The songs featured in this recital all reflect one of the most frequently explored themes in musical literature: love. There are, of course, other themes, but many of them are variations on this one; one need only think of hatred, contempt, scorn, and also the melancholy of parting. This last theme, in conjunction with love, is the theme of our recital for one simple reason: the vast body of repertoire that emerged mainly in Vienna, in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, on this or these themes.

The outbreak of two world wars, with all the tragedy that entailed, is certainly one of the reasons; a prime example of this is Korngold’s wonderful Farewell Songs from 1920. Whilst the work already reflects a distinctly personal world for a composer aged just twenty-three, one can nevertheless discern a clear influence from Gustav Mahler. The song featured in this programme bears this out.

But erotic desire is also present, and the works of Ullmann and Schönberg, together with the poetry of Dehmel or Barrett Browning, bear irrefutable witness to this.

Nevertheless, the pervasive melancholy of the language throughout this recital reflects at least the sadness of a separation or of an unfulfilled, immanent desire, which the musical literature of Vienna at this time portrayed so well.