Lied

A song, dramatic in nature, for voice and some kind of single instrument as accompaniment, usually piano. A lied is like a narrative in that it must be able to tell a story quickly. A Romantic era miniature, the lied was a type of ballad (short romantic song) based on poetry from the time. The piano accompaniment to the voice often grows from simple accompaniment to the position of being a partner with the voice, intensifying the meaning of the poetry. The piano shares an equal task of supporting the voice and illustrating the text. When the composers of Lied (Lieder=plural for many short lied grouped together) didn’t write the lyrics they set poems to music and the Romantic era poets were pleased to see their verses used and introduced to many people by being sung. Many lieder were descriptions of nature, poems about love, horrific tales or even poems about the search for happiness, states of sadness, lack of hope, disappointment or tragedy. Because these poems very often had multiple characters a single vocalist must project them all by changing his or her voice, mood and vocal interpretation with each different character.