As with the Dichterliebe (HN 549), Frauenliebe und Leben (HN 547) or the song cycles with texts by Heine and Eichendorff (HN 548 and 550), the Kerner Cycle op. 35 was written in 1840, SchumannŒÍs ŒñLiederjahrŒî. Yet it has a special place: it was composed in the time immediately following SchumannŒÍs marriage to Clara Wieck. Schumann set a series of poems to music in November, during a Œñquiet week, which went by with composing and much loving and kissingŒî, and the cycle was complete by the turn of the year. It contains a great deal of intimate musical innuendos. The first edition of 1841 was soon followed by a second issue, many of the songs were published individually and the ŒñWanderliedŒî soon became a core piece in the repertoire. With our edition the songs in SchumannŒÍs cycle are once again being published together in a single volume.
