Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Recorded July 5, 2023
0:08 Von fremden Ländern und Menschen
1:42 Kuriose Geschichte
2:47 Hasche-Mann
3:21 Bittendes Kind
4:28 Glückes genug
5:58 Wichtige Begebenheit
6:51 Träumerei
10:06 Am Kamin
11:10 Ritter vom Steckenpferd
11:49 Fast zu ernst
13:58 Fürchtenmachen
15:48 Kind im Einschlummern
18:11 Der Dichter sprich
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Music for the young to play came later in Schumann’s output, when he had children of his own. Despite technical simplicity, the thirteen pieces of Kinderszenen are an adult’s recollections of childhood, for adult performers. The best description, as so often, is his own, in a letter to Clara of March 1838.
“I have found out that nothing sharpens one’s imagination so much as to be expecting and longing for something, and this has been my case for the last few days. I have been waiting for your letter, and consequently have composed book-fulls of things - wonderful, crazy, and solemn stuff; you will open your eyes when you come to play it. In fact, sometimes I feel simply bursting with music. But before I forget it, let me tell you what else I have composed. Whether it was an echo of what you said to me once, ’that sometimes I seemed to you like a child’, anyhow, I suddenly got an inspiration, and knocked off about thirty quaint little things, from which I have selected twelve and called them Kinderszenen."
It would be difficult to point to a redundant note in any of these pieces. In their unassuming way, they are even more remarkable than the Fantasiestücke in distilling a poetic idea into its purest, simplest and most potent form. Nor does their very close unity as a set merely reside in the theme of childhood. Nearly all of the pieces seem to grow from the thematic contour of the opening of ‘Von fremden Ländern and Menschen’ (About foreign lands and peoples), though often with the first note omitted, leaving a four-note falling figure instead of the complete Clara motif.
As so often, Schumann insisted that he added the titles afterwards. Nevertheless the connection between subject and notes could scarcely be closer. The entreaties of 'Bittendes Kind' (Pleading child) are left unappeased on an unresolved dominant seventh, just as sleep overtakes the child of 'Kind im Einschlummern' (Child going to sleep) on the subdominant chord. Plunges from D into F major heighten the happiness of 'Glückes genug' (Lots of happiness), while the choice of the searching key of G sharp minor intensifies the seriousness of 'Fast zu ernst' (Almost too serious). 'Träumerei’ (Reverie), with a whole world of aspiration compressed within the rise and fall of its opening four-bar phrase, is as much a monothematic miracle as ‘Warum' in Op.12. Sudden tempo changes and unexpected sforzandos emphasise the eeriness of ‘Fürchtenmachen' (Frightening). 'Der Dicther spricht' (The poet speaks) is a typical Schumannesque epilogue, of the kind he so often favoured in his songs and song-cycles, fading away into characteristic distance and silence.
Joan Chissell
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Engineer: Federico Furlanetto
Video: Samuele Fabbro
Piano Technician: Massimiliano Pinazzo
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🎵J.S. Bach Playlist
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🎵J.S. Bach Partita No.1
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🎵J.S. Bach Partita No.2
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🎵J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations
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🎵 Beethoven Diabelli Variations (LIVE)
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🎵 Beethoven Six Bagatelles Op.126 (LIVE)
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🎵 Berg Sonata Op.1 (LIVE)
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🎵 Chopin Playlist
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🎵 Chopin 12 Etudes Op.10 (LIVE)
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🎵 Chopin Nocturne Op.27 No.2
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🎵 Debussy Clair de Lune
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🎵 Marc-André Hamelin Suite à l’ancienne (2020)
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🎵Mozart Sonata No.18 K.576
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🎵 NHK Interview (2023)
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🎵 Franz Schubert Sonata D960
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🎵 Franz Schubert Playlist
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🎵 Clara Schumann Variations Op.20 (LIVE)
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🎵 Schumann-Liszt Widmung
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🎵 Schumann Carnaval Op.9
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🎵 Schumann Arabeske in C major Op.18
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🎵 Schumann Papillons Op.2
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🎵 Weber Invitation to the Dance Op.65 (LIVE)
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