Extract

As the composer whose output was predominantly associated with the Lied, Hugo Wolf offers an appropriate reference point from which to proceed with an examination of the potential for further development of the genre and the extent to which that was followed through. It must be emphasised that this is not a comparative study, but a search for evidence that there was more to be achieved and that there were composers during the early part of the twentieth century who turned to the Lied genre at significant moments in their creative development. This was not out of a sense of duty to ensure its survival, but because working with poetry and music was their chosen method of creativity through which they could not only assist their musical growth, but also reflect the changing artistic environment in which they were working. Assessment of their contribution to the Lied repertoire is therefore made not only with regard to current appraisal, but also with regard to the context of the time in which the respective Lieder were written.

Although predominantly associated with Lieder for voice and piano, Wolf also aspired to the composition of opera, an ambition which was not realised, but which had some influence on his Lieder, many of which approach the stature of operatic aria. His piano accompaniments also reveal some degree of orchestral thinking, and it is possible, even probable, that he would have moved into orchestral song, had his life not ended at the...