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The bulk of research on Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel to date has focused primarily on either the historical or editorial; analysis of her music, however, is rare. Turning the lens on Hensel's songs for solo voice is a step toward rectifying this situation. What defines the Henselian Lied? What makes her songs distinctive and unmistakably her own? What, in short, was her Lied aesthetic? An examination of two of her songs from the late 1820s, 'Verlust' (1827) and 'Die fruhen Graber' (1828), uncovers three hallmarks of her approach to the Lied: an avoidance of tonic harmony, an emphasis on text painting, and the use of the piano accompaniment as commentary. The most striking of these hallmarks-the absence of the tonic-can be traced through several songs from the middle of her output, including her setting of Goethe's 'Uber allen Gipfeln ist Ruh' (1835). All three features are most evident in one of her last songs, 'Im Herbste' (1846). These songs reveal a composer with a great sensitivity to textual nuance, a penchant for harmonic experimentation, and a strong interpretive streak. Moreover, they suggest that far from being merely an exemplar of the 'Mendelssohnian style,' Hensel was an independent artist in her own right, with a creative voice that was adventuresome, deeply expressive, and, in its own way, as pathbreaking as any in the Romantic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The songs of C. P. E. Bach, while not a primary part of his artistic output, represent a substantial portion of his œuvre and reflect a commitment on the composer’s part to expressing profound spiritual and moral concepts. The songs also make a significant contribution to the flowering of the German lied tradition, which is generally considered to begin in the early 19th century with Schubert but which has deep antecedents in the 18th century. The confluence of a rapidly evolving musical language, the philosophical tradition of the Enlightenment, and a native tradition of strophic poetry and song gave rise to the highly compressed, harmonically potent style of Bach’s lieder.Individual songs by C. P. E. Bach are examined for their inventiveness, emotional potency and sensitivity to the text. Selections from each of his three major song collections, as well as secular songs and a large-scale cantata for voice and keyboard, are described in detail. Issues surrounding performance, which may affect the current obscurity of these pieces, are considered: how to programme, edit and perform the songs; what keyboard instrument is best suited; and what skills a singer needs to bring to bear for a modern recital audience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]