Anton Bruckner's 'Herbstkummer' (Autumn Sorrow) is his only song in a minor key, reflecting the autumnal mood of the text by botanist Matthias Jacob Schleiden (pseudonym Ernst).
Performer Biography
Günther Groissböck, the bass on this recording, is a sought-after singer who has performed at leading opera houses worldwide, including the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Album & Artwork
The album title, 'Männerliebe und Leben' (A Man's Love and Life), was inspired by a suggestion from an editor at Austrian radio station Ö1 during a presentation of a previous CD.
Composition History
Beethoven's 'An die ferne Geliebte' (To the Distant Beloved), Op. 98, is considered one of the earliest song cycles and expresses his secret longings for a woman he called his 'immortal beloved' in 1812.
Composition History
Robert Schumann's 'Dichterliebe' (A Poet's Love), Op. 48, was completed in 1840, the same year he began work on his well-known 'Frauenliebe und -leben' (A Woman's Love and Life), Op. 42.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The overarching title 'Dichterliebe' for Schumann's song cycle was chosen by Schumann himself, not the poet Heinrich Heine, to emphasize the programmatic direction of the work.
Composer Biography
The identity of Beethoven's 'immortal beloved,' the woman addressed in 'An die ferne Geliebte,' remains a mystery, despite many attempts by scholars to identify her.
