Opus 20, Brahms’s first set
of vocal duets, has come in for as much negative criticism
as any of his works. They are certainly much
different from his later duets, or even from his
contemporary solo songs (such as Op.
19). They seem to be rather simple pieces, at
least on the surface. All of them share the same 6/8
meter, the voices frequently move together in thirds and
sixths, and Nos. 2 and 3 include much strophic
repetition. No. 1 is slightly more complex, with
more variation between the verses and the voices moving in
imitation, rather than strictly together, in the middle
verses. But some of the negative criticism misses
the point. Brahms never published anything that he
didn’t think was worthy, and it is quite clear that in his
first set of duets he is emulating one of his great
predecessors, Felix Mendelssohn. The third duet
adopts the idiom of that composer’s “Venetian Gondola
Songs” for piano. Brahms also enjoys his
characteristic harmonic surprises in the two “Path of
Love” duets. All of the texts are translations by the
great German scholar Herder of folk poems. The first
two come from the same larger group of English poems with
the refrain of “Love
will find the way (path),” but are apparently unconnected
in origin. The musical settings also have no
thematic relationships. They were included in
Herder’s “Voices of the Nations” (“Stimmen der
Völker”). The third comes from an Italian source
(hence the “gondola song” idiom chosen by Brahms).
Note: Links to English translations of
the texts are from Emily Ezust’s
site at http://www.lieder.net.
For
the
most part, the translations are line-by-line, except where the
difference between German and English syntax requires slight
alterations to the contents of certain lines. The German
texts (included here) are also visible in the translation
links. In the case of No. 1, the
“translation” is, for the most part, simply the original
English text, to which Herder remained extremely close in his
poetic translation. Links to translations of Herder’s version as well as the original English texts are
provided for Nos. 1 and 2.
IMSLP
WORK PAGE
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition from
Brahms-Institut Lübeck) NOTE: This first edition score differs
from the later 1927 Complete Edition (Gesamtausgabe), in that the strophic
repetitions in Nos. 2 and 3 are marked with repeat signs
rather than written out. The measure numbers given in
the guides correspond to the Complete Edition, with the
repetitions written out.
ONILNE
SCORE FROM IMSLP (From Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche Werke) NOTE:
Repetitions are written out in this score.
1. Weg der
Liebe I (The Path
of Love I). Text by Johann Gottfried
Herder, adapted from an English folk poem.
Allegro. ABCB’A arch-like varied
strophic form. E MAJOR, 6/8 time.
German Text:
Über die Berge,
Über die Wellen,
Unter den Gräbern,
Unter den Quellen,
Über Fluten und Seen
In der Abgründe Steg,
Über Felsen, über Höhen,
Find’t Liebe den Weg!
In Ritzen, in Falten,
Wo der Feu’rwurm nicht liegt,
In Höhlen, in Spalten,
Wo die Fliege nicht kriecht,
Wo Mücken nicht fliegen
Und schlüpfen hinweg,
Kommt Liebe, sie wird siegen
Und finden den Weg.
Sprecht, Amor sei nimmer
Zu fürchten, das Kind!
Lacht über ihn immer,
Als Flüchtling, als blind,
Und schließt ihn durch Riegel
Vom Taglicht hinweg:
Durch Schlösser und Siegel
Find’t Liebe den Weg.
Wenn Phönix und Adler
Sich unter euch beugt,
Wenn Drache, wenn Tiger
Gefällig sich neigt,
Die Löwin läßt kriegen
Den Raub sich hinweg,
Kommt Liebe, sie wird siegen
Und finden den Weg.
English
Translation (mostly the original English words, but
accommodating Herder’s minimal poetic alterations)
Original
English Text