The Overture to Hermann and Dorothea is the only compositional result that Schumann reaped from Goethes epic poem. He had originally planned an entire opera, then a Singspiel, and finally an oratorio. In the end (1851), he quickly produced an orchestral score that remained unprinted during his lifetime.

The striking thematic use of the Marseillaise is multiply motivated: Goethes poem unfolds in 1796, when the two eponymous lovers are fleeing from the French revolutionary troops; Schumann had...