Abstract
When Christian Morgenstern’s Galgenlieder (Gallows Songs) was first published in Germany (1905), many readers and critics were puzzled by their style, and the publisher received unflattering mail. Others, however, chuckled, and critic Julius Bab wrote in the first review: “I am sorry for those who do not sense the magnificent subtle humour of the heart behind these crazy verse fancies.”1 There was not much middle ground between these two groups. However, the verses were to have a major impact in both the literary and other fields, with Morgenstern’s work continuing to resonate in various art forms. Over time, his verses have inspired many composers and visual artists. In Romanian music, Dora Cojocaru adapted a series of Morgenstern’s nocturnal poems into ten miniatures, reflecting the complex atmosphere of the great German poet’s poems. An imaginary world is presented, inhabited by fantastic characters such as Palmström, von Korf, Lunovis, the Gallows Child, the Northern Mouse and the Singing Fish. In this fantasy realm, these figures become puppets that reflect our emotions and feelings, driven by the unpredictable creative force that gives them life. By seeking to understand the essences of this phantasmagoria and the experiences lived in the mirror of life, we learn to discover ourselves better. Thus, by exploring the world of the characters Palmström and Korf or the Midnight Mouse and understanding their conflicting situation, we can see how the composer expresses their emotions through music: for example, the state of anxiety and nervousness experienced by both characters, musically emphasized by a particular rhythmic pattern and an alert tempo. If we follow the relationship between text and music, we notice some extremely significant moments, with sound images that are suggestive of the message of the text. During the analytical process, several peculiarities of the musical language and compositional styles are highlighted, such as the call-motif which, after its multiple variations throughout the work, returns to its original version, being reworked in the last miniature, until the finale in a niente – a characteristic type of ending in Dora Cojocaru’s music – concludes the Cantata, which totals approximately 20 minutes of music and story.

Keywords: cantata, chamber, nonsense, Morgenstern.

About the author
Roxana Maria Seraz works as an Artistic Secretary in the Marketing Department of the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca, being also a PhD student at the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca. In 2017 she has benefited from an Erasmus scholarship, for an artistic internship at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna. She published her first musicological article in the same year, followed by other writings in various music publications: "Monteverdi's Contribution to the Evolution of the Madrigal and the Emergence of the Opera" in the fourth volume of the Botoșani, City of European Music Review („Contribuția lui Monteverdi în evoluția madrigalului și apariția operei”, Botoșani, oraș al muzicii europene. Botoșani, ARTES, 2018); "The expression of the tragic in the chamber cantata Dați-mi lampa lui Aladin by Dora Cojocaru" in the Musicology Papers Journal, Vol. 34, Iss. 1 (Cluj-Napoca, ANMGD, 2019), "Ecouri istorice în Cumpăna vremurilor de Tudor Feraru" in Musicological Studies. Around Cornel Țăranu volume (Studii de muzicologie. Around Cornel Țăranu. Cluj-Napoca, MediaMusica, 2021). In 2021, she followed another internship, this time at the Mnemosyne Cultural Association in Marseille, participating in the archival and organization of cultural events.

DOI: 10.47809/MP.2024.39.02.05

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