This is the first complete recording of MacDowell's art songs. Between 1883 and 1902 he composed a total of 42 songs, which were, however, published out of chronological sequence. The earliest in opus number, the Two Old Songs, Opus 9, were actually the eighth group of songs MacDowell wrote. MacDowell's songs in their order of composition, marked a change in technical style. The earliest, dating from 1883, are full and opulent, but he soon began cutting back the piano score to the merest background for the vocal line. The earliest songs were composed in 1883 and published as Opp. 11 and 12 by C.F. Kahnt in Leipzig. In 1898 Breitkopf & Hartel reprinted the five songs as one set. Heinrich Heine is the author of the poems for Du liebst mich nicht (You Love me Not), Oben, wo die Sterne gluhen (The Skies, where Stars are Glowing) and Mein LiebGhen (My Love and I sat Close Together). The texts for the two songs of Opus 12 are by Emanuel Geibel and Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. MacDowel1 was still very much under the influence of Raff and these five early songs are fairly Germanic in both style and beauty and some biographers have even compared them stylistically to early Richard Strauss.
4 Drei Lieder, Op.33: Geistliches Wiegenlied (Cradle Hymn)
5 Drei Lieder, Op.33: Idylle (Idyll)
6 Three Songs, Op.60: Tyrant Love
7 Three Songs, Op.60: Fair Springtide
8 Three Songs, Op.60: To the Golden Rod
9 Six Love Songs, Op.40: Sweet Blue-Eyed Maid
10 Six Love Songs, Op.40: Sweetheart, Tell Me
11 Six Love Songs, Op.40: Thy Beaming Eyes
12 Six Love Songs, Op.40: For Sweet Love's Sake
13 Six Love Songs, Op.40: O, Lovely Rose
14 Six Love Songs, Op.40: I Ask But This
15 Drei Lieder, Op.11: My Love and I Sat Close Together
16 Drei Lieder, Op.11: You Love Me Not
17 Drei Lieder, Op.11: The Skies, Where the Stars Are Glowing
18 Zwei Lieder, Op.12: Night Song
19 Zwei Lieder, Op.12: The Band of Roses
20 From An Old Garden, Op.26: The Pansy
21 From An Old Garden, Op.26: The Myrtle
22 From An Old Garden, Op.26: The Clover
23 From An Old Garden, Op.26: The Yellow Daisy
24 From An Old Garden, Op.26: The Bluebell
25 From An Old Garden, Op.26: The Mignonette
26 Eight Songs, Op.47: The Robin Sings in the Apple Tree
27 Eight Songs, Op.47: Midsummer Lullaby
28 Eight Songs, Op.47: Folksong
29 Eight Songs, Op.47: Confidence
30 Eight Songs, Op.47: The West Wind Croons in the Cedar Trees
31 Eight Songs, Op.47: In the Woods
32 Eight Songs, Op.47: The Sea
33 Eight Songs, Op.47: Through the Meadow
34 Two Old Songs, Op.9: Deserted
35 Two Old Songs, Op.9: Slumber Song
36 Four Songs, Op.56: Long Ago, Sweetheart Mine
37 Four Songs, Op.56: The Swan Bent Low to the Lily
38 Four Songs, Op.56: A Maid Sings Light
39 Four Songs, Op.56: As the Gloaming Shadows Creep
40 Three Songs, Op.58: Constancy
41 Three Songs, Op.58: Sunrise
42 Three Songs, Op.58: Merry Maiden Spring
This is the first complete recording of MacDowell's art songs. Between 1883 and 1902 he composed a total of 42 songs, which were, however, published out of chronological sequence. The earliest in opus number, the Two Old Songs, Opus 9, were actually the eighth group of songs MacDowell wrote. MacDowell's songs in their order of composition, marked a change in technical style. The earliest, dating from 1883, are full and opulent, but he soon began cutting back the piano score to the merest background for the vocal line. The earliest songs were composed in 1883 and published as Opp. 11 and 12 by C.F. Kahnt in Leipzig. In 1898 Breitkopf & Hartel reprinted the five songs as one set. Heinrich Heine is the author of the poems for Du liebst mich nicht (You Love me Not), Oben, wo die Sterne gluhen (The Skies, where Stars are Glowing) and Mein LiebGhen (My Love and I sat Close Together). The texts for the two songs of Opus 12 are by Emanuel Geibel and Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. MacDowel1 was still very much under the influence of Raff and these five early songs are fairly Germanic in both style and beauty and some biographers have even compared them stylistically to early Richard Strauss.
