Brahms: 5 Lieder, Op. 106 (1885-88) with score

0:00 Ständchen (Serenade)
1:37 Auf dem See (On the Lake)
4:43 Es hing der Reif (Hoarfrost hung from the linden tree)
7:07 Meine Lieder (My Songs)
9:10 Ein Wanderer (A Wanderer)

Performers: Andreas Schmidt (voice), Helmut Deutsch (piano)

Programme notes by Kelly Dean Hansen:
The middle of Brahms’s last three sets of “regular” song settings is distinguished from both Op. 105 and Op. 107, almost literally taking the “middle” road between them. They are in general somewhat shorter than those of Op. 105 and certainly (with one exception) longer than the nearly epigrammatic folk-like songs of Op. 107. Formally, they also contrast with Op. 105. Whereas that set relied completely on modified strophic forms, Op. 106 turns toward ternary, or ABA-type settings. Even the one modified strophic song in the set (No. 2) has a high level of subtle contrast between verses. Thematically, the set seems, as always, carefully organized. Whereas Op. 105 showed different (often gender-specific) perspectives on subjects such as death and betrayal, Op. 106 demonstrates a gradual motion from nostalgia toward regret. The first two songs are cheerful, depicting fond memories of the past and present. Nos. 3-5 gradually become darker, No. 3 beginning in the cheerful tone of the first two songs, but quickly moving to its bitter conclusion. That bitterness continues in No. 4 and especially in No. 5. Nos. 1 and 2 both share titles with previous songs, but the texts are not the same. No. 1 is a very realistic musical evocation of the serenade it describes. The piano accompaniment to the 6/8 tune of No. 2 is an equally effective depiction of the boat described in the text. No. 3, Brahms’s last setting of his great contemporary (and personal friend) Klaus Groth, begins with one of his sweetest tunes, making the dark turn at the end of the song that much more biting. No. 4, whose brevity anticipates the songs of Op. 107, is a curiously reflexive text that is perhaps appropriate for Brahms, who was approaching the end of his career as a song composer. It is his only setting of this poet. The last song takes the bitterness to its conclusion, but is not quite as effective a capstone to the set as “Verrat” was to Op. 105. Overall, the songs of Op. 106 do not quite reach the mastery of the previous set, but they are pleasing, and, like Op. 105, display a convincing textual unity. Unlike most sets, none of these songs shows a specifically female perspective (and the male perspective in Nos. 2 and 3 is not a strong one), making the set an ideal recital choice for a single singer.