“Widmung” is one of many songs Robert Schumann wrote for his wife, Clara. The meaning of this German word is “Dedication”.
Interesting history is the fun part, and to get there, singers need to master things like singing legato in German, and pulling off a successful two-against-three tempo indicated by the composer. The piano accompaniment helps the singer through this beauty of German Romanticism.
The text, as translated by Emily Ezust on lieder.net is as follows:
You my soul, you my heart, you my bliss, o you my pain, you the world in which I live; you my heaven, in which I float, o you my grave, into which I eternally cast my grief. You are rest, you are peace, you are bestowed upon me from heaven. That you love me gives me my worth; your gaze transfigures me; you raise me lovingly above myself, my good spirit, my better self!
Listen now as Elly Ameling shows you how it is done:
