09/28/2026
🎧 FROM THE OYRS ARCHIVES
This week, we're uncovering a rather unusual piece of musical history from the Old York Road Symphony archives.
Robert Schumann's Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74 was written in 1849 and consists of songs, duets, and ensembles inspired by Spanish poetry. The collection tells a loosely connected story of romance, longing, and love.
But our selection, “Der Contrabandiste” (“The Smuggler”), has an interesting history of its own.
Schumann originally included the piece as an appendix to Spanisches Liederspiel rather than one of the nine numbered songs. The original publication actually labels it Anhang—appendix.
The program notes from this OYRS performance offer an interesting explanation: because the baritone had relatively little to sing in the main work, Schumann included Der Contrabandiste as an epilogue. The song tells the story of a swaggering smuggler who is in a hurry to escape the patrol—and whose little horse is apparently getting rather tired! 🐎
For this OYRS performance, Peter Hilliard created an orchestration of Schumann's original baritone-and-piano song, giving us a rare opportunity to hear it in an orchestral setting. The original work was published for baritone and piano.
This recording was made on March 20, 2010, with John David Miles as soloist, Yoon Jae Lee conducting, and Peter Hilliard directing the Abington Choral Club.
🎼 Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
🎵 Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74 — “Der Contrabandiste”
🎼 Orchestration: Peter Hilliard
🎤 Soloist: John David Miles
🎼 Conductor: Yoon Jae Lee
🎶 Abington Choral Club — Peter Hilliard
📅 March 20, 2010
The text:
Ich bin der Contrabandiste,
Weiss wohl Respekt mir zu schaffen.
Allen zu trotzen, ich weiss es,
Furcht nur, die hab’ ich vor keinem.
Drum nur lustig, nur lustig!
Wer kauft Seide, Tabak!
Ja wahrlich, mein Rösslein ist müde,
Ich eil’, ja eile,
Sonst fasst mich noch gar die Runde,
Los geht der Spektakel dann.
Lauf nur zu, mein lustiges Pferdchen,
Ach, mein liebes, gutes Pferdchen,
Weisst ja davon mich zu tragen!
In English, the smuggler boasts about his fearlessness, tries to sell his silk and to***co, and then realizes that he needs to hurry before the patrol catches him. His final concern? Getting his tired little horse moving!
You can read the complete German text and Richard Stokes' English translation here:
Oxford Song — “Der Contrabandiste” - https://oxfordsong.org/song/der-contrabandiste?utm_source=chatgpt.com
