''Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente'' (English: ''Six Hölderlin Fragments'') is a

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

for high voice and piano composed in 1958 by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

(191376), and published as his Op. 61. It consists of settings of six short poems and verse fragments by the German lyric poet

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a Germans, German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticis ...

(17701843). Britten had been introduced to the poetry of Hölderlin by Prince Ludwig of Hesse, and the cycle is dedicated to him. It was recorded by

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

(tenor) and the composer (piano) and broadcast by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in November 1958. A performance typically takes about 13 minutes. The songs are: # "Menschenbeifall" ("Public Applause") # "Die Heimat"" ("Home") # "Sokrates und Alcibiades" ("

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

and

Alcibiades Alcibiades (; 450–404 BC) was an Athenian statesman and general. The last of the Alcmaeonidae, he played a major role in the second half of the Peloponnesian War as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician, but subsequently ...

") # "Die Jugend" ("Youth") # "Hälfte des Lebens" ("The Middle of Life") # "Die Linien des Lebens" ("The Lines of Life")

References

Song cycles by Benjamin Britten 1958 compositions Classical song cycles in German Musical settings of poems by Friedrich Hölderlin {{Classical-composition-stub