‘O solemn-beating heart of nature! I have knowledge that thou art bound unto man’s by cords he cannot sever’, wrote Elizabeth Barret Browning in A Sea-Side Walk, an important poem about the strong connection between nature and mankind’s innermost feelings. This connection is present in different forms in Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder and Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder. Ruth Willemse: “The songs of Elgar, Mahler and Wagner expose these fears, but in the end they also bring hope and consolation. Nature seems at times to be a reflection of our human inner world. Something similar happens in the music, where the emotional connection with this interior world is extremely direct. For me this consolation lies in the feeling of recognition that can be found in the music”. When Mathilde Wesendonck gives thanks to Nature at the end of Schmerzen for the realisation that joy and sorrow continually alternate, Wagner bathes her words in a glorious postlude. The end of Rückert’s UmMitternacht is enveloped by Mahler with similar hope-laden sonorities. Elgar takes his singer to an optimistic high A on the word ‘love’ at the conclusion of The Swimmer and brings her through troubled waters to the point ‘where no love wanes’.

• 1. Elgar - Sea Pictures: Sea Slumber-Song
• 2. Elgar - Sea Pictures: In Haven (Capri)
• 3. Elgar - Sea Pictures: Sabbath Morning At Sea
• 4. Elgar - Sea Pictures: Where Corals Lie
• 5. Elgar - Sea Pictures: the Swimmer
• 6. Mahler - Ruckert Lieder: Liebst Du Um Schonheit
• 7. Mahler - Ruckert Lieder: Blicke Mir Nicht In Die Lieder
• 8. Mahler - Ruckert Lieder: Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen
• 9. Mahler - Ruckert Lieder: Ich Atmet' Einen Linden Duft
• 10. Mahler - Ruckert Lieder: Um Mitternacht
• 11. Wagner - Wesendonck Lieder: Der Engel
• 12. Wagner - Wesendonck Lieder: Stehe Still
• 13. Wagner - Wesendonck Lieder: Im Treibhaus
• 14. Wagner - Wesendonck Lieder: Schmerzen
• 15. Wagner - Wesendonck Lieder: Traume