Tragödie

The three-part piano song Tragödie Op. 64/3 of 1847 was preceded by a version for soprano, tenor and orchestra which, however, Schumann had not been intended for publication. The work created in autumn 1841 with the working title Erster Versuch von Gesangscomposition mit Orchester could not be bought by the Heinrich Heine Institute in Düsseldorf until an auction in London in 1991, after which it could be used for performances.

In Tragödie Schumann set three texts of Heinrich Heine which had been extremely popular among his contemporaries and had been set in the 19th century many times. The best-known example is Drei Volkslieder Op. 41 by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy created shortly before Schumann’s Tragödie. The folksong-like simplicity of these lieder also determines the character of Schumann’s composition.