2 Three Morgenstern Lieder (1920)

Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914) made his singular mark in German poetry through grotesque-surrealist verses, such as his Gallow Songs. Yet Flankenburger preferred to set several of Morgenstern's lyrical poems which retained the romantic tradition. In September-October 1920 a few months after his graduation from the Munich Academy, Frankenburger set three of Morgenstern's love monologues.

Hochsommernacht is a typically romantic love scene taking place in nature. The lush chromatic melody and harmony is balanced by the clear formal organization, with the repeated opening motive marking the beginnings of stanzas. The excited melodic line moves over a rhythmic ostinato bass.

Der morgen war von dir erfüllt and Es ist Nacht are floating miniature love scenes, moving between pianissimo and quadruple pianissimo, in gentle chromaticism.

3 Japanischer Frühling,

Three Bethge Lieder (1922)

            1 : Die schöne Nuna-Kawa-Hime

            2 : Trübes Lied

            3 : Vertrauen

Hans Bethge's translations and paraphrases of Chinese and Japanese poetry attracted many German composers in the early twentieth century, among them Mahler in his Lied von der Erde (1908), Richard Strauss in his Gesänge des Orients (1928), Arnold Schöenberg, and Anton Webern.

In 1921 Frankenburger completed his most ambitious composition to date, a large scale setting of Rabindranath Tagore's The Gardener for alto, baritone, and orchestra His predilection to exoticism persisted and in September 1922 he set Bethge's poems Japanese Spring. Other then the title and a few passing expressions, there is hardly anything Japanese or exotic in the text which is no different from other German love poems. Whereas the Lieder discussed above are scored form voice, whether male or female, Japanese Spring is specifically scored for soprano, piano, and cello and makes much use of contrasting textures such as high soprano notes placed over the lowest register of the cello. The conception is that of a larger form, with milder chromaticism than in the earlier Lieder, long-drawn contrapuntal melodic lines and large expressive leaps. The songs are through-composed, with subtle references to close forms such as when the repeat of the opening verse in the first song is hightened by a reference to the opening melodic line, or the variant repeat of the opening motive before the close of the second song.

Varda Kotler