The duo of Samuel Hasselhorn and Joseph Middleton formed by chance at the 2018 Queen Elisabeth Competition, where Middleton was a competition pianist assigned to Hasselhorn by drawing lots.
Composition History
Schumann's extraordinary creative surge in 1840, known as his 'Liederjahr' (Year of Song), was inspired by his hope of marrying Clara Wieck and his discovery of Franz Schubert's lieder.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Schumann found writing for the voice to be a 'pleasure' compared to instrumental composition, as he expressed in a letter to his friend Gustav Keferstein in February 1840.
Composer Biography
Robert Schumann, the composer, devoted himself to the world of lieder only in 1840, at the age of thirty, composing more than half of his total output in the genre that year alone.
Compositional Technique
Schumann's Fünf Lieder, Op. 40, are noted for their 'disturbing strangeness' (Fremdartigkeit), a term dear to German Romanticism, as the composer himself acknowledged to Hans Christian Andersen.
Compositional Technique
The Zwölf Gedichte von Justinus Kerner, Op. 35, a set of twelve lieder by Schumann, presents a journey comparable to Schubert's Winterreise, focusing on highlighting different moments in the Wanderer's journey.
Performer Biography
Samuel Hasselhorn, the baritone on this recording, won First Prize at the 2018 Queen Elisabeth Competition and the 2017 Das Lied International Song Competition.
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