In this week's episode, Kim Soby examines a poem, written by a man, about love, from a woman’s perspective, and questions in what ways might a composer’s gender play out musically?.

This episode was produced by Jennifer Beavers.

SMT-Pod Theme music by Zhangcheng Lu; Closing music "hnna" by David Voss. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/season02/.

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[SMT-Pod opening theme music playing]

Welcome to SMT-Pod! The premiere audio publication of the Society for Music Theory. In this week’s episode, Kim Soby examines a poem, written by a man, about love, from a woman’s perspective, and questions in what ways might a composer’s gender play out musically?

In this episode, I will discuss three different musical settings of a selection from Chamisso’s poetry cycle:“Frauenliebe und -leben” which translates in English to “A woman’s love and life”. Two settings are composed by contemporaries of the poet, Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe. The third is by a contemporary Connecticut-based composer, Elizabeth R. Austin. As I reference the original German texts throughout my analysis, I will follow with a translation.

By examining these settings, I aim to challenge how gender influences composition. Specific adjectives used to qualify musical content are in the binary masculine versus feminine perception. For example, the word “strong” implies a masculine energy, whereas “sensitive” implies feminine. We applaud male composers like Johannes Brahms, whose music can be described with both words, but are more derisive towards female composers, like Ethel Smyth, who are criticized for any indication of a masculine nature within their compositions.

But, do those adjectives align with the text found in art songs? Does this change based on the text used? The challenge I see that pervades my research is that these assumptions can be irrelevant and incorrect.

As a singer and as a collaborative pianist, I have always found great joy in performing art song. The nuance and sensitivity required of both singer and pianist in order to bring both music and character to life offer me a singular opportunity to explore the works and interpret them not only as an analyst but also as a performer. In my work as a collaborative pianist, I have had the privilege of performing both the Schumann and Loewe settings. This synthesis of my training affords me the opportunity to analyze song in a very intimate and personal way.

[Loewe, Frauenliebe und leben, ii]

The poetry cycle “Frauenliebe und leben” was written in 1830 by Adelbert von Chamisso, a German poet and botanist. Chamisso wrote mostly for and about the German middle class; therefore, we can assume that the woman for whom he is writing is middle-class. Though I’m only showing one poem of this cycle, much more of Chamisso’s poetry entails the subject of women of age to be married and overbearing fathers. At the time, his poems were not seen as controversial like they are today and he was in fact more liberal than many men of his time.

Though much can be said about German history in the early 1800s, I would like to provide a brief explanation of the political reform. In 1817, university students formed patriotic groups known as Burschenschaften and were agitated by the necessity for political change; but, they were shortly outlawed as they presented a challenge to German rulers. The ideas of political reform had arisen in Germany as imitations of foreign examples, such as the July Revolution of 1830 in France, and in reaction against foreign oppression.

The rise of the liberal party, made up of industrialists, merchants, financiers, mine owners, railroad developers, civil servants, professionals, and university professors, represented a protest to the conservative party made up of the bourgeoisie. More to the left of the liberals, the democrats sought to transfer the power of the crown to a parliament elected by universal male suffrage. Less influential than the liberal party, they were willing to concede to a governmental regulation of business as a means to improve the economic conditions of the lower class.

Women, not to be included in an elected party, were seen as inferior to men. The legal system, societal attitudes and behavioral norms, along with prevalent philosophical ideals and the cultural isolation of Germany, supported the culture of male supremacy. You can see this impact on women in the roles they were allowed to play as housewives and bearers of children, and the overwhelming attitudes that women were weak, emotional, and dependent on men.

The premise of first wave German feminism revolved around the political common good, including social justice and family values, mirroring the liberal and democratic parties. Additionally, it also targeted women’s autonomy, which did not exist. These women were connected by a humanist aspiration to be identified and respected as full individuals.

In 19th century Germany, children above the age of 5 as well as unmarried adult women were the legal property of their fathers, not both parents. Parents shielded their daughters to prevent them from “growing up too quickly” and discouraged them from reading. Once married, however, they were allowed to read poetry and anthologies along with their religious texts. Women were taught to sacrifice themselves in every way, to live a life of service, and always stay at home.

When men went out to socialize, women were tasked with caretaking and housework. Brides were to look up to their fiancés, as they were financially dependent upon them and their professional successes. Women also married men much older, as the men were assumed to take on military responsibilities or education during their young adulthood. Chamisso’s wife, in fact, was 22 years younger. All of this factors greatly into this cycle of Chamisso’s poetry. This cycle may have been written and inspired by his young wife and perhaps his idea of her feelings for him.

Recent scholarship has written about the problems with this text as a whole cycle. These poems are a masculinist projection about feminine subjectivity. A challenge arises as the male author chooses to write the woman as a subordinate creature whose life exists only for a man’s purpose. In the examples you will hear, my goal is to show how a male composer as opposed to a female composer can approach this projection through their own lived experiences. For this podcast episode, I am choosing to focus on analysis of the second poem, “Er der Herrlichste von Allen”, or “He the most wonderful of all.”

I will now read the text, translated by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder.

[Spoken over music: Thomas Yee, Eva and the Angel of Death]

He, the most wonderful of all,

How gentle and loving he is!

Sweet lips, bright eyes,

A clear mind and firm resolve.

Just as there in the deep-blue distance

That star gleams bright and brilliant,

So does he shine in my sky,

Bright and brilliant, distant and sublime.

Wander, wander on your way,

Just to gaze on your radiance,

Just to gaze on in humility,

To be but blissful and sad!

Do not heed my silent prayer,

Uttered for your happiness alone,

You shall never know me, lowly as I am,

You noble star of splendour!

Only the worthiest woman of all

May your choice elate,

And I shall bless that exalted one

Many thousands of times.

Then shall I rejoice and weep,

Blissful, blissful shall I be,

Even if my heart should break,

Break, O heart, what does it matter?

From the 21st century lens, it is difficult not to interpret blatant misogyny throughout this poem. She states that “he is in my heaven, bright and glorious, lofty and distant.” In comparing him to a star, Chamisso insinuates that to her, he is unattainable. In the last two stanzas, she prays for his well-being and the happiness of the woman he will pick, even if her heart breaks, and in doing so, she prioritizes his happiness above her own.

She places this man on a pedestal and deems herself unworthy of him. This woman is self-sacrificing and assumes that he will choose another - more fortunate - woman. She characterizes him as someone above her, someone more lofty than she, and this is shown in the settings by Carl Loewe and Robert Schumann.

In comparing the settings by Loewe and Schumann, I immediately noted some compositional similarities, which are characteristic of this time period. These similarities include the construct of the vocal line and relationship to the accompaniment, the use of sequences, and the manner in which they conclude the song.

I would like to direct our listening to three similarities between the Loewe and Schumann settings. These are the accompaniment figures, use of sequences, and the conclusions.

Let us first consider the opening stanza. Here is the setting by Loewe. To guide yourself through this excerpt, listen to the relationship of the vocal line to the accompaniment as well as the accompaniment itself.

Right away, there is a horn call in the right hand of the accompaniment, which is reminiscent of a martial style. In the accompaniment, the arpeggiated line doubles the vocal part and the punctuated chords mimic a drum beat.

[Loewe 1]

Rufus Hallmark comments that this may “literally portray the man as a soldier, but at least invest him with the masculine virtues a military figure might be thought to symbolize.” The military references immediately establish masculinity and authority.

Loewe’s militaristic quality is similar in the Schumann setting, especially with the arpeggiation of the vocal line and steady 8th note rhythm in the accompaniment, though slightly less obvious than the use of a horn call. Schumann’s setting employs an arpeggiation of the initial vocal entrance, and a steady 8th note rhythm, similar to Loewe’s. Let’s listen to this.

[Schumann 1]

With the text “So gentle, so good”, there is a stark contrast. This moment of change may represent the tenderness of the man as opposed to only his “lordly” qualities. Though the accompaniment is stereotypically Schumann in that it has an independent piano accompaniment that supports but does not mirror the vocal line exactly, it again has an air of masculine power and militaristic forward motion. In his setting, Schumann gives the man slightly more dimension than Loewe in this initial stanza, still emphasizing his strength but also showing benevolence.

The second point I want to highlight is the use of sequences in both of the settings I have discussed thus far.

Consider Schumann’s setting of the third stanza, beginning with the text “Wandle, wandle deine Bahnen”. The translation of this stanza reads “Wander, wander on your way / Just to gaze on your radiance / Just to gaze on in humility / To be but blissful and sad!”

[Schumann 2]

Schumann changes the vocal line here from his arpeggiated figures heard in earlier stanzas to an ascending second sequence with rising notes in the left hand from ^1 to ^4. He uses the voice leading of this passage creates deeper meaning with the text. For instance, he uses a 6-5 suspension, that is a voice leading technique in which the melody has a sixth above the bass that steps down to a fifth, as a practical way to break up parallel fifths, but also to create a downward gesture, one that might be interpreted as a sigh.

The music then reverses the direction of the sequence on the word “Demuth,” or humility. I interpret this as a rise of the woman’s feelings, where she may show a little hesitation. The music highlights sadness as it denies the leading tone resolution to tonic on the text “selig nur.” This evaded cadence leaves the music hanging without proper closure like that of the woman’s feelings. The prior change of direction on the word “humility” is indicating the highest place she is able to put herself, then acknowledging her inferiority and accepting her presumed fate to be sad. This is immediately followed by the arpeggiated figure of triumph.

Let’s listen to this excerpt again, keeping this narrative in mind.

[Schumann 2]

In the Loewe example, he also employs a sequence here. His is an ascending 2nd sequence in the 4th stanza on the text “Höre nicht mein stilles Beten.” This stanza reads “Do not heed my silent prayer / Uttered for your happiness alone / You shall never know me, lowly as I am / You noble star of splendour!” There is an interruption before he sets “hoher Stern der Herrlichkeit” twice. In fact, we can hear two interruptions.

First, the cadence is weakened to an imperfect authentic cadence in D, which is quite a foreign key relation compared to the home key. The second cadence is a perfect authentic cadence, however, it is in the key of A major, the subdominant key of the song. Let’s listen to this.

[Loewe 2]

Loewe’s rising sequence, unlike Schumann’s, portrays less doubt and instead shows her praising this man. Loewe continues to portray the man as powerful and authoritative. The repetition of “you noble star of splendour” reinforces the idea that he is far above her and that she is unworthy of him. The choice to employ a sequence on this stanza as opposed to Schumann’s sequential motion on the prior stanza emphasizes her inferiority and implied deferential attitude.

The final point I would like to examine is the conclusion of this song. Schumann repeats the first stanza in almost exact repetition of the first iteration, though this time he ends with a PAC on the tonic chord of Eb major. He then writes a four measure extension outlining an augmented 6th chord, followed by a cadential 6/4 cadence to the tonic that features rising chromaticism in the inner voices. This may be the bubbling excitement of the woman in the possibility of her being selected by this man. This excitement is evident in the inner chromaticism and the ascent. Schumann shows him to be strong yet compassionate, reinforced by the harmony.

[Schumann 3]

This differs greatly from the end of Loewe’s setting. He sets the text all the way through with no repetition and ends with the words “Even if my heart should break / Break, O heart, what does it matter?” repeating the line “Even if my heart should break.” He again employs an ascending sequence, but before his PAC in E major to end the song, he has a quasi-plagal figure using C natural, the first time he has written any figure in a minor tonal center. Let’s listen to how the repetition of the text and mode mixture of the minor-inflected c-natural creates an interesting setting rich with interpretative potential.

[Loewe 3]

Loewe’s ending exposes the woman’s doubt for the first time, as up until this point, her vocal line has shown only her admiration and devotion to the man. The mode-mixture of C-natural may represent that she may be questioning what her life would be like with or without him, and while she has said that she will be happy for the woman he picks, she may not mean that, according to Loewe.

I aim to challenge what can make musical qualities perceived as masculine versus feminine; in this case the male’s perspective of the female character and how a woman’s interpretation may differ. I’d like to now turn to just that, a female composer’s perspective. As heard, Loewe and Schumann characterized the man as strong and virile, through the use of militaristic accompaniment and restrained vocal writing.

I had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Elizabeth R. Austin to discuss this work, the trajectory in her musical career, and her desire to set this poetry. She recently sat with me for an interview, from which I am delighted to share excerpts. The full interview will be available for those who would like to listen, which goes more in depth into Austin’s background and journey to composition

Most of Austin’s compositions are for voice, and I was curious why this may be. Listen now to her describing her thoughts about this.

So you’ve written for all kinds of ensembles. What is so special about writing for the voice? We talked about this a little bit off-mic, but that you’re really driven by the poetry that you read.

Well, yes. Not only the poetry, I need to be brave enough to write a piece just on “ah” because the voice to me is inseparable from our heartbeat. When we take a breath, we can feel our heart beat and what is more intimate, especially for other ears, for the listener’s ears, when you hear the breathing in and out. And so I have always been - I must say - partial to writing for the voice. And then when you couple it with remarkable poetry, Rilke comes to mind, Sandberg comes to mind, that immediately gives one the incentive and the motivations through the words.

There is also the obvious difference between her setting and the other settings discussed: her gender. I wondered how her experience as a woman led her to setting these texts. Let’s listen to our discussion.

The Chamisso texts are very interesting, especially looking at them through the 21st century lens. What led you to set them?

Well, I am a woman! And, the Chamisso was only set by men! And there was Schumann and et. al. and I thought - Hm. This perhaps is a little skewed. And then at the same time, I was reading a remarkable book by an Austrian author, her name was Ingeborg Bachman, and she wrote a novel called “Malina.” Malina was also made into a movie, and this was the story of a woman trying to find herself - in love with her companion, but it is so suggestive as how inferior she felt when one of the scenes in the story, she walks through a wall, for instance.

It’s a fabulous story, and this right away sent me to thinking about - do we have a dependency? And now you are a “so-called “modern, contemporary woman” but this whole faucet is changing - the relationship of women towards men, as I’m sure you can think about. But this is something really what led me to setting the text - is that I felt that the woman’s voice needed to be heard.

I will now play a complete recording of Elizabeth’s setting, performed by the two of us.

[Austin musical example]

I’d like to now compare the points I discussed earlier from the Schumann and Loewe settings to hers.

Austin likes to use musical quotations, and we see this immediately in the first entrance. Let’s hear her talk about her approach to this.

So I wanted to talk a little bit now about your compositional style and about specifically the second piece. So the relationship between the accompaniment and the vocal line is really interesting. And so, to me what makes the setting of the text different from Loewe and Schumann is the expression and the identification of the woman’s anxiety and doubt, especially in the accompaniment. Can you elaborate on that a little?

Well, exactly because it is called the accompaniment, and the woman is supposed to be hiding internally her anxiety. In a way you can equate the piano, which of course was, in a great art song, it should be equal in value and so this always shows, as far as I’m concerned, when I write songs, what can be expressed in words - and that is the attitude, the mental state of the singer, she can do her best, but she - or he - can’t move around the stage very much. And so the composer has to set up an accompaniment, which really may show a dichotomy. For instance, in these songs, #2, “Oh, he’s the most wonderful of all”

[Accompaniment played by Elizabeth]

And she goes on about how this man is just absolutely wonderful; however, when one plays the accompaniment, the piano, you feel a little bit of trembling, a little bit of stuttering even - you have this dichotomy.

Austin uses more word painting than the previous two settings; for example, on the text “so wie dort in blauer Tiefe hell und herrlich jener Stern”, translated as “Just as there in the deep-blue distance / that star gleams bright and brilliant”, she dips into the lower register of the soprano and then the accompaniment rises on the word “Stern”, or star. Whereas Schumann changes the accompanimental figure at the words “Wandle, wandle define Bahnen”, heard earlier, Austin writes a descending arpeggio to B3, a note at the bottom of most sopranos’ comfortable register. Translated as “wander, wander on your way,” she is showing her lowly nature before the vocal line rises to praise him for his radiance.

The highest pitch of the song comes at the text “Nur in demut ihn betrachten”, or look at him with humility, first outlining a B major seventh chord. The section wherein this occurs has the marking of “emotionally detached” which seems to enforce the idea of the woman’s humility and feelings of unworthiness. The vocal line requires not only technical ability from the performer, but symbolizes an internal strength not evident from the restrained male perspective. The presentation of this line is unexpected and may also show the juxtaposition of her feelings of anxiety but also admiration of the man.

What I believe to be the climax of the piece comes at “Nur die Würdichste von allen”, or “only the most wonderful of all.” The woman truly believes that there is no one better than this man, and she continues to say that, with sadness, she will support his ultimate choice and bless that person “a thousand times.’ Here, with a change of tempo, there is a wistful and mournful quality to the line as Austin continues to employ staccato sixteenth notes in the accompaniment. This dichotomy shows almost a sense of madness, where the woman in the song shows that she hopes to be his selected woman with a continued sense of anxiety.

Austin’s work does share some similarities with the settings of Loewe and Schumann, mainly the mood expressed at the end of the Loewe and the quotations of Schumann. However, her treatment of musical motive and expression seems to highlight a more nuanced emotional experience of the woman in the song.

Austin’s ending is more similar to the Loewe, where she employs a minor sixth on the text on the text “Brich, o Herz, was liegt daran” or “Break oh heart, what does it matter,” showing doubt and hesitation. Similar to the Schumann with a coda, Austin ends with the return of the staccato accompaniment with the markings “nervous, hesitant.” Throughout the song, the woman’s doubt and anxiety is displayed through her sweeping and chromatic vocal lines, as well as the ironic accompaniment. Austin uses her composition technique of combining 6ths and 3rds throughout the piece to create this feeling of emotional turmoil and tonal instability.

Let’s listen to her describe her compositional use of minor 3rds and 6ths.

And so the other thing I wanted to mention - So I read a transcribed interview that you did with Michael Slayton, and so he was talking about pitch class cells - and specifically the way you use minor 6th and minor 3rds, and we’re going to have an example of that, but can you talk kind of about how you view that how it works and becomes a part it-

Yes, of course - with all contemporary composers, one examines serial music - one examines twelve tone music. And you also examine how this was used tonally, I know Alban Berg, a real hero of mine, wrote in many - if not a hierarchy of tonal music, but it sounded tonal, even though he is using set music or twelve tone. I have really been influenced by Bela Bartok and he doesn’t have a so-called system, but he does have major uses of the 6th and 3rds. To me, they are the sweetest, most precious of the intervals - and it may be, can be born out by their position in the harmonic series and the overtone system where they get their repeats. As one goes up the overtone system, one can find thirds and sixths being produced rather early on, and so of course we’re trying to ingratiate - to attempt to make sure the listener is drawn to the music. So we have 3rds and 6ths.

[Spoken over musical example of minor 3rd and a minor 6th]

You on going and you get all and all 12 pitches in the octave… and so on. Put that together and you have 12-tones.

I believe that this attention to text showing the woman’s nervousness and desire to be selected by the man is more in line with a feminine perspective, as opposed to the masculine, militaristic, and authoritative approaches by both men.

Let’s look at a few more examples: Austin uses a more traditionally masculine character, and in doing so, she challenges the musical gender stereotypes. Austin employs the following quasi-cadential figure at the end of the first and last stanzas.

[Example 9]

As you can hear, this is two perfect fourths separated by a step with a chromatic pitch to move from one to the other. With dotted rhythms, she does reference the militaristic sound of Schumann and Loewe. This may be an additional nod to those composers but I think it additionally shows power within the woman herself. The woman in the song is praising him and then saying “let my heart break.” This is followed by the anxious staccato sixteenth notes in the accompaniment, indicating to me that these are moments of resolve and understanding. In using a more traditionally masculine character, Austin challenges the musical gender stereotypes.

Here, the woman is the focus, her feelings are explored more in depth, and she is multi-dimensional. In contrast to the text, Austin makes the woman a person with autonomy. While I believe that the Loewe setting in particular debilitates her and the Schumann setting makes the man multi-dimensional, Austin places more emphasis on the woman and her character.

There are some questions that I want to consider in the future for further research with the rest of the cycle:

Is it fair to compare the settings because of the difference in tonal language? If this is not the case, is it still possible to see the more feminine side to Austin’s setting? I believe that the overall structure and piano accompaniment employed by Austin shows, as I discussed, the anxiety of the woman in this situation. Taken at face value, it is possible to compare the overall masculine and martial sounds of the male settings with her setting which highlights, with increased chromaticism and accompaniment which provides subtext of the inner feelings of the woman. Austin is able to take this masculine projection about feminine subjectivity to reveal an interesting degree of ambivalence while she reworks the gender formations.

In our contemporary culture, there is much to be said for female empowerment through the second and third waves of feminism and the current fourth wave in which we find ourselves. Still seeking equal rights and autonomy, there is still much work to do politically, especially in light of the Dobbs ruling by the Supreme Court. The transformation of this text from the two 19th century settings to the late 20th century setting shows a change in attitude and understanding of a woman’s perspective. Through the engagement of this text, Austin eschews characteristically feminine sounds and shows an understanding of the contemporary woman, while Schumann and Loewe wrote for and about the woman they knew in their time period. Further examination of the cycle as a whole may present more challenges to musical gender norms, and I look forward to doing this with continued research and analysis.

Before I conclude, I would like to end with one last excerpt from my interview. In posing a question about being a woman composer, Austin had this to say about the state of women in music:

And so I have one final question. We talked about your journey in composition and your journey as a musician, and also being a woman to set these texts, when you are the only woman who has set them to my knowledge. So how do you feel about the increase in scholarship in support of female composers in the field and do you feel like your work continues to help champion women in composition?

Alright the second phrase of that sentence I couldn’t speak to… it’s a little bit… I’m going “aw shucks.” I really am hard pressed to acknowledge my role in this big universe of outstanding women composers, especially in America, we think of. You yourself are really contributing to this. This fact that you’re doing your doctoral studies and are very nicely asking me about my settings. I really appreciate this. I’m hoping that gender differences continue to not play an essential element, just as I would say, racial differences. And I really feel that women have now produced such scholarly and remarkable and works of genius that I’m hoping that that whole gender line is getting very smeary.

[Spoken over closing music]

I would be remiss if I did not thank the many people who aided in this podcast recording. Firstly, my utmost thanks to Elizabeth R. Austin for agreeing to be interviewed, to record with me, and to provide great insight into her music. Secondly, I would like to thank Meredith Ziegler for her beautiful recordings of the Schumann and Loewe examples. Thank you to Dr. Peter Kaminsky, who encouraged this work through an independent study. Additional thanks go to Aaron Cherry for his work in recording my interview and text, my reviewer Dr. Amy Cimini for her wonderful and thoughtful work, and Hilary Walker and Shannon Rose McAuliffe for their meticulous editing. Lastly, I would like to thank the SMT Pod Board, in particular Dr. Jennifer Beavers and Dr. Megan Lyons, for their support of my work.

The land on which UConn stands is the territory of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Nipmuc, and Lenape Peoples, who have stewarded this land throughout the generations despite atrocities and persecution. I thank them for their strength and resilience in protecting this land, and aspire to uphold my responsibilities according to their example.

Visit our website smt-pod.org for more information related to this episode, including the full interview between Kim and Elizabeth Austin, and to learn how to submit an episode proposal. Join in on the conversation by tweeting your questions and comments @SMT_Pod. SMT Pod's theme music was written by Zhangcheng Lu with closing music by David Voss. Thanks for listening!