‘Advent Hymn.’--This setting of a devotional hymn by Friedrich Rückert for soprano solo, chorus, and orchestra, was made in 1848. It is a short work with only seven numbers, but is broad and impressive in style and is finely illustrative of Schumann’s best choral-writing. The first number is a melodious solo (‘In lowly guise thy King appeareth’) for soprano with answering passages for female chorus, which leads into a strong five-part chorus (‘O King indeed, though no man hail Thee’). This is followed by a soprano solo (‘When Thou the stormy sea art crossing’), concluding with a quiet chorus for female voices. The fourth number is introduced by a short section for male voices (‘Thou Lord of grace and truth unfailing’), which is taken up at once by full chorus in delicate pianissimo and interspersed with frequent five-pulse measures. The fifth number is given to a quartet (‘Need is there for Thyself, returning’), written in free imitative style. The last two numbers are elaborate choruses to which a solo quartet is very effectively joined. The close is massive and stately--a prayer that Christ will quench all strife and bring peace and unity to the peoples of the earth. Friedrich Rückert’s ‘New Year’s Hymn’ was set to music by Schumann in 1849 for chorus and orchestra, with incidental solos for soprano, alto, and bass. The theme is the familiar one of solemn retrospection over the Old Year and hopeful anticipation for the New. The solo work is slight, the weightier utterances being confided to the chorus. The final chorus (‘O prince, waking throned for a year as of right’) is particularly effective. Beginning in full, pianissimo harmony, it rises to a jubilant close, in which appears the chorale ‘Now thank we all our God,’ at first in the bass contrapuntally treated and then with all the voices in unison. ‘Mignon’s Requiem’ is a cantata of slight and delicate texture, but of rich and varied musical beauty. Very different from many of the texts which Schumann chose for choral settings, this one was especially written for music. It is taken from Goethe’s ‘Wilhelm Meister,’ from the scene in which the obsequies of Mignon occur. The score is full of poetic and mystical touches from the first quiet chorus (‘Who comes to join our silent assembly?’) to the last triumphant chorus (‘Children, haste into life to return’). The work was composed in 1849 for solos, chorus, and orchestra, but the duties of the soloists are light. VI