Lieder der Goethezeit für Gesang und Harfe

Einzelne Vertonungen für Harfe – Selected German songs for harp and voice

Johann Friedrich Reichardt: Goethe's Lieder, Oden, Balladen und Romanzen

                               Goethe’s Lieder, Oden, Balladen und Romanzen. Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel (ca. 1809).

Signature of the Bavarian State Library: 2 Mus.pr. 1000-1/4

Goethe’s Lieder, Oden, Balladen und Romanzen is a monumental work which contains all Vertonungen that Reichardt wrote with texts by Goethe. It is divided into 4 parts or Abtheilungen. The title itself does not specify any musical instruments to accompany the voice. Most probably, Reichardt thought of the piano or pianoforte, as not all lieder can be easily played with a harp or a guitar.

Only in very rare cases does the composer specify the accompanying instrument. This is the case for the harp in the second section or Zweite Abtheilung: we find two lieder that have been written for piano or harp. The first one is Aus dem Vorspiel: Was wir bringen (PP. 48-49). The second one appears in page 58 and its title is Sehnsucht (P. 58).

Thanks to the efforts of the Bavarian State Library, this lieder anthology has been digitalized and can be found by clicking in the following URL:

http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0004/bsb00042161/images/ (10-08-2010).

Detail from the front page of Johann Friedrich Reichardt's Goethe's Lieder, Oden, Balladen und Romanzen

With special permission of the Bavarian State Library