The twelve songs to words by Kerner, opus 35, include several of especial interest. In this group we see Schumann’s development of the piano part well under way. Each song offers an accompaniment which is a study in pianistic style. Number 2, _Stirb, Lieb’ und Freund_, has an austere polyphonic support, in the style of Bach, suggesting the majesty of some old cathedral. Number 3, _Wanderlust_, is a buoyant and youthful melody, and number 6, _An das Trinkglass_, a fine romantic chorale. Numbers 6 and 8, _Stille Liebe_ and _Stille Thränen_, are intimate psychological studies. In the former the sustained bass melody beneath the hesitating treble of the accompaniment suggests the apprehension of the lover who is obliged to wait in silence. The latter obtains a charming effect with the soft repeated chords of the piano part and offers a typical Schumann ending in the intermingling melodies of the close. The six songs opus 36 contain one which has become a German folk-song--_An den Sonnenschein_, a melody which concentrates the spirit of dignity and sincerity of German popular music. In the Eichendorff _Liederkreis_, opus 39, there are four songs of the very highest rank. Number 2, _Intermezzo_, with its soft syncopation in the accompaniment, offers a suggestive contrast with the songs of Schubert and shows how far musical technique had moved in ten or fifteen years. It is the simplest of melodies, but one with a certain atmospheric indecision, strongly contrasting with the downrightness and clearness of outline which Schubert best loved. Number 3 in this group, _Waldesgespräch_, is as lovely a melody as Schumann ever wrote. It might be called a ballad, with its story of the knight who wandered into the forest at night, finding there a lady in distress, attempting to help her, and discovering that he was in the power of the witch, the Lorelei, who lies in wait for strong men. The lovely thirds of the accompaniment seem to spread the mystery of evening over the song, and when the witch announces her identity the music takes on a momentary grandeur that suggests the old tales of gods and heroes. The song is full of fine and expressive effects. But these do not exist in detail; they rather spring unconsciously out of the musical design. The singer who attempts to make the song too expressive is sure to go astray. If it is sung primarily for its musical beauty it becomes of itself a masterpiece of expressive story-telling. Above all, as so often in great songs, a good legato is the first and chiefest of the virtues. Number 12 of the Eichendorff series is the _Frühlingsnacht_ (‘Spring Night’), with its magical triplet accompaniment. Number 5 is the famous _Mondnacht_ (‘Moonlight Night’). Here again we have a song that quite defies analysis. The voice part consists solely of a two-line phrase several times repeated. The first three times it closes on the dominant, the last time on the tonic, with a deep and satisfying sense of repose.