Warum Willst Du And're Fragen

In his poetry collection “Liebesfrühling” of 1821, Friedrich Rückert expressed his love for his fiancée Luise Wiethaus-Fischer. One of the poems contained in it, “Warum willst du andre fragen”, places the truth and sincerity of a relationship to the fore. Long melodic arches and expressive intervals characterize the setting by Clara Schumann, née Wieck, who was inspired to set these words to music, probably shortly after her love match with Robert Schumann.This art song was originally composed not for chamber choir, but for solo voice and piano. Denis Rouger has carefully adapted it to suit the requirements and expressive possibilities offered by a larger ensemble, without losing the any of the qualities of the original in the process. Each part in the choir has a melodic line drawn from the harmonic and rhythmic framework. In the process, the variety and refinement of the choral language combines with an enormous flexibility in form and expression, as French melodies or German art song demand from a soloist and pianist. The songs have been recorded by the figure humaine chamber choir on the CD "Kennst du das Land ..." (Carus 83.495).