August Rush and Schumann

In Schumann's "Widmung" we have some of his trademarks popping up everywhere. Throughout the first verse the infamous "three hand" accompaniment plays delicatly below the vocal line. Which builds up to "for which I float" then descends on the line "O my grave." There is a great big key change to start off the second verse, from Ab Major to E Major, as well as a new accompaniment. The accompaniment for the second verse continues in the "three hand" tradition of Schumann, but has steady chords on every beat in the highest voice and the lower voices holding out the root E the entire time. This gives the second verse a more driving feel. The vocal line slows from the previous verse, to longer drawn out phrases. The differences in the accompaniment and the voice make it so the voice can flow nicely above it, but still feel the pull of the song. It then changes key back to Eb major in the middle of the line "you raise me lovingly above myself," which only emphasizes the word 'lovingly.' With the return of the original key, the original accompaniment returns as well. The first verse is repeated up to the line "in which I float" and ends with the last line from the second verse "My good spirit, my better self."
Schumann did a wonderful job of taking a beautiful poem and setting it to music. It is simply a love song, but it is so much more than that at the same time. The words are beautiful in and of itself. However set to music the feeling is ten times more impressive. The love and passion that is stated in the lyrics are made more powerful by the music that surrounds it. I guess that is what music really is, all around us, making things more powerful. Looks like August Rush made a really great point. :-)