I decided to write about some of the pieces I'm working on this semester. As a voice major I have a pretty large number of Lieder (german art song) to sing, memorize and pass off before I graduate. Composers who are famous for writing lieder include Schumann, Schubert, Wolf, Brahms, and Strauss. I have sung pieces by 4 out of the 5 composers listed (no Strauss yet) and in doing so, have come to love singing in German. Lieder has so many variations in style even in looking at works by one specific composer. Many of them are about love, loss, and a surprising number are about the beauty of nature. I'm working on "Kennst Du Das Land" written by the famous poet Goethe et to music by Hugo Wolf. It describes a places where trees blossom, houses rest on pillars, and mountains form paths. the more I study it the more I notice how closely related the music is to the text. Certain lines like "Die myrte still und hoch", "hoch" (meaning high) is the highest note in the phrase. Similarly, "Kennst du den Berg und seinen wolken steg", "berg" (meaning mountain) is also the highest note on the phrase. Also, "was hat man dir zu armes kind getan?" is set to music that inflects in such a way as to musically express a question. I hope you enjoy watching this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMe22tHvG4c

tchuss