Louise Reichardt
A woman composer of the Berlin romantic circle who set new poetry as household song
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Who she was
Louise Reichardt (1779–1826) was born in Berlin, the daughter of Johann Friedrich Reichardt, court Kapellmeister in Prussia and a leading song composer. Her mother died when she was four, and she grew up in the family house at Giebichenstein, where Novalis, Tieck and Brentano were visitors. Two engagements ended with the deaths of her fiancés, and she never married. Later she moved to Hamburg, opened a singing school for amateur singers, and died there in 1826.
Her place
Her work falls between two eras. Her father's generation treated song as edification and sociability, with singable tunes and plain harmony; the new poets wrote more privately and more brokenly. She took the new poetry as text and let the song follow the breath of the line, which was not yet routine. She published songs, duets and choral pieces for amateurs, with narrow ranges and no display in the piano. Her singing school made her composer, teacher and promoter at once.
What to hear
Listen first for the rhythm of the verse. In Unruhiger Schlaf the piano figure keeps turning while the voice enters on the stressed words, breathing at the comma rather than the barline. Then for the accompanying picture. Der Spinnerin Nachtlied imitates a spinning wheel, one figure throughout, and repetition turns from steadiness into pressure. Next, harmonic weight. Aus Novalis Hymnen an die Nacht moves in near-chorale steps, and devotional tone enters a love poem. Finally, plainness. Volkslied is strophic, the piano giving only a frame, and the song advances through its words.
Key works
- Songs and duets, Unruhiger Schlaf, Der Spinnerin Nachtlied, Volkslied
- Settings of Novalis, Tieck, Brentano and Arnim
- Twelve Songs Op. 3 and other collections
Influence
Her songs were reprinted in nineteenth-century songbooks and, with her father's, filled German households. She showed that new poetry could be sung at home without waiting for a large genre to absorb it. As a woman her name long trailed her father's; only later research listed her separately. Her value lies less in difficulty than in a judgement, that the sound of a poem can be written as an ordinary voice.
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- 赖夏特生平、柏林家庭环境与汉堡歌唱学校，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 的 Reichardt, Louise 条目；本文为原创表述
- 柏林歌曲传统与早期浪漫派诗歌的谱曲史，参通行德国艺术歌曲研究；实例说明为本站听辨提示
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.