{_Ich grolle nicht._
_Dichterliebe_ {_Im wunderschoenen Mai._
{_Ich hab' im Traum geweinet._

{_Three of the songs in this_
_Liebesfruehling_ {_Cycle are attributed to_
{_Clara Schumann._

Critics seem to be agreed that Schumann's talent gradually deteriorated
as his mental disease increased. Consequently, with but few exceptions
his best song works are to be found among his early vocal compositions.
I have tried repeatedly to bring forth some of the lesser known songs of
Schumann and have time and again devoted long periods to their study,
but apparently the public, by an unmistakable indication of lack of
approval, will have none of them.

Evidently, the songs by which Schumann is now best known are his best
works from the standpoint of popular appreciation. Popular approval
taken in the aggregate is a mighty determining factor. The survival of
the fittest applies to songs as well as to other things in life. This is
particularly so in the case of the four famous songs, _Die beiden
Grenadiere_, _Widmung_, _Der Nussbaum_ and _Ich grolle nicht_, which
never seem to diminish in popularity.

SCHUMANN'S LOVE FOR THE ROMANTIC

Schumann's fervid imagination readily led to a love for the romantic.
His early fondness for the works of Jean Paul developed into a kind of
life tendency, which resulted in winning him the title of the "Tone-Poet
of Romanticism." Few of his songs, however, are really dramatic.
_Waldesgespraech_, which Robert Franz called a pianoforte piece with a
voice part added, is probably the best of Schumann's dramatic-romantic
songs. I have always found that audiences are very partial to this song;
and it may be sung by a female voice as well as the male voice. The _Two
Grenadiers_ is strictly a man's song. _Ich grolle nicht_, while sung
mostly by men, may, like the _Erl-King_ of Schubert, be sung quite as
successfully by women singers possessing the qualities of depth and
dramatic intensity.

PECULIAR DIFFICULTIES IN INTERPRETING SCHUMANN SONGS

I have already mentioned the necessity for simplicity in connection with
the interpretation of the Schumann songs. I need not tell the readers of
these pages that the proper interpretation of these songs requires a
much more extensive and difficult kind of preparatory work than the more
showy colora