“Linear and Linguistic Syntax in ‘O kühler Wald’ (Brahms, Opus 72, No. 3)” Music Analysis, 36/3

By ​Robert Snarrenberg​

This essay explores the interplay between states of syntactic completion and incompletion in the text and music of Brahms's O kühler Wald and how the composer thereby conveys an interpretation of the poetic text to create an experience for the listener that bears a striking resemblance to the experience of the poem's lovelorn persona.