Schumann's secular choral music has never enjoyed the popularity of his solo songs, but it constitutes a charming and beguiling body of work and deserves to be better known. Many of the pieces are simple enough to be within the capability of amateur choirs. For the most part, the pieces are homophonic, but the composer keeps them from sounding merely hymn-like with his soaring melodies, chromatically saturated harmonies, alternation of unison with harmonized sections, use of soloists as punctuation of the choral fabric, varying of phrase lengths, the diversity of his rhythms, and his judicious use of contrapuntal complexity. The overwhelming impression these songs leave is one of great sweetness. The Baden-Württemberg-based
Orpheus Vokalensemble has the sweet, rich tone that the music requires, and the group sings with excellent intonation and with obvious affection for these songs. The soloists have appealingly natural voices and sing with unaffected simplicity. Conductor
Gary Graden leads the ensemble with a rhythmic fluidity and lilt that are ideal for Schumann. Pianist Konrad Elser provides nuanced support in the accompanied songs. The recorded sound is a little too warm, but that's only problematic in the densest passages.