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Posted by John Quinn on July 4, 2007, 7:51 pm, in reply to "http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/July07/Strauss_songs2_cda67588.htm" I wouldn't dissent from your interpretation of the song and its text. However, I still find it a troubling song - I've just listened to the performance again - and one that is, as Roger Vignoles says in his notes, "enigmatic". If one listens to the vocal line only on the words "Ruhe, meine Seele" then the tone of the music seems to me to be calming, reassuring. But what's the accompaniment doing underneath? Those chords give the music its foreboding quality. Put the two elements together and the combination is troubling and the potential duality of meaning makes this song as complex as a mouthful of good claret I don't think we're that far apart in our views of this magnificent song, Martin. This is yet another example of music's seemingly endless power to produce different responses from listeners. Do hear this Schwanewilms CD. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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Martin, your comments both on my review and on the song itself are perceptive as always. In using the word "yet" in connection with the wedding gift I was attempting to convey some (perhaps mild) surprise that a wedding gift should be a song of this nature; might one not conventionally expect a more cheerful musical present for such an occasion? I fully concur, however, that the stature of the song makes it an extremely appropriate gift for a singer-spouse.
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