CHAPTERfi40 Musical Diaries: Hensel and
Programmatic Piano Music
B. A piano cycle: The Year (Das Jahr)
1. manuscript discovered in 1989
2. twelve character pieces (and postlude), one for
each month
a. each prefaced by poetic epigram
b. each on dif fer ent colored paper with painting
by Wilhelm Hensel
c. autobiographical: suggests passage of time;
seasons of one’s life
3. unified cycle: recurring motives, tonal schemes,
references to other composers
4. September: At the River
a. drawing of bare– footed woman by a stream
b. lines from Goethe: “Flow, flow, dear river, /
Never will I be happy.”
C. LG 31: Hensel: September: At the River, from The
Year (Das Jahr) (1841)
1. A- B– A′, brief introduction and coda
2. melancholic mood: haunting, meandering
melody
3. slow– paced melody against fast– moving lines and
chords
4. rubato, evokes flow of the river
5. daring, distant key areas, very chromatic
6. swelling and decrescendo in dynamics; ends
pianissimo
OVERVIEW
This chapter highlights the musical contributions of women
in the nineteenth century, with a focus on Fanny Mendels-
sohn Hensel and her programmatic piano cycle Das Jahr
(The Year).
OUTLINE
I. Women and Music in Nineteenth- Century Society
A. Rigid societal expectations
1. composition discouraged
2. limited public per for mance
3. essential roles: patrons, sponsors, and teachers
B. Great strides in Romantic era: professional musi–
cians, public advocates
1. educational opportunities
a. public conservatories: singers, instrumental–
ists, composers
b. women also became teachers
2. rise of the piano: socially acceptable per for–
mance outlet
3. few as successful composers:
a. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
b. Clara Wieck Schumann
4. influence as patrons, friendships
5. resided over musical salons:
a. Fanny Mendelssohn and Bettina von Arnim
II. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and the Piano Miniature
A. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–1847)
1. composer, pianist; raised in Berlin
2. born into highly influential family; sister of Felix
Mendelssohn
3. actively discouraged by father from career in
music
4. married court artist, Wilhelm Hensel
5. active as composer and pianist: salon concerts,
Mendelssohn residence
6. compositions intended for family salon gath erings
7. output: chamber music, over 125 piano works,
vocal music, over 250 Lieder
166 | Chapterfi40
book, briefly research the career of Clara Schumann.
How would you compare the musical achievements of
these women? What connections do you see between the
experiences and circumstances of Hensel and Schumann?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Presenting Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel as an aty pi cal figure
within the context of the male– dominated career path of
musical composition during the Romantic nineteenth
century can be a challenge in the classroom. Taking a
composer– centered approach to the subject can lead to the
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
tion and gender in the works of Hensel and Schumann.
Todd, R. Larry. Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2010. A thorough and authoritative
account of the life and music of Hensel. Chapter10 (“Domestic
YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE
In con temporary society, are certain musical styles, tradi–
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the vari ous musical roles that women
played in the nineteenth century, despite the discourage–
3. To recognize Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s piano cycle
Das Jahr (The Year) as evidence of her compositional
talent
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
spaces do women and music connect? How are women
portrayed differently from the male figures in the
images? What do these images tell us about the roles of
themes of nature, individualism, and memory in the
program, and the expressive melody, chromatic har–
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Amateur piano playing emerged during the nineteenth
about gender construction?
2. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Clara Schumann were
Musical Diaries: Hensel and Programmatic Piano Music | 167
– horsey – on – hollywood – bro – country – 20140312). While critics
and some country music artists have called attention to the
lack of gender diversity and the objectification of women in
the bro– country movement, this trend shows no sign of slow-
MODEL RESPONSE
Although country music has traditionally been associated
with both women and men, in recent years the genre has seen