Written Assignment 2

The Heimweh song cycle is set to a collection of poems about homesickness. The feeling

of nostalgia is conveyed in many different ways throughout the pieces. In the modified-strophic

Heimweh I, the piece starts off and shifts through the dominant until reaching the tonic in

measure 6, when the poem mentions the “spot”. In this particular poem, the spot is referring to

the character of the piece’s home where their “cradle rocked”. This rocking cradle can be heard

in the music as it shifts from C to Am7 finally to rest on the dominant chord D once more. As the

poem talks about their home being full of dreams, D’s chromatic mediant Bb makes an

appearance in measure 12 to portray contrast as the poem states “not a tree nor hedge”. Dm

shows up for a brief measure, then quickly becomes its parallel major in measure 14 when the

poet talks about his spot being full of dreams. In the second page, the A section is then repeated,

as the poem grows further into detail of how dreams formed and enriched the environment

around the poet’s home as he grew there. On the third page, 3rd system in the 3rd measure, an

altered dominant appears (D half-diminished 7), to emphasize in the poetry how the character

yearning dwells. This conveys a dwelling around the dominant chord D until it finally reaches

the tonic. The piece concludes with a repeat of the dwelling section.

Heimweh II is also a modified strophic piece that starts on its tonic of E and then starts to

wander up and down in an arpeggiated motif that descends downward in the right hand as the left

hand keeps it grounded with dotted half note octaves. The poem shows that the character in the

music is lost, and the seemingly endless wandering feeling in the music reflects the fact that they

regret leaving their home in the first place. In the first measure of the fourth system, the music

can be seen modulating to C#, showing a chromatic mediant relationship to the home key. In the
text, it happens when the character of the piece asks themselves why they looked for happiness

and it goes quickly back to the home key when talking about their mother’s hand. The home key

in this situation can be perceived as actually referring to the home that the character misses, and

the new key is a contrast to it, reflecting the hopefulness of exploring new territory only to be

interrupted by wanting to be back home. The character of the piece grows more desperate as the

B section starts in the second system of the second page. The marking Lebhafter werdend is seen

on the page, which is “become more livelier”. This can be interpreted as the character of the

piece using his nostalgic feelings of home to motivate him to carry on his journey in order to

reach home. When the A section returns, it is more dark as the poetry portrays the character

falling into hopelessness. The piece ends with the same motif that appears in the beginning, with

a quick minor iteration and a final chord in the major tonic key.

Heimweh III, another modified strophic piece, shows more Romantic era rhythmic motifs

of wandering, as shown starting on the second measure of the second system. This generates a

familiar feeling of being lost, as the text suggests that the character in the piece doesn’t “know

any longer - what was it then?”. An animato marking can be seen in the second page, and

because of this the tempo speeds up as the character in the piece talks about how his soul was

fulfilled with the sights and sounds of his youth. This portrays a sense of excitement and

yearning to feel that way again. As the piece goes on, it contrasts from a joyous nostalgic mood

to a hopelessly lost mood as the character in the piece desperately clings on to the memories of

his youth and his longing to find the same fire that drove him when he was younger.

The Heimweh song cycle has many characteristics proving that it is from the Romantic

era. There are many instances of chromatic mediant key relationships being presented in the
piece, like in Heimweh I in measure 12. This paired with the text “not a tree nor hedge” adds a

musical layer to the contrast between those two ideas in the poem itself. The fact that most of the

text deals with nature also ensures its Romantic origins, as most poets from the 19th century

wrote about the natural environment around them. Romantic music can not only portray poetic

motifs through harmony, but they can also be found through rhythm, as seen in Heimweh II. The

arpeggiated right hand uses the constant presence of eighth notes to simulate steps being taken

and the direction they are going, which is up, down, in a descending fashion. It portrays a feeling

of wandering and being lost. Similarly in Heimweh III, the expressive markings can be used to

convey a sense of desperation by speeding up the tempo, as shown in the animato in the second

page and in Heimweh II with the Lebhafter werdend marking. This joining of rhythm, harmony,

melodic lines, tempo, and form set to poetry are what makes Romantic compositions complete

works of art.