Clemens Brentano (1778 Ehrenbreitstein, nr Koblenz – 1842 Aschaffenburg, nr Frankfurt)

Summary

6-part a cappella choir:

‘Abendständchen’ Op. 42 no. 1 (comp. Oct. 1859, publ. 1868?)

Des Knaben Wunderhorn: ‘Wiegenlied’ Op. 49 no. 4 verse 1 (comp. July 1868, pub. Nov. 1868) – see ‘Simrock’

‘O kühler Wald’ Op. 72 no. 3 (comp. March 1877, publ. July–Aug. 1877)

THE ROLE of Brentano's original poetry in Brahms's songwriting is relatively small. His real significance lay in the folksong collection he compiled with Achim von Arnim, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, the edited collection of folk-poems which, following its publication in 1806–8, helped shape the culture of the emerging German nation during the century and beyond. As with Simrock, Uhland and Wenzig, Brentano's creative identity spanned both original and folk poetry. He was an avid reader and collector of old books and manuscripts which shaped his writing, much as Brahms found inspiration in older music.

Brahms's ensemble text ‘Abendständchen’ was a popular short poem set by members of his circle such as Herzogenberg and Kahn, as well as Reger and Paul Hindemith. ‘O kühler Wald’ reflects a different set of interests, with deeper roots. In late 1853, Brahms developed a friendship with Bettina von Arnim, Brentano's younger sister and Achim von Arnim's wife. This friendship was cemented by others: Joachim, who was in love with von Arnim's daughter Gisela at the time; the family friend, philologist and art historian Herman Grimm whom Gisela ultimately married (see ‘Candidus’); and the Schumanns, who had known her since the late 1830s (although notably, neither Robert nor Clara Schumann set Clemens Brentano's poetry). One result was the dedication of Brahms's first song opus, Op. 3, to her in December 1853, perhaps following Schumann's example with the littleknown Gesange der Fruhe Op. 133 composed two months earlier. (Brahms also copied Brentano's poem ‘Der Spinnerin Lied’ into his earliest poetry notebook.)

Following Brentano's death in 1842, his works and correspondence were published. Bettina von Arnim tended to give such works to her friends along with her own writings; for instance she gave Joachim, through Brahms, a picture of Novalis and a volume of her songs published in 1842 by Breitkopf & Härtel (all settings of Goethe's or her husband's poetry).