| Myrthen | |
|---|---|
| Song cycle by Robert Schumann | |
.jpg) Clara Wieck in 1839 | |
| English | Myrtles |
| Opus | 25 |
| Text | Poems by various authors, partly translated |
| Language | German |
| Composed | 1840 |
| Dedication | Clara Wieck |
| Scoring | voice and piano |
Myrthen (Myrtles), Op. 25, is a song cycle composed in the spring of 1840 by Robert Schumann. Its 26 Lieder were written as a wedding gift for his fiancée, Clara Wieck, and presented to her on the eve of their wedding which took place on 12 September that year. The cycle was published that same month, with a dedication to Clara, in four books by Kistner in Leipzig where the couple lived.
The texts are poems by various authors, including eight by Robert Burns, translated into German by the poet Wilhelm Gerhard, and several each by Friedrich Rückert, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine. The cycle was originally published in a version for high voice, but has been performed by singers of all voice types, sometimes by a woman and man alternating.
The opening song "Widmung" (Dedication) is the best-known song from the cycle. Regarded as a profound expression of marital devotion, it was one of Clara Schumann's favourites among her husband's Lieder.