Poet: Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843)
Source: Sechs Hölderin Fragmente
Date of Composition: 1958 (Summer)
Publication: Boosey & Hawkes, 1962*
Voice Difficulty Level: Moderately Difficult
Subject: Heavenly being is able to experience the comfort of love.
Range: C#4 – A5
Tessitura: B4 – E5
Tempo: Quick and light; 3/4
Duration: 01:32
Vocal Characteristics: Large leaps, ascending and descending; rhythmically angular melody; melody becomes lyrically legato ascending lines;
Piano Difficulty Level: Difficult
Accompaniment Characteristics: Quick crawling of descending thirds; contrary and parallel motion between hands in scalar section; rolled chords; quarter chords in right hand with trills in the left
Additional Comments: pp. 12, the articulations on the vocal line are not in the manuscript; pp. 12, mm. 23-24, the vocal line notes are reversed in the manuscript; pp. 13, final sustained chords and “Vater Helio” is all marked ppp in the manuscript
*Boosey score contains translations by Pears and Elizabeth Mayer