Fanny Hensel, “Von dir, mein Lieb, ich scheiden muss” (1841) and “Ich kann wohl manchmal singen” (1846)

Abstract

This chapter challenges the common view that Fanny Hensel’s songs are spontaneous, unpredictable, and guided by “fantasy.” An examination of her song beginnings—which tend to veer quickly from their home keys—reveals that Hensel relied on a handful of recurring patterns but presented them in such a way as to create the illusion of fantasy. The essay focuses on two contrapuntal “schemata” common in her songs—involving opening modulations to the submediant or supertonic—and presents analyses of two songs that use both schemata: “Von dir, mein Lieb, ich scheiden muss” (1841) and “Ich kann wohl manchmal singen” (1846). Taken together, these songs offer the clearest demonstration of Hensel’s uncanny ability to compose pieces that seem to wander freely, as if guided only by the needs of the present moment, even as they tread well-worn paths.