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The Voice of Children in Art Song:

A Study of Six Cycles Involving a Childs Perspective

A document submitted to theGraduate Thesis and Research Committee

of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the degree

requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTSin VOICE

in the Performance Studies Divisionof the College-Conservatory of Music

by

Rachelle M. Woolston

BA, Brigham Young University, 2002MM, University of Cincinnati, 2004

Committee Chair: Dr. Stephanie Schlagel, PhD

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Abstract

This document explores the often overlooked and undervalued song cycle repertory

containing childrens themes. This genre includes music written and performed by adults that

offers elements of a childs world within the poetry. Various modes of communication are

possible in songs with childrens themes, depending on whether the poet is an adult or child,

whether the poet acts as an adult or child, and whether the intended audience consists of adults or

children. The document compares six song cycles using each of these modes of communication.

Poems written by children are set inA Garland for Marjory Flemingby Richard Rodney Bennett

and Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmann, Op. 104 by Robert Schumann, while adult poets actas children in Theodore ChanlersThe Children and Leonard BernsteinsI Hate Music! A Cycle

of Five Kid Songs for Soprano, and children are the poetic audience inLa courte pailleby

Francis PoulencandA Charm of Lullabiesby Benjamin Britten. This document uses these three

modes of communication as an analytical lens through which to view the poetic and musical

techniques used in creating a childs world in song. The analysis searches for specific messages

conveyed by the poets and composers and gives suggestions to performers in highlighting these

childlike aspects on stage.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the incredible faculty and family members who made this document

possible. First and foremost, my advisor Dr. Stephanie Schlagel has seen me through this process

from the very beginning. She helped me to develop this project from its origins as a lecture

recital in Cincinnati, and patiently worked with me through a cross-country move and the birth of

my second, third, and fourth children. She has been an invaluable resource, guiding my research,

helping me to organize and present my thoughts in a meaningful way, and providing excellent

feedback on numerous drafts. I am extremely grateful for her expertise, encouragement, and

support. I am also indebted to my readers, Professors Mary Henderson Stucky and Barbara Paverfor their time they spent reviewing my document and their willingness to provide suggestions for

how to improve it.

I am also thankful to my wonderful family for their unwavering support. My husband

helped me find the motivation to see this project through to its completion, and spent countless

hours fulfilling the household responsibilities and care of our growing family so I could make the

time to research and write. I want to acknowledge my four children for serving as the inspiration

for this topic of study, and for challenging me to become a better person every day. They give

my life fullness and richness that I never before dreamed of obtaining. I hope to be an example to

them of finishing what you start, no matter how long or difficult the process.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................................................1

Purpose .......................................................................................................................3

Literature Review.......................................................................................................4

Methodology ..............................................................................................................7

Scope ..........................................................................................................................10

Chapter 1: Child Poets ...........................................................................................................12

A Garland for Marjory Fleming ................................................................................12

Marjory Fleming ............................................................................................13Richard Rodney Bennett ................................................................................17

Analysis ofA Garland for Marjory Fleming .................................................19

For Performers ...............................................................................................31

Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmann, Op. 104 ........................................................31

Elisabeth Kulmann .........................................................................................32

Robert Schumann ...........................................................................................36

Analysis of Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmann, Op. 104 .........................43

For Performers ...............................................................................................58

Conclusions ................................................................................................................58

Chapter 2: Adult Poet Acting as a Child ................................................................................60

The Children ..............................................................................................................60

Leonard Feeney ..............................................................................................61

Theodore Chanler...........................................................................................65

Analysis of The Children ...............................................................................71

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For Performers ...............................................................................................90

I Hate Music! A Cycle of Five Kid Songs for Soprano ..............................................91

Leonard Bernstein ..........................................................................................91

Analysis ofI Hate Music! A Cycle of Five Kid Songs for Soprano ...............97

For Performers ...............................................................................................107

Conclusions ................................................................................................................108

Chapter 3: Adult Poet Addressing a Child .............................................................................110

La courte paille ..........................................................................................................110

Maurice Carme .............................................................................................111Francis Poulenc ..............................................................................................113

Analysis ofLa courte paille ...........................................................................119

For Performers ...............................................................................................130

A Charm of Lullabies .................................................................................................131

Benjamin Britten ............................................................................................132

Analysis ofA Charm of Lullabies ..................................................................138

For Performers ...............................................................................................154

Conclusions ................................................................................................................154

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................156

Textual Characteristics...............................................................................................156

Musical Characteristics ..............................................................................................158

Modes of Communication..........................................................................................160

Messages ....................................................................................................................161

Legitimacy .................................................................................................................165

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Summary ....................................................................................................................166

Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................168

Secondary Literature ..................................................................................................168

Poetry and Scores .......................................................................................................175

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1

Introduction: Childrens Themes in Art Song

Most scholarly criticism of song cycles focuses on serious works that are usually

earnest in nature, meriting the label of art music. According to Shirlee Emmons and Stanley

Sonntag, authors of the standard singers reference book, The Art of the Song Recital,Musicians

tend to view the song cycle as possessing certain requisite attributeslengthiness, solemnity,

and gravity.1However, every performing musician understands the need for music of a

humorous or fun-loving nature, particularly when constructing a recital. Performers often seek

for a contrasting set of art songs to balance a recital program, and music with brevity,

lightheartedness, and wit fills that requirement perfectly. One such example of cheery, wittyrepertoire worthy of study and programming is song cycles with themes of children.

Writing music containing childrens themes is not a new phenomenon. Several

composers have found childhood to be an inspiration for works involving the voice as well as all

combinations of instruments. As musicologist Keith Clifton notes, Musical depictions of the

childhood experience have attracted a wide spectrum of composers, reaching an apex in the

nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Since such music generally makes limited technical demands

and features accessible melodies, diatonic harmonies, and periodic (often ternary) formal

structures, the appeal is logical.2Examples of such compositions include music illustrating

childrens stories or nursery rhymes, such as Maurice RavelsMa mere loye, Engelbert

HumperdincksHnsel und Gretel, and Sergei ProkofievsPeter and the Wolf.Some large-scale

works with an adult cast include parts for children to perform, such as Benjamin Brittens War

Requiem or Alban Bergs Wozzeck. Other compositions were written with the intent of furthering

childrens education, either for childrens recital performance, as inRobert Schumanns

1Shirlee Emmons and Stanley Sonntag, The Art of the Song Recital(New York: Schirmer, 1979), 269.2Keith E. Clifton, Beyond Childhood: Poulenc,La courte paille, and the Aural Envelope, College Music

Symposium49 (2009): 333.

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Liederalbum fr die Jugend, or for adult performance, like Brittens The Young Persons Guide

to the Orchestra. This document focuses on examples of art songs for voice and piano that are

performed by adults.

Song cycles with childrens themes are defined primarily bytheir childlike topics, often

overtly stated in their titles, such as Modest Mussorgskys The Nurseryor Theodore Chanlers

The Children. Subject material for these art songs may include holiday songs, songs about the

outdoors, lullabies, songs about animals and birds, songs about people and their activities, songs

of greeting, chants and games, nonsense songs, Mother Goose rhymes, hymns, nursery songs,

and fairy tales.

3

Most importantly, these songs express childrens experiences and emotions.Though labeling this subject material as light may insinuate simple, unrefined music, many art

songs involving childrens themes are not merely fluff. In the hands of capable poets and

composers, quite complex, intricate, and delightful creations often result. These sophisticated

songs are best suited for adult audiences, appealing to their nostalgia of youth and childhood,

combined with their appreciation for musical subtlety and sophistication.

Crucial to the study of songs with childrens themes is the manner in which the

perspectives of children are conveyed by the poet, the composer, and the performer. The poet

plays a fundamental role in determining the poetic voice, choosing to write from either the

perspective of a child or of an adult. This choice of perspective can be described as a mode of

communication. The mode of communication depends on 1) whether the poet isan adult or a

child, 2) whether the poet is actingas an adult or a child, and 3) whether the intended audience is

made up of adults or children. Musicologist Ian Sharp categorizes these various modes of

communication into eight Routes of Musical Experience. They are:

3Alice G. Thorn,Music for Young Children(New York: C. Scribners Sons, 1929), 1213.

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1. Adults assume a mode of childhood to relate to children.2. Adults retain a mode of adulthood to relate to children.3. Adults assume a mode of childhood to relate to adults.4. Adults retain a mode of adulthood.5. Children retain a mode of childhood to relate to adults.

6. Children assume a mode of adulthood to relate to adults.7. Children retain a mode of childhood to relate to children.8. Children assume a mode of adulthood to relate to children.4

Upon determining a poems mode of communication, whether adult, child, or adult acting as a

child, the composer shapes the work by responding to its point of view with his musical setting.

He establishes the musical tone and creates specific sounds to effectively illustrate the childlike

qualities of the text. The performers then interpret the intentions of both the poet and composer

in bringing the literature to life on the stage.

Purpose

There is relatively little research on the topic of childrens themes in art song, and the

subject matter deserves further exploration. The purpose of this document is to study three pairs

of song cycles involving a childs perspective, whether real or manufactured. Each pair uses a

different mode of communication. The cycles studied in chapter one, A Garland for Marjory

Flemingby Richard Rodney Bennett and Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmann, Op. 104,by

Robert Schumann, have poetry written by children. Chapter two analyzes Theodore Chanlers

The Childrenand Leonard BernsteinsI Hate Music! A Cycle of Five Kid Songs for Soprano,

with poetry written by adults acting as children. Songs in which adults address children appear in

chapter threes discussion ofLa courte pailleby Francis Poulenc andA Charm of Lullabiesby

Benjamin Britten. This document utilizes these three modes of communication as an analytical

lens through which to view the poetic and musical techniques used in creating a childs world in

4Ian Sharp, Classical Musics Evocation of the Myth of Childhood(Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press,2000), 31.

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song. These observations generate suggestions to performers of ways to in feature these childlike

aspects on stage. Examining these cycles through the mode of communication reveals common

themes and subtle aspects of the poetry and music, with more richness achieved by comparing

pairs in the same modes of communication. By bringing attention to some works that are not

widely performed, this document also hopes to benefit fellow musicians in their performing and

teaching careers.

Literature Review

Musicological reference materials guided the choice of song cycles to include in thisdocument. The Art of the Song Recitalby Emmons and Sonntag contains a representative list of

songs having in common thoughts by and about children, 5in a section of the book devoted to

programming song cycles. The vocal literature reference book Song: A Guide to Style and

Literatureby Carol Kimball has a large section with lengthy discussions of selected works by

several composers organized by nationality, as well as an index of composers and selected works

at the end of the book.6 Sergius KagensMusic for the Voicelists selected works of significant

composers, organized by pre-nineteenth-century and post-nineteenth-century songs of different

nationalities. The lists include vocal range and appropriate voice type, with minimal remarks.7

Both Kimball and Kagen catalog the childrens songs of prominent composers along with their

more serious output. These reference materials, designed to further familiarity with various

composers works, served as invaluable resources in choosing repertoire for this study.

5Emmons and Sonntag, 267.6Carol Kimball, Song: A Guide to Style and Literature(Seattle: Pst, 2000).7Sergius Kagen,Music for the Voice: A Descriptive List of Concert and Teaching Materialrev. ed.

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1968).

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Few musicological sources address specific poetic or musical criteria by which the

childlike nature of text and music can be analyzed. The most comprehensive analyses exist in

Gloria Shafers book Origins of the Childrens Song Cycle8and Ian Sharps Classical Musics

Evocation of the Myth of Childhood.9Shafer examines and describes the childrens song cycle

repertoire, considering the textual and musical features distinctive in the genre. She concludes

that the primary factor distinguishing childrens song cycles is the subject matter chosen, a

statement based on Dwight E. Nofzingers dissertation, A Study of Selected Song Literature for

Children.10In an article forMusic Educators Journal,Shafer states that instead of formulating

their childlike conceptions from underlying psychological approaches, composers work fromtheir intuitive perception of a childs world.11She concludes that childrens song cycles tend to

display similar rhythms and melodies, repeated phrases, extensive musical coloring, are about

subjects that employ textual imagery relevant to the childs world and evocative of a childs

interest. These employ textual coloring such as alliteration and onomatopoeia as well.12Her

findings aided the search for common poetic and compositional techniques among the chosen

repertoire. The present study goes beyond her work by considering the cycles in light of a childs

perspective, and by entertaining the question of what messages about children these songs

convey.

Ian Sharps book Classical Musics Evocation of the Myth of Childhoodexplores musical

images of the phenomenon of childhood, analyzing both vocal and instrumental music. He

divides childrens music into categories involving sources of creation and performance (children

8Gloria Shafer, Origins of the Childrens Song Cycle as a Musical Genre with Four Case Studies and anOriginal Cycle(Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1989).

9Sharp.10Dwight E. Nofzinger, A Study of Song Literature for Children (EdD diss., University of Northern

Colorado, 1967).11Gloria Shafer, Childrens Song Cycles Are for Everyone,Music Educators Journal 67, no. 9 (May

1981): 33.12Shafer, Origins of the Childrens Song Cycle, 71.

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or adults), character (childlike or adult like), and intended audience (children or adults). 13His

discussion of modes of communication serves as a foundation for this analysis, as I apply his

theories to repertory he did not consider.

Biographical details concerning the poets and composers included in this study

contextualize these song cycles within their lives and output. Among the biographical sources

consulted were Lachlan MacbeansMarjorie Fleming: The Story of Pet Marjorie Together With

Her Journals and Her Letters,14John DaveriosRobert Schumann: Herald of a New Poetic

Age,15and Pierre BernacsFrancis Poulenc: The Man and His Songs.16These biographies

pointed out relevant details in the poets and composers lives that informed their works.Including biographical elements such as Schumanns interest in the musical education of

children, Feeneys radio addresses regarding children and God, Bernsteins Young Peoples

Concerts, and Brittens fascination with the corruption of innocence brings added meaning to

the song cycles considered in this document.

Explorations of poetic and musical collections, such asMother Raspberryby Maurice

Carme,17We Are the Children of Godby Leonard Feeney,18and The Collected Songs of

Theodore Chanler19

aided in gaining familiarity with the poets and composers style and output.

Mention of other vocal repertoire such as ChanlersFour Rhymes from Peacock Pie20and

13Sharp, 31.14Lachlan Macbean,Marjorie Fleming: The Story of Pet Marjorie Together With Her Journals and Her

Letters(New York: G. P. Putnams, 1904).15John Daverio,Robert Schumann: Herald of a New Poetic Age(New York: Oxford University Press,1997).

16Pierre Bernac,Francis Poulenc: The Man and His Songstrans. Winifred Radford (New York: W. W.Norton, 1977).

17Maurice Carme,Mother Raspberry(New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1969).18Leonard Feeney, We Are the Children of God(Huntington, IN.: Our Sunday Visitor, 1942).19Theodore Chanler, The Collected Songs of Theodore Chanler: Medium/High Voice and Piano(New

York: G. Schirmer, 1994).20Chanler, The Collected Songs.

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SchumannsMdchenlieder,21a setting of additional poetry by Elisabeth Kulmann, reveals these

composers continuing interests in childrens themes.

Musicological sources examining these song cycles melodic, harmonic, rhythmic,

textural, dynamic, and formal structural content or discussing their place in the development of

art song aided in the analyses. Among these sources are Rebecca Scharlene Ringers dissertation

Beyond the Year of Song, Text and Music in the Song Cycles of Robert Schumann After

1848,22as well as Yugo Sava Ikachs document A Study of Selected Songs by Leonard

Bernstein Which Reflect His Contribution to the Evolution of Art Song in America,23and

Annette Nicolais thesis Benjamin Brittens A Charm of Lullabies: Historical Survey,Analysis and Performance.24

Methodology

This document examines the poetry and music of six song cycles from the nineteenth and

twentieth century that incorporate a childs perspective. Each chapter discusses of a pair of

cycles that share the same mode of communication, searching for nuances that emerge from

analyzing them together. The poetic analysis focuses on such aspects as word choice, sentence

structure, and recurring images or themes that contribute to the childlike quality of text. Musical

techniques such as sing-song melodies or syllabic text setting are considered with reference to

the composers individual styles to determine how they illuminate the childlike traits in the text.

Where applicable, the document includes an investigation of any personal beliefs or values about

21Robert Schumann,Neue Ausgabe smtlicher Werke. Serie VI: Lieder(Mainz: Schott, 2009).22Rebecca Scharlene Ringer, Beyond the Year of Song, Text and Music in the Song Cycles of Robert

Schumann After 1848 (PhD diss., University of North Texas, 2007).23Yugo Sava Ikach, A Study of Selected Songs by Leonard Bernstein Which Reflect His Contribution to

the Evolution of Art Song in America (DMA doc., West Virginia University, 2003).24Annette Nicolai, Benjamin Brittens A Charm of Lullabies: Historical Survey, Analysis and

Performance (MA thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 1992).

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children that the poets and composers instill in their works. Each cycle receives an interpretation

regarding how the specific mode of communication affects their musical development as well as

their resulting themes or teachings. The document also offers suggestions as to what performers

might do to enhance these childlike qualities and intended messages.

Chapter one considers song cycles with poetry written by children. They fit Sharps fifth

and sixth Routes of Musical Experience because children either retain a mode of childhood or

assume a mode of adulthood to relate to adults. Richard Rodney Bennett (b. 1936) composed A

Garland for Marjory Flemingin 1969. Marjory Fleming (18031811) wrote these texts between

the ages of six and eight in 18091811. In them she relates her observations about various familymembers, friends and animals, all with a sense of youth and innocence. Robert Schumann

(18101856) composed Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmann, Op. 104in 1851, setting selected

texts of child poet Elisabeth Kulmann (18081825), published in 1835. Elisabeth describes her

lifes circumstances, complete with her childhood joys and hardships, culminating in the

anticipation of her imminent death.

Both cycles texts come from a true childs perspective, but at times the child poets

behave in an adult manner, thus altering the mode of communication to a child acting as an adult

and instigating a shift in the composers and performers responses. At times, Marjory imitates

the adults surrounding her, but the bulk of her poetry remains youthful, nave and simple, due to

her death at such an early age. Bennetts musical setting consequently focuses on illustrating her

immaturity and genuine childlike nature. Elisabeth lived nearly a decade longer than Marjory,

and her poetry reflects the maturation process she underwent during those formative years. A

comparison of these two cycles reveals how Schumanns setting enhances the idea of Elisabeths

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growth and development, as he deliberately creates a musical portrait intended to describe this

idyllic woman.

Chapter two analyzes song cycles with poetry by an adult who assumes a childs identity,

corresponding to Sharps third Route of Musical Experience. American composer Theodore

Chanler (19021961) collaborated with the American Jesuit priest Leonard Feeney (18971978)

to create a cycle of childlike songs entitled The Childrenin 1945. Feeneys poems use children

as the collective narrator, describing their observations and feelings, but also including a didactic

element in which the children instruct adults regarding the proper way to treat them. The cycle

results in a symbolic or archetypal figure of childhood that serves to teach or set an example asopposed to imitating genuine children. American composer, conductor, and pedagogue Leonard

Bernstein (19181990) wrote both the text and music forI Hate Music! A Cycle of Five Kid

Songs for Sopranoin 1943. These songs are written from the point of view of a ten-year-old

child named Barbara, relating her musings and opinions about science, music, and life in general.

Bernsteins set creates a more realistic child narrator and presents a less overt agenda than

Feeneys. Remaining much more playful and fun-loving in approach, Bernstein still includes the

subtle teaching that children are people too, a yearning for legitimacy echoed in Bernsteins

personal life. Examining the two cycles together provides the opportunity to compare the

different methods the poets and composers use to convey a childs perspective, as we ll as the

different messages presented by their songs.

Two cycles in chapter three with children as a poetic audience conclude this discussion of

childrens themes in art song based on modes of communication. These cycles match Sharps

first and second Route of Musical Experience, in which adults either assume a mode of

childhood or retain a mode of adulthood to relate to children.French composer Francis Poulenc

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(18991963) wrote the cycleLa courte paillesetting texts by Belgian poet Maurice Carme

(18991978) in 1960. The poetry can be analyzed from the point of view of an adult talking to a

child, addressing him either in a direct way or through telling him silly or magical stories. The

cycle begins with a mother keeping a nighttime vigil at her ill childs bedside as he struggles to

fall asleep. She retains a mode of adulthood in this first song, as well as the rest of the odd-

numbered songs, as she calms and soothes her child with magical stories, or reflects on the world

she envisions for his future. She alters her mode of communication in the even-numbered songs

as she assumes a more childlike mode of communication to tell silly, nonsensical fairy tales and

stories. Englishman Benjamin Britten (19131976) selected a diverse group of five texts each bya different British poet to create the cycleA Charm of Lullabiesin 1947. Each poem is a lullaby

of one sort or another, and as such, has the perspective of an adult addressing a child. The adults

in the cycle always retain a mode of adulthood in their lullabies.Their themes include soothing

and rocking a child to sleep, threatening a child with punishments for disobedience, and

envisioning the childs bright future. Exploring the various themes and images that the adults use

in addressing children throughout both cycles illuminates how these two modes of

communication evoke a consistent combination of love and tenderness, frustration, and

anticipation of the future.

Scope

This document does not attempt to provide an exhaustive formal or harmonic, stylistic, or

literary analysis of these song cycles. The focus remains examining childlike qualities of the

texts and music, while incorporating relevant biographical details from the poets and

composers lives that may have shaped their works. Though related to the topic of childrens

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themes, this document also does not pursue any investigation of child psychology that existed

during the different time periods in which these works were composed. Too broad and

impractical for a study of this size, such research would nevertheless benefit the topic of art

songs with childrens themes by exposing any reason or potential bias behind the messages

conveyed.

Ideas for subsequent researchers who may be interested in analyzing these cycles in a

psychological context might involve comparing the Bernstein and Chanler cycles, two

contemporary American works created at the height of World War II, investigating how children

were regarded during this Post-Freudian environment. Other avenues for study include detailedstylistic analyses of various composers lighter music (encompassing songs with childrens

themes) in comparison with their more serious works, with an eye toward identifying

compositional inconsistencies or alterations that correspond with their subject material and mode

of communication.

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Chapter 1: Child Poets

Reading a childs own writings gives unrestricted access to their thoughts and feelings.

Such is the case in two song cycles each with poetry written by a child, Richard Rodney

BennettsA Garland for Marjory Flemingand Robert Schumanns Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth

Kulmann, Op. 104. Marjory Fleming and Elisabeth Kulmann, both highly accomplished young

poets, utilize their skill with words to describe their childhood experiences, ranging from family

relationships to interactions with animals and thoughts on death. Composers Richard Rodney

Bennett and Robert Schumann set these childrens words to music, creating vivid portraits of

their subjects. The Fleming cycle produces a snapshot of a sweet, pure pre-adolescent girl whotries to emulate her elders, often with comic results. Schumanns setting of Kulmanns poetry

reveals an imaginative child who grows through adversity into a thoughtful, mature young

woman. Using the mode of communication of a childsperspective allows composers to

emphasize the unique perceptions offered, resulting in a sense of gentle wistfulness, humor, or

admiration and esteem.

A Garland for Marjory Fleming

This short cycle of five songs contains the poetry of a young girl named Marjory

Fleming, penned between her sixth and ninth birthdays. Most of Flemings writings reveal her

innocent, precocious, fun-loving personality, as she describes the people and animals

surrounding her. This quality of her narration corresponds to Ian Sharps fifth Route of Musical

Experience, wherein a child retains a mode of childhood to relate to adults.1At times Fleming

alters her mode of communication by acting in a more grown-up manner, imitating the adults

1Ian Sharp, Classical Musics Evocation of the Myth of Childhood(Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press,2000), 31.

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around her. When this occurs, her poetry fits Sharps sixth Route of Musical Experience because

she assumes a mode of adulthood to relate to adults. Bennetts setting exposes Flemings

youthful nature, emphasizing her affectionate, exuberant personality, while illuminating the

moments where she attempts to act with maturity beyond her age. The result is a realistic

portrayal of this captivating young girl.

Marjory Fleming

Marjory (sometimes mistakenly spelled Marjorie) Fleming was a child writer and poet,

born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland in 1803. She died at the age of eight of meningitis, which haddeveloped from the measles, and is best remembered for her diaries that she kept for the last few

years of her life. As her third editor, Lachlan Macbean, put it,

her little span of life covered barely nine years. It was a brief career, and yet inthose few seasons Marjorie became The Immortal Child of all literature. . . .Her artless writings have been classed with the wonders of the world, thoughindeed she was often but a merry, inconsequent babbler, as every real child mustbe.2

Though she did not travel more than thirty miles from home during her lifetime, Flemings

published journals have transported her thoughts and personality to readers across the world.

Fleming lived her short life surrounded by educated, literate people who fostered her

early schooling and hearty appetite for reading. Marjorys father, James Fleming, descended

from a family of ministers and worked as a successful accountant. Her mothers family included

many prominent surgeons who moved in the cultured circles of Edinburgh.3The Flemings lived

in a three-story building above a book-sellers shop. Her parents loved books, and instilled the

2Lachlan Macbean,Marjorie Fleming: The Story of Pet Marjorie Together with Her Journals and HerLetters(New York: G. P. Putnams Sons, 1904), 12.

3Frank Sidgwick, ed., introduction to The Complete Marjory Fleming: Her Journals, Letters & Verses, byMarjory Fleming (New York: Oxford University Press, 1935), xiii.

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same love in their children. Mr. Fleming had a well-stocked library, and when the children

performed their daily chores well, he rewarded them by reading aloud extracts from the best

authors. Marjory was given free access to any books she wanted to read, and she not only read

them, but often memorized many long passages.4Marjory would often sit in the drawing room

and read, even before turning five years old. A hundred years after her death, Mark Twain

commented on Marjorys love of reading, saying, this wee little child has a marvelous range of

interests. She reads philosophies, novels, baby books, histories, the mighty poetsreads them

with burning interest, and frankly and freely criticizes them all. . . .5This familiarity with a wide

range of literature finds expression in her journals, as she includes various historical and literaryanecdotes in her prose and poetry.

The highlight of Marjorys short life occurred when her cousin, Isabella Keith, visited

from Edinburgh in the summer of 1808 when Marjory was just five-and-a-half years old. Isabella

was extremely fond of Marjory, who, in turn, practically worshipped her cousin. This warm

relationship between the two girls resulted in Marjory spending most of her sixth, seventh, and

eighth years away from her home, under the care of her aunt, Marianne Keith, and the tutelage of

her seventeen-year-old cousin Isabella.6Working together, Isabella instructed Marjory in a

variety of subjects including French, math, history, and the Bible.7As part of Marjorys

education, Isabella encouraged her young pupil to take more care with her handwriting, and with

this in mind gave her the first of several journals in which to write whatever thoughts came into

4Macbean, 15.5Mark Twain, Marjorie Fleming, The Wonder Child, in The Complete Essays of Mark Twain, ed.

Charles Neider (Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2000), 460.6Sidgwick, xv.7Alexandra Johnson, The Drama of Imagination: Marjory Fleming and Her Diaries, in Infant Tongues:

The Voice of the Child in Literature, eds. Elisabeth Goodenough, Mark A. Heberle, and Naomi Sokoloff (Detroit:Wayne State University Press, 1994), 87.

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her wise little head.8These journals cover nearly three years of her life, from the winter of

180809 to mid-summer 1811. They reveal her thoughts and reading habits, and quite often, her

misbehaving. As Macbean summarizes, all her writings reveal a fond, impulsive, affectionate

creature; frank and artless in her innocence, yet unconsciously showing signs of a generous

richness of nature.9With the unguarded nature of a child, Marjory candidly writes about her

community and gives her opinions and judgments on all aspects of her life.

Marjory discloses her childlike nature through her choices of subject matter and her

guileless manner of expression. She devotes numerous pages of her journal to her idol, her

beloved cousin Isabell, praising her beauty and good nature. She also makes human-likedescriptions of the animals in her midst, finding joy in their silly antics and sorrow in their

tragedies. Void of any hidden agenda or underlying purpose in her writings, Marjory merely

describes her experiences and surroundings, as one would only expect from such a young author.

She often strings together ideas in amusingly random ways,10as evidenced in an excerpt from

her first journal: Miss Potune is very fat she pretends to be very learned she says she saw a

stone that dropt from the skies, but she is a good christian.11Making such judgments without

regard for social improprieties reveals her innocent obliviousness to tact and discretion. Her

comments do not seem critical or mean-spirited, however, for she habitually describes people as

fair or good Christians. She simply has not learned to refine her observations through a

socially acceptable filter.

From a technical standpoint, Marjorys writings also reveal her immaturity, especially in

her childish forced rhymes and inconsistent phrasing. The poetry of the entire cycle (and the

8Macbean, 20.9Ibid., 13435.10Christine Heppermann, Training Wheels, The Horn Book Magazine80, no. 5 (2004): 536.11Marjory Fleming, The Complete Marjory Fleming: Her Journals, Letters & Verses, 98.

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majority of her poetic output) consists of groupings of rhyming couplets, with no variation. Her

common references to people as being fair and having good hair most likely results from a

desire to find an appropriate rhyme, rather than stemming from a true observation. Multiple

spelling mistakes and grammatical inconsistencies add to the mechanical flaws that indicate her

youth.

There are times, however, when all children aspire to be adults, and Marjory does this in

a few of her poems. Macbean describes this phenomenon, noting, It is always interesting to

watch children trying to wield the words of the adult world, much as a new apprentice wields the

tradesmans tools with a kind of amateur originality. But no one ever produced quainter effectswith common English words than does our Marjorie.12She often includes religious terminology

more suited to adult expression than that of a young child. This habit probably reflects Marjorys

strong spiritual upbringing, stimulated by the stern Calvinistic Puritanism of Scottish theology of

that period.13Marjory parrots moral lessons from her elders, such as in her journal entry stating

if people do not check their passion when they are young it will grow worse and worse when

they are old so that nobody will love them or obey them.14Such instances of moralizing and

acting in an adult manner can be found in the song cycle as well.

Shortly after Marjorys death, Isabella Keith delivered Marjorys manuscripts to her

mother, but they remained unknown for nearly half a century. Then in 1858, a London journalist

and opera librettist named H. B. Farnie published the first booklet about the young author

entitled Pet Marjorie: A Story of Child Life Fifty Years Ago, and quoted approximately an

eighth of her prose and a quarter of her poetry. 15Thus began a series of more complete

12Macbean, 42.13Ibid., 12.14Fleming, 129.15Sidgwick, xvii.

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publications of Marjorys words, several with misspellings and omissions, along with the

growing legend of her close friendship with Sir Walter Scott, detailing how she would recite

Shakespeare on his knee. Her second editor, Dr. John Brown, included as a preface to her

writings a vivid sketch of Scott coming to the Fleming household nearly every day, shouting for

his friend Marjory. Brown recounts, In a moment a bright, eager child of seven was in his arms,

and he was kissing her all over.16This delightful story brought fame to Marjorys name, but

their distant family connection (Scott was Marjorys aunts husbands first cousins son) 17as

well as a lack of mentioning each other in their journals, suggests more likely a mere possible

meeting at a family gathering.Regardless of whether she had strong associations with fame during her lifetime, little

Marjory Fleming has captivated the hearts and minds of men and women over the past two

hundred years who revel in witnessing a child literally and figuratively finding her voice

through her words.18Her words clearly affected Bennett enough to choose to set them in this

song cycle, providing another avenue for audiences to come to know and love this remarkable

young girl.

Richard Rodney Bennett

Knighted in 1998 for his services to music, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett is a versatile

modern musician, equally well-known for his classical and popular styles of composition. His

talents and accomplishments had their origins in the musical atmosphere of his home. Bennetts

father wrote childrens books and lyrics for songs, some of which were set by English composer

Eric Coates. Bennetts mother studied composition with Gustav Holst as a young woman, and

16John Brown,Rab and His Friends(Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1863), 55.17Sidgwick, xviii.18Johnson, 91.

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specialized in composing lyrical chamber music influenced by Claude Debussy and Maurice

Ravel in the early 1920s. After marrying Bennetts father she worked as a music reviewer and

accompanist.19With such an artistically talented family, Bennetts musical skills were naturally

cultivated at a young age, and he began composing as a child. He grew up listening to

contemporary early twentieth-century English music as well as popular show tunes, eventually

becoming interested in avant-garde music. After studying at the Royal Academy of Music for

three years, Bennett received a scholarship from the French government to study with Pierre

Boulez from 1957 to 1959 in Paris.20His compositional style never quite took on the complex

manner of that of Boulez, but according to commentator Anthony Burton, Bennett retainedelements of aneo-Romantic serialism closer to Berg than Webern.21

Bennett used this distinctive compositional style in his most famous opera, The Mines of

Sulphur,in 1963. Though he abandoned writing opera after 1970, Bennett continues to compose

in many other genres, including orchestral and choral works, instrumental solos, song cycles, and

film scores, bringing his melodic gift and ability to powerfully create a mood to them all.22His

most famous film score,Murder on the Orient Expressearned him an Academy Award

nomination in 1974.

Throughout his career Bennetts style evolved from serialist to more of a crossover or

jazz style. Beginning in the 1990s he developed a solo cabaret-style show with himself as pianist

and singer.23Earlier in his career he favored French coloristic harmonies, but now he writes

19Stewart Craggs,Richard Rodney Bennett: A Bio-bibliography, Bio-bibliographies in Music (New York:Greenwood Press, 2002), 3.

20Susan Bradshaw, Bennett, Sir Richard Rodney, Oxford Music Online,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/02705 (accessed March 26, 2012).

21Anthony Burton, Richard Rodney Bennett, Chester Music Novello Co, 44 (2005),http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&composerId_2905=100# (accessedMarch 31, 2012).

22Ibid.23Bradshaw.

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freely tonal works, characterized by extensive chromaticism, sophisticated simplicity, or soaring

lyricism, appealing more to the general public.24His Garland for Marjory Flemingcycle, written

in 1969, fits chronologically into his serialist compositional time, but stylistically it belongs to

his later, tonal style, while still retaining elements of rhythmic complexity and extensive use of

chromaticism.

Perhaps because of his fathers vocation as a childrens author, Bennett has chosen the

subject of children for several of his compositions. He has written at least fifteen works intended

for children to perform. Among these are an opera for young people entitled All the Kings Men

in 1968, many songs, solo piano works, as well as solo instrumental, chamber and orchestralcompositions. Bennett wrote a group of songs for childrens performance to accompany the

narrated story The Midnight Thief,for the televised BBC series Making Music. He also

arranged several nursery songs for the Oxford Nursery Song Bookin 1963.25Most recently, his

song cycle of nursery rhymes, Songs Before Sleep, composed for baritone and piano in 2002,

resembles theMarjory Fleming cycle as it is a sophisticated piece intended for adults to perform.

Analysis ofA Garland for Marjory Fleming

A Garland for Marjory Fleming consists of five short songs recounting Marjorys family

and childhood surroundings, and lasts approximately nine minutes in performance. In Isas Bed

begins the set, depicting Marjorys admiration for her favorite cousin Isabella. A Melancholy

Lay follows, in which Marjory describes the death of three turkeys, presumably killed for the

familys food. The third song, On Jessy Watsons Elopement expresses Marjorys astonishment

and dismay at the folly of such an improper deed. Sweet Isabell follows, with Marjory

24Burton.25Craggs, 96104.

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extolling her cousins virtues in contrast to the flawed Jessy Watson. Sonnet on a Monkey

finishes the cycle with a rousing poetic depiction of her aunts pet.

From the collection of poems at his disposal, Bennett chose five that clearly outlined

Marjorys personality: her love for her cousin, her humorous observations of animals, and her

attempts at putting on adult airs in chastising an older girls choice of marriage. Bennett includes

a note in the title page of the cycle, stating that the original spelling has been retained except

where it would affect the correct pronunciation of the words: christain, Etenity, etc. 26

Preserving her childlike misspellings demonstrates his desire to allow Marjory to present her

authentic self with minimal alterations. Bennett recognized that the power of her diaries lay inwitnessing a child in the process of self-expression, while resisting the stuttering corrections of

self-consciousness.27Clearly, Bennetts interests lay in creating a true rendering of this gifted

and unintentionally funny young girl. As a whole, the poems create a sketch of an innocent,

precocious child making observations about her world.

In the first song, In Isas Bed, Marjory outlines their sleeping arrangements, describing

how she lay at the foot of the bed in order to readArabian Nights, consequently disturbing Isas

rest. As Marjory herself observed, . . . I disturbed her repose at night by co ntunial [sic] figting

and kicking but I was very contunialy [sic] at work reading the Arabin Nights entertainments

which I could not have done had I slept at the top.28Marjory knows she should not bother her

cousin, and says of my follies [I] am repented. The obviously strained rhyme of lilys with

pillies (pillows) and lie with luxury create a humorous effect, exposing this young poets

unintentional wit.

26Richard Rodney Bennett,A Garland for Marjory Fleming: Five Songs for Soprano and Piano, (London:Novello, 1986), i.

27Johnson, 85.28Fleming, 24.

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I love in Isas bed to lieO such a joy and luxuryThe bottom of the bed I sleepAnd with great care I myself keepOft I embrace her feet of lillys

But she has gotton all the pillies.Her neck I never can embraceBut I do hug her feet in placeBut I am sure I am contentedAnd of my follies am repentedI am sure Id rather beIn a small bed at liberty

Bennett uses clear melodic contours and mischievously unpredictable piano writing to

skillfully accentuate the childlike aspects of the text. He highlights Marjorys youthfulexuberance for her beloved cousin with the opening octave jump in the vocal line with its

unrestrained declaration I lovein Isas bed to lie, combined with the merry, jaunty F Major

piano accompaniment in a dotted sing-song rhythm. These lively staccato rhythms, marked

mezzo forte andfortedepict Marjorys fidgeting and squirming in bed, as well as her fun-loving,

capricious personality. The next section (mm. 711) changes to asecco, even eighth-note pattern

at apianodynamic and much lower register as Marjory attempts to remain quiet to avoid waking

her cousin. She cannot stay quiet for long as she forcefully complains about Isabella having all of

the pillies (pillows). The opening motives return in the piano and vocal part, beginning in m.

12, as Marjory describes enthusiastically hugging Isabellas feet instead of her neck, then

suddenly repents of this outburst at m. 18 in the same soft, eighth-note pattern in the low register

as before. She finishes her song with an espressivostatement (m. 21) about her desire to be in her

own bed, at liberty to do as she wishes. The musical setting, with its sudden shifts from

unreserved expressions of love or frustration to the quiet, restrained fervor of trying to control

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herself for Isabellas sake, clearly demonstrate the impulsive personality of this young, energetic

child.

Marjory has a knack for creating an almost human description of animals. In the second

song, A Melancholy Lay, she chronicles the death of three turkeys, while in the final song,

Sonnet on a Monkey, she recounts the antics of her aunts pet. Marjory charact erizes all her

subjects as fair, whether they are men or women or turkeys. Twain notes that, she adores

animals, adores them all; none is too forlorn to fail of favor in her friendly eyes, no creature so

humble that she cannot find something in it on which to lavish her caressing worship.29Animals

become equals as friends and companions in Marjorys view, and she treats them as such throughher poems.

A Melancholy Lay expresses Marjorys belief that animals are all swayed by the same

feelings as her readers by including the statement, they sigh and weep as well as you. Marjory

creates human-like relationships between the turkeys, imagining the parents mourning for their

beloved offspring, and the turkeys peers not despising their grace and beauty. She seems taken

aback that the departed turkeys mother emitted no sigh or let a single tear roll down her beak at

their death, and considers this callousness one of the saddest parts of the tragedy. 30

Three Turkeys fair their last have breathedAnd now this worled [sic] for ever leavedTheir father and their mother tooWill sigh and weep as well as you

Mourning for their offspring fairWhom they did nurse with tender careIndeed the rats their bones have cranchd To Eternity are they launched

Their graceful form and pretty eyesTheir fellow fowls did not despise

29Twain, 460.30Macbean, 113.

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A direful death indeed they hadThat would put any parent mad

But she was more than usual calmShe did not give a single dam

Here ends this melancholy layFarewell poor turkeys I must say.

Marjory maintains a childlike mode of expression through the majority of the poem. Her

fascination with animals and habit of treating them like people exposes her youth. Surely she had

encountered many fables and stories where animals speak, live in houses, wear clothes, and

generally act like humans. Marjorys childlike imagination would easily extend to the real

animals in her own environment, giving such storybook-like characteristics to their descriptions.Her immature writing style appears with the rhymesbreathed/leaved, and

launched/cranchd (crunched). Marjory briefly adopts an adult-like manner of expression

when she makes a religious reference in her description of the three turkeys fate with to

Eternity are they launched. Using such religiousterminology in dealing with simple matters

demonstrates her propensity for mimicking the conversation of the adult world surrounding her.

Bennett creates an appropriately morose musical setting for the three turkeys in A

Melancholy Lay with its minor key and slow tempo. The sustained and harmonically static

piano accompaniment with dissonant tone clusters at the beginning sets the somber tone, fitting

the allegretto con doloremarking. The piano clearly establishes G Minor as the key, but the

lyrical vocal line floats above on the dominant, ultimately arriving on tonic at m. 15 at the final

note of the downward portamento on the word mourning. This hovering vocal line creates a

hushed, mournful, almost reverential tone, illustrating Marjorys sincere pain at the death of

these three creatures. Marked mf andsolenne, the line Indeed the rats their bones have cranchd

/ To Eternity are they launched shifts down to a low register, setting off this unintentionally

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humorous statement. Rests appearing in the vocal line, and (for the first time) in the piano part,

between the words are they launched give the text added emphasis without mocking their

sentiment.

The song returns to the original harmonically stationary piano motive with hovering

vocal line at m. 27, growing in intensity and volume (mm. 3438) as Marjory discusses the

turkeys parents feelings of anger. The piano becomes molto espressivo as the poetry reaches its

climax at m. 42, observing the mother turkey refraining from uttering a single dam (damn) for

her dead offspring. The tonality shifts to D Minor, which originally served as the dominant of G

Minor, for the post-script Here ends this melancholy lay / Farewell poor turkeys I must say.The piano postlude concludes in D Minor, giving an open-ended quality to the song, perhaps

sending the turkeys off to another world. Throughout this sincere tribute, Bennett does not

ridicule the child and her earnest expressions of sadness, but rather gives them a fitting musical

voice.

Isa had given Marjory her journals for the purposes of improving her penmanship as well

as writing down the moral guidelines that a well-mannered girl should follow.31Perhaps this

instruction explains why Marjory chooses to voice her scorn at the elopement of a servant girl in

the poem On Jessy Watsons Elopement. Marjory depicts Jessy, with her rash and unwise

decisions, as the antithesis of saintly Isabella. Even amidst this criticism, the guileless child

Marjory cannot help but positively illustrate Jessys physical characteristics as well, revealing

her youthful priorities by including praise for Jessys sparkling eyes and good hair.

Run of[f] is Jessy Watson fairHer eyes do sparkle shes good hairBut Mrs Leath you now shal beNow and for all Eternity

31Ibid., 37.

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Such merry spirits I do hateBut now its over and to lateFor to retract such vows you cantAnd you must now love your gallantBut I am sure you will repent

And your poor heart will then relentYour poor poor father will repineAnd so would I if you were mineBut now be good for this time pastAnd let this folly be your last

This seven-year-old girl certainly changes her mode of communication as she puts on a

mature persona to reprove Jessy Watson of her elopement. One can almost hear her echoing

adult criticisms and opinions as she lectures, Your poor poor father will repine, and so would Iif you were mine. She uses a somewhat condescending tone with the reprimand, I am sure you

will repent. Marjory ultimately instructs Jessy to go and sin no more, bestowing forgiveness

by concluding, be good for this time past, and let this folly be your last. In so doing, Marjory

takes on the role of a spiritual advisor or confessor by counseling Jenny to not repeat her sins.

This image of a young girl acting as an adult, believing she possesses the ability to forgive sins,

creates a delightfully comical moment for those observing her behavior.

The sharp rhythmic structure of this setting contrasts markedly from the other songs,

perhaps to convey how Marjory tries to act adult-like in shaming a transgression, instead of

merely behaving as her happy childish self. The song opens with brusque, accented, angular

dotted rhythms, showing Marjorys contempt for Jenny running off to get married. The second

line describing her sparkling eyes and good hair seem to function as an aside in this musical

surrounding, as if Marjory needed a rhyme for the first line, even though the text feels out of

character for her emotional outburst. The generally E Minor key shifts every few measures, and

contains so many chromatic alterations that it almost gives the impression that Marjory cannot

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find her bearings in this adult world. She continually modulates freely through a series of

unrelated keys as she searches for a suitable way to express herself.

A contrasting middle section begins with a mezzo piano rising sequential passage made

up of even rhythms in the vocal line over a repeated tone cluster centering on C-sharp in the

piano. The soft dynamic level and tension grow with Marjorys mounting advice, describing how

Jenny cannot retract such vows and must love her husband, though she will surely repent of

her actions. Her lecture builds to an unexpectedly soft, high lyrical moment where she sorrows

for Jennys poor father with a portamento, much like the one highlighting the sadness of the

parent turkey in A Melancholy Lay. Asubito forte statement marked con fuoco immediatelyfollows, in which Marjory declares she would treat Jenny the same way if she were her own

daughter, returning to the harsh, accented, dotted rhythms from the opening.

The final admonition to be good from now own musically depicts forgiveness as

Marjorys wrath subsides to a lower tessitura, with a gradual fading in the piano postlude to

repeated low, soft final chords evocative of the opening measures. This song distinctly shows

Bennetts musical tools used to shift the mode of communication to a child acting as an adult.

She self-righteously stomps through multiple keys, quietly deigns to give advice, lyrically

imitates the sorrow of a parent, followed by more dotted-rhythm indignation, and finally offers a

stern reproach with ultimate forgiveness through the piano conclusion.

Love for Isa, the one changeless theme of Marjorys thoughts, returns in the fourth song,

Sweet Isabell. As Mcbean describes, Isa is always the beloved, the learned witty and

sensible, . . . the benefactress whose services can never be repaid, the Venus de Medici, fair as a

Greek statue.32In this poem, Marjory exalts Isabellas physical and emotional characteristics,

including her soft skin, fair face, pretty hair, neat nails, white teeth, and bright eyes. This pure

32Ibid., 107.

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and unabashed love for Isabella truly epitomizes Marjorys youth and wholesomeness. She has

not yet learned how to cloak her feelings or sense any sort of embarrassment or shame in making

such effusive statements about her cousin.

Here lies sweet Isabell in bedWearing a nightcap on her headHer skin is soft her face is fairAnd she has very pretty hair

She and I in bed lie niceAnd undisturbed by rats or miceShe is disgusted by Mister WorganAlthough he plays upon the organ

A not of ribans [ribbons] on her headHer cheak is tinged with concious redHer nails are neat her teeth are whiteHer eyes are very very bright

In a conspicuos town she livesAnd to the poor her money givesHere ends sweet Isabellas storyAnd may it be much to her glory

A post-script to the poem appears in Marjorys journal, stating all this is true and a full

description.33This detail shows that Marjory was not trying to create an artistic treatment of her

subject as much as to do it complete justice, omitting nothing from the picture.34She does not

attempt to embellish or persuade others to her point of view as an adult might do, but rather

merely observes and reports.

Bennett contrasts Marjorys negative portrayal of Jessy with her saintly cousin Isabell by

setting the poem with an almost music-box-like accompaniment in a high register, made up of

even quarter-notes, marked dolce semplice. This musical setting could also suggest a return to

the wide-eyed, adoring, innocent, childlike nature that Marjory resumes after putting on airs as a

33Fleming, 103.34Macbean, 39.

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scornful adult. Unlike the flighty, impulsive, ungrounded Jessy Watson who cannot remain in a

single key for more than two measures, Isabells music begins firmly rooted in F Major, clearly

outlining the tonic, where it remains for ten measures. The sequentially rising vocal line

enumerating Isabells desirable soft skin and pretty hair modulates to D Major. Some

chromaticism creeps into Marjorys description of Isabells disgust for Mr. Worgan who plays

upon the organ. The plagal cadence inserted here wittily mimics the church organ player, while

simultaneously reinforcing the saintly nature of Marjorys idol.

The middle section repeats similar melodic and structural ideas of the first section,

though now in E Major, finally cadencing back in F Major in m. 49 as Marjory finishes herpraise for Isabells charity in giving to the poor. Her final two lines, Here ends sweet Isabellas

story / And may it be much to her glory finish with the same music-box like accompaniment

from the introduction. Bennetts starkly contrasting accompaniment between this song and the

previous one shows Marjorys true nature as she happily and simply describes her idol, using

childlike rhythms, easily discerned rising sequential patterns, and clear harmonies. Sweetness,

purity, and a desire to emulate her cousin come through the musical setting of Marjorys words.

The final song, Sonnet on a Monkey, revisits Marjorys childlike fascination with

animals. The monkey receives eloquent and human-like descriptions such as lovely,

charming, graceful, and divine. He is a great buck and a bow [beau] with teeth whiter

than the snow, cheeks like the roses bloom and hair like the ravens plume, as well as

having a classically Roman nose and eyes that are more like a Christians than an ape.

O lovely O most charming pugThy graceful air and heavnly mugThe beauties of his mind do shineAnd evry bit is shaped so fineYour very tail is most devine

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Your teeth is whiter than the snowYou are a great buck and a bow [beau]Your eyes are of so fine a shapeMore like a christians than an ape

His cheeks is like the roses blumeYour hair is like the ravens plumeHis noses cast is of the romanHe is a very pretty weoman

I could not get a rhyme for romanAnd was oblidged to call it weoman

Marjorys immature writing style appears again in this poem. She admits in the final

couplet of the poem that she could not get a rhyme for roman, and was oblidged to call it

weoman. Apparently Marjory thinks the joke is a good one, because she uses it again in another

poem (not included in this cycle). An additional instance of convenient rhyming such as this

occurs in her journals when describing James II of England being killed at Roxburgh. She says,

He was killed by a cannon splinter / Quite in the middle of the winter. Perhaps it was not at that

time / But I can get no other rhyme!35Marjory seems to care more about preserving her rhyme

scheme than the historical account of James IIs death. Inconsistencies in narrative perspective,

such as referring to the monkey alternately as you and he, demonstrate her childish lack of

editorial skills, while simultaneously creating a thorny task of memorization for the performer!

Bennetts musical setting of Sonnet on a Monkey heightens Marjorys young,

impulsive nature. The constantly changing compound meter from 7/8 to 2/4 to 5/8 and 3/8

highlights Marjorys breathless enthusiasm at describing such an energetic and captivating

creature, while simultaneously conveying the unpredictable antics of the animal under her

scrutiny.Marked allegro giocosolike the opening song, Marjorys true nature appears once

again. She has tried on different emotions, such as sorrow/grief, righteous indignation and

35Fleming, 151.

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Such a powerful response can result from experiencing a childs perspective; and when paired

with a fitting musical setting, there exists the potential to produce compelling feelings of sweet

nostalgia, comic relief, and evocative wonderment.

For Performers

In performing these songs, the singer and pianist should try to enter the mind of this

young poet and express themselves as honestly as she does, attempting to encapsulate the wide-

eyed, unabashed love so characteristic of Marjory. The performers should certainly not mock or

poke fun at this little child genius, but they should show proper concern at the fate of the turkeys,

and treat the grown up parts with sincerity, no matter how funny they may seem to an adult

audience. In the final two lines of the cycle, however, the performers might indulge in laughing

at the rhyming joke in a self-satisfying manner.

Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmann, Op. 104

Music with poetry from a childs perspective can serve to teach lessons gleaned from the

childs life. Robert Schumann accomplishes this in his setting of seven poems by Elisabeth

Kulmann, a young poetess of German and Russian descent who died at the age of seventeen.

Unlike the Fleming cycle where the poetry remains simple and nave because of the poets youth,

Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmanngrows in maturity as the poet ages. With texts written by a

child who at times acts youthful and carefree, then subsequently expresses herself as the mature

young woman she has become, the cycle correlates with Sharps fifth and sixth Routes of

Musical Experience. Where Bennetts musical setting of Flemings words creates a humorous,

candid snapshot of a sweet and innocent child, Schumanns portrait of Kulmann highl ights the

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young girls admirable qualities, demonstrating her wisdom and emotional progression from the

first to the last song.

Elisabeth Kulmann

Elisabeth Kulmann lived a fairly quiet life of obscurity. She was born in St. Petersburg,

Russia, on the July 17, 1808. Her father served as an officer in the Russian army, and her seven

brothers all followed in his career path.38The youngest brother died in battle when Elisabeth was

five years old, and her father and six other brothers all succumbed to tuberculosis at some point,

including three brothers who died before she was born.

39

As her remaining brothers and onlysister had already left home when Elisabeth was a child, her German mother remained her closest

companion. They lived together in poverty on Vasilevskii Island in a dilapidated house which

had been rented for them by a relative.40Elisabeths mother taught her accurate German along

with Russian, and helped her to maintain a cheerful outlook on life, regardless of their severe

financial hardships and other difficulties.41

At an early age, Elisabeths linguistic talents attracted the attention of a kindly, idealistic

tutor named Dr. Karl Friedrich von Grossheinrich, a young lawyer who had been brought to

Russia from Germany to teach the children of a local Count. He gave Elisabeth her first book,

Baumgartens World of Animalswhen she was five, encouraging her to learn all of the animals

names in five languages. At the age of six she mastered German grammar and began writing at

38E. Andrews, Elisabeth Kulmann: Poet and Linguist, in Good Words for 1883, ed. Donald Macleod(London: Ibister, 1883), 465.

39Thomas Dormandy, The White Death: A History of Tuberculosis (London: Hambledon, 1999), 88.40Bonnie Marshall, Kulmann, Elizaveta Borisovna, inDictionary of Russian Women Writers (Westport:

Greenwood Press, 1994), 344.41Andrews, 465.

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seven.42Elisabeth had made good progress in French and Italian before the age of ten, following

Grossheinrichs unique teaching methods, described as follows:

He gave her a short manuscript grammar containing only the outlines of the

declensions and conjugations. When she had leaned these thoroughly, he read toher a translation of some work with the contents of which she was alreadyfamiliar, making her repeat the words after him. After she had acquired thepronunciation of the language, he encouraged her to discover the meaning of asmany words as possible by their resemblance to those in a kindred language.Where she failed, he translated the passage, rarely allowing the use of adictionary, but explaining carefully the grammatical construction. He made hispupil modify the sentences by varying the moods and tenses of the verbs, andchanging the prepositions and pronouns.43

Following these techniques, Kulmann was usually able to converse in a modern language after

three months study, though the grammatical difficulties of Latin and Greek required more time

to master.She enjoyed studying English, acquiring it with ease, and translating portions of

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained into German. She added Spanish and Portuguese to her

repertory at the age of fourteen.44

When the relative who had been paying their rent died, family friend Petr Meder, the

director of the local mining college, came to their rescue. With Meders blessing, Father

Abramov, the colleges military chaplain, allowed Elisabeth and her mother to moveinto an

empty room in his house at the school. There, Elisabeth had access to Meders extensive library

and joined his two daughters in studying music and dance, as well as physics, drawing,

astronomy, botany, mineralogy and mathematics.45

Kulmann familiarized herself with the best German authors and set her mind to becoming

a poet after writing her first German verses at age ten. She intended to use her poetry to describe

the world and mankind, adding that my world consists of the sky overhead, my own and our

42Marshall, 344.43Andrews, 465.44Ibid., 46566.45Marshall, 345.

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landlords garden, the courtyard, and the road, while of mankind, I hardly know thirty people.

Now, may I not give speech and life to the objects around me, and make birds, trees, flowers,

and stones talk, each of course after its own fashion?46Her poetry reflects this view, not

attempting to create moral fables, but rather literally delivering her own simple thoughts about

her humble living situation as well as meditations on God and the afterlife. Kulmanns poetry

contains incredible accuracy andbeauty, as well as purity and depth of thought. Purity, industry,

and prayer could be considered the motto of her life. She excelled at creating poetical

descriptions of scenery in every part of the world, though she did not physically travel to these

exotic locations. European and Russian folk tales, Greek myths and legends, and poetry onscriptural subjects rounded out her extensive output.47

Though Kulmann is little-known today, her poetry did gain the attention and admiration

of important figures during her lifetime. Dr. Grossheinrich made a selection of thirty of

Elisabeths German poems, along with several in French and Italian, and sent them to the great

German masters Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Jean Paul Richter in order to obtain their

opinions of her works. These poems met with great praise from both men. Goethe even ventured

to prophesy for her an honorable rank in literature, in whichever of the languages known to her

she chooses to write.48Her poetry also gained recognition from the court. At age thirteen,

Kulmann sent translations of several odes of Anacreon into five and then eight languages to the

Empress Elisabeth, for which she received a diamond necklace and a yearly pension of two

hundred rubles for her incredible achievements.49Unfortunately, Kulmanns fame did not last

46Kulmann, quoted in Andrews, 466.47Marshall, 345.48Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, quoted in Marshall, 345.49Hendrik Clemens Muller,Lectures on the Science of Literature: Partly Delivered in Edinburgh (Summer

Meeting, 1898)(Haarlem: Vincent Loosjes, 1904), 186.

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long after her lifetime. In reference to her current underrated value as a poet, Bonnie Marshall

states

Kulmanns dedication to classical perfection of form and content earns her an

honorable place in the history of Russian literature. After her death, her work waspublished in Russia and Germany, thanks to the tireless efforts of her mentorGrossheinrich. She captured the attention of Russia mainly as a rare child geniusand was actually better received in Germany. . . . It cannot be denied that both thequantity and quality of her writings were amazing for her years, that she wasclearly a genius, and that she has been sadly underrated in her native land. 50

Kulmanns current lack ofpopularity does not result from poor quality in her work, as evidenced

by the acclaim she received from literary and political figures during her life.

Having experienced so much death in her young life, Kulmann was intimately familiarwith the concept of her own mortality. She maintained a positive attitude even after falling ill,

making the most of every minute she had. Her fatal battle with consumption resulted from cold

and exposure occurring during the extensive flooding of the Neva River in St. Petersburg on

November 7, 1824. By the end of the year, physicians feared for her life. Even in her weakened

state she produced an epic work, The Magic Lamp, set in Persia and loosely based onArabian

Nights.

Kulmann had aspirations to shed new luster on her native land and sing the deeds of i ts

mightiest heroes and desired to complete her unfinished work and achieve her dreams of

fame.51She hoped to travel to Italy to improve her health, but she did not have enough money for

the journey, even with her stipend from the court.52With difficulty, she put aside future

ambitions and made peace with leaving the friends and mother she loved, succumbing to her

early death, requesting let no murmuring, no ungrateful thought disquiet my last hour.53

50Marshall, 34546.51Andrews, 468.52Marshall, 345.53Kulmann, quoted in Andrews, 468.

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Kulmann died on November 19, 1825 at the age of seventeen. The Empress Alexandra

Fedorovna and the Grand Duchess Helena Pavlovna had an impressive marble monument

erected at her grave in Smolensk Cemetery in St. Petersburg, with an inscription in ten languages

stating, The first Russian female to learn Greek, know eleven languages, and speak eight of

them, and though but a young girl, was nevertheless an excellent poetess.54These impressive

qualities attracted Schumann not only to her writings, but to her life. His song cycle illuminates

her desirable attributes and strives to teach others to emulate her character.

Robert SchumannSchumanns life and work epitomize the aesthetics of Romanticism. Among the

Romantic ideals was the concept of childhood, viewed as a symbolic return to the natural, poetic,

and sublime soul of man. This idolization of childhood permeated Schumanns personal life and

artistic inspiration. His own childhood, his interest in childrens literature, his close relationship

with his children, and his desires to create music both for childrens musical instruction as well

as for adults nostalgia all contributed to Schumanns output of music with childrens themes. As

Dong Xu observes,

[Schumann] ventured repeatedly into the world of childhood as a source ofinspiration, demonstrating his delight in fantasy and sympathy with childlikeimagination. Schumanns compositions for and about children, both musical andliterary, are examples of his inner reflections of his personal life, and they areSchumanns personality that animates them. By depicting the childhood emotionsmusically Schumann must have recognized himself after all still a child at heart.55

Exploring the sources of inspiration in Schumanns personal life helps to better understand his

compositions involving childhood.

54Gerhard Dietel, liner notes from Schumann: Frauenliebe undleben; Gedichte der Knigin MariaStuart, trans. Neil Coleman, Sibylla Rubens, Soprano, Uta Hielscher, Piano, Naxos CD, 2008.

55Dong Xu, Themes of Childhood: A Study of Robert Schumanns Piano Music for Children (DMAdoc., University of Cincinnati, 2006), 19.

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Memories of Schumanns happy youth served as a motivation for including childhood

themes in his music.Born on June 8, 1810 in beautiful and tranquil Zwickau, Germany,

Schumann enjoyed a comfortable upbringing as the youngest of five children. His bookseller

father, August Schumann, encouraged Roberts musical and literary talents and carefully

watched over the development of his favorite son.56His mother, Johanne Christiane, devoted

herself with tenderness to him. She loved to sing, and when she realized that music would calm

her son, she would persuade young Robert to sing back to her, which he did with remarkably

accurate pitch and rhythm.57When his mother became ill with typhus, Schumann had to leave

home and live with the Ruppius family between the ages of three and five. He held greataffection for Elenore Ruppius, whom he later described warmly as a second mother. 58Later in

life, Schumann described his childhood in idyllic terms, remembering how happy he was then,

playing the piano, picking flowers, and writing poetry and prayers.59

The fascination with childhood in German Romanticism gained strength through a

revival of childrens literature.Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of old German folk songs

and verses, as well as many childrens songs written by the editors Achim von Arnim and

Clemens Brentano, became quite popular during the Romantic Era. These collections helped to

renew Germanys rich folk heritage and stimulated compositions by many German Romantic

musicians.60Fairy tales, orMrchen, with their imaginative character and supernatural

atmosphere matching the philosophies of the Romantic age, also developed and flourished in

56John Worthen,Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician(New Haven: Yale University Press,2007), 8.

57Peter Otswald, Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius(Boston: Northeastern University Press,1985), 1516.

58John Daverio,Robert Schumann: Herald of a New Poetic Age(New York: Oxford University Press,1997), 21.

59Otswald, 137.60Clayton Koelb and Eric Downing, eds., German Literature of the Nineteenth Century, 18321899The

Camden House History of German Literature, vol. 9 (Rochester: Camden House, 2005), 5253.

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Germany during Schumanns lifetime.61German Romantics often turned toMrchen as a way to

immerse themselves in the childs simplicity and refresh themselves at the source of the childs

primitive innocence.62They sought to bring poetry and song together into one art form as had

existed in Greek and medieval cultures, inspiring the use of the term poet-musician for song

composers.63

Schumanns extensive familiarity with literature certainly qualified him as a poet-

musician, and his love of childrens literature influenced compositions incorporating their

stories and themes.Given Schumanns fathers profession, literary pursuits were strongly

encouraged at home. Schumann enjoyed reading the classics, lives of poets, dramatic works, andcontemporary poetry and fairy tales. He read the tales of the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian

Andersen, Ludwig Tieck, Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg), E. T. A. Hoffmann, and von

Arnim, both for his own enjoyment and later to entertain his children. These stories inspired him

to produce many musical counterparts, such as theMrchenbilderfor viola and piano, Op. 113;

Mrchenerzahlungen, Op. 132, for clarinet, viola, and piano; and Waldszenen, Op. 82, a series of

eerie forest pictures for piano, recreating in music their enchanted, fairy-tale mood.64

Another source of inspiration for Schumanns music with childrens themes came from

his experiences raising his own children.Robert and Clara Schumann had eight children in their

nearly fourteen years together, and he was a loving and devoted father. As biographer Eric

Jensen describes,

Schumann enjoyed spending time with his children. He read to them, went onwalks with them, picked flowers with them, and accompanied them on sledding

61Gillian Rodger, The Lyric, in The Romantic Period in Germany, ed. Siegbert Prawer (New York:Schocken Books, 1970), 147.

62Xu, 1516.63Linda Siegel, trans.Music in German Romantic Literature: A Collection of Essays, Reviews and Stories

(Novato, CA: Elra, 1983), 4041.64Eric Frederick Jensen, Schumann(New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 324.

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expeditions. While this may not seem all that unusual by modern standards, itwould not have been common for fathers in the Germany of Schumanns day toparticipate so actively in their childrens lives.65

When their eldest child, Marie, celebrated her first birthday, Schumann gave her a booklet in

which he had documented the events of her life. A few years later he created one collective

album for all of his children, entitledA Little Book of Memories for Our Children,wherein he

recorded their births, characteristics at various ages, as well as their childlike thoughts and

experiences. This booklet describes Schumanns life with his children and his immersion in their

world, demonstrating an intuitive understanding of their minds. Through observing his children,

Schumann was able to relive his own happy childhood, recapturing and retaining for himself theessence of an idealized childhood that served as a source of inspiration for his music. 66

Several of Schumanns compositions involving childhood themes were written with the

intent of teaching musical skills.A gifted