Chanda VanderHart & Rebecca Babb-Nelsen: The Poet’s Love(r): A Translational Reimagining of Schumann’s Dichterliebe

The impossibility of perfect translation is a widely acknowledged trope — we know things get lost in translation, but what can be gained through the translation of a canonical song cycle? This was the question underpinning the creation of, The Poet’s Love(r), a feminist re-imagining of Schumann’s Dichterliebe. Developed by pianist/musicologist Chanda VanderHart, poet/soprano Rebecca Nelsen, and tenor/pedagogue Erik Stoklossa, this translational experiment soon moved beyond linguistic translation, exploring the act of translation in terms of gendered re-contextualization to create new, singable English translation performed by Stoklossa as well as original spoken poetry by Nelsen that gives voice to the Heine and Schumann’s previously silent female protagonist. Drawing on theories by Walter Benjamin Umberto Eco and Hans Vermeer, we argue that translation can function as a powerful, creative act of modernization and gendered re-contextualization, and outline our own artistic-scientific journey of conceiving, creating, and reflecting on the process through performance, publication and pedagogy over the past three years.

Chanda VanderHart is a pianist, musicologist, and Lied specialist with an international performance career spanning Europe, Asia, and North America. Her (artistic) research interrogates classical music through feminist, posthumanist, and digital lenses. Currently a senior researcher at the University for Continuing Education Krems, she holds a PhD from the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. VanderHart critically examines gender and power dynamics, notably in her award-winning podcast “Too Many Frocks,” and regularly bridges scholarship and practice through interdisciplinary performances and academic publications, including publications with Oxford, Cambridge, and Routledge presses.

Rebecca Babb-Nelsen is an internationally acclaimed artist based in Vienna, celebrated for roles like Violetta, Lulu, and Konstanze at venues including the Salzburg Festival, Semperoper Dresden, and the Vienna Volksoper. She is also a passionate writer and poet whose work explores the intersection of music, text, and feminist recontextualization. A graduate of Texas Tech University with dual degrees in German Literature and Vocal Performance, she completed postgraduate studies at Vienna’s mdw University as a Fulbright Scholar.

Chanda VanderHart & Rebecca Babb-Nelsen: The Poet’s Love(r): A Translational Reimagining of Schumann’s Dichterliebe

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