery momentum." The music is fierce and driving — a surprise from Brahms, who is usually remembered for calmer, more inward music.

In the poem, a bird of prey watches a white dove in the riverside grass, and a gull watches the little fish; both are warned to hide. The song ends with the singer's own heartbreak.

These words are taken from a long Russian narrative poem. In it, a young man named Ivan, mad with jealousy, takes an axe and kills both his fiancée and the count who had courted her; their bodies are later found in the river. Brahms set only a few lines of the poem, from the moment just before the killings. On its own, the song gives no sign of this violent story behind it.

It stands out in Op. 3: the other five songs are about love, while this one is a piece of a Russian murder story. Two of those love songs are also in this app. (Ex. 12-4: Liebestreu by Johannes Brahms, Ex. 11-6: Liebe und Frühling I by Johannes Brahms)

From the album Brahms: Lieder (Complete Edition, Vol. 1) by Juliane Banse and Helmut Deutsch (2000)
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