Dichterliebe-REMIX by Steve Wallace

I first sang these German songs from Schumann's song cycle while finishing my master's degree in classical voice at DePaul University in Chicago, and I couldn't help hearing these songs with hip hop beats in my head, so much to the point that I tried sampling recordings of other tenors singing and adding beats just to hear what it would sound like. At first it was just a couple of them like portions of "Im wunderscönen" and "Ich will meine Seele..." but later I was listening to a certain contemporary famous tenor perform them publicly and I started to hear the re-contextualization in almost all of the songs in the cycle and I thought... "what if I perform them and use my performances like samples and create this unified concept for the whole Dichterliebe...?" I figured the whole cycle might be a bit much, but as I did in grad school, I decided to focus on the first 7 ending with the famous "Ich grolle nicht." They really hang together well musically. Just enough for classical heads and non classical heads alike.

Keep an eye out for the short film/music video by frissonfilms.org of this version of Dichterliebe coming the summer of 2022!!!

Translations:

1) Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (Heine, Lyrical Intermezzo no 1). "In beautiful May, when the buds sprang, love sprang up in my heart: in beautiful May, when the birds all sang, I told you my desire and longing."

2) Aus meinen Tränen sprießen (Heine no 2). "Many flowers spring up from my tears, and a nightingale choir from my sighs: If you love me, I'll pick them all for you, and the nightingale will sing at your window."

3) Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne (Heine no 3). "I used to love the rose, lily, dove and sun, joyfully: now I love only the little, the fine, the pure, the One: you yourself are the source of them all."

4) Wenn ich in deine Augen seh (Heine no 4). "When I look in your eyes all my pain and woe fades: when I kiss your mouth I become whole: when I recline on your breast I am filled with heavenly joy: and when you say, 'I love you', I weep bitterly."

5) Ich will meine Seele tauchen (Heine no 7). "I want to bathe my soul in the chalice of the lily, and the lily, ringing, will breathe a song of my beloved. The song will tremble and quiver, like the kiss of her mouth which in a wondrous moment she gave me."

6) Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome (Heine no 11). "In the Rhine, in the sacred stream, great holy Cologne with its great cathedral is reflected. In it there is a face painted on golden leather, which has shone into the confusion of my life. Flowers and cherubs float about Our Lady: the eyes, lips and cheeks are just like those of my beloved."

7) Ich grolle nicht (Heine no 18). "I do not chide you, though my heart breaks, love ever lost to me! Though you shine in a field of diamonds, no ray falls into your heart's darkness. I have long known it: I saw the night in your heart, I saw the serpent that devours it: I saw, my love, how empty you are."

Hope you all enjoy, whether you like classical music, art song, or beats. Let's connect on social media!


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