composed in 1838
dedicated to his friend F. Chopin
Äußerst bewegt,
D minor
Sehr innig und nicht zu
rasch, B-flat major
Sehr aufgeregt, G minor
Sehr langsam, B-flat major
Sehr lebhaft, G minor
Sehr langsam, B-flat major
Sehr rasch, C minor
Schnell und spielend, G
minor
As
counterpart to Kinderszenen he produced Kreisleriana, op. 16, in which
he “invested a real, proper, and wild love.”The third weighty cycle
of the year 1838, originally intended to be combined with Kinderszenen,
are the Novelletten, op. 21. Schumann wrote Simonin de Sire in 1839: “Of
these I love Kreisleriana the best. Only Germans could understand the title.
Kreisler is a figure created by E. T. A. Hoffmann, an eccentric, wild,
and spirited Kapellmeister. You will certainly like some things about him.”
Schumann wrote in his diary: “Three wonderful spring days — spent waiting
for a letter [from Clara] — and then created the Kreisleriana in four days
— entirely new worlds are opening to me.” The melody in Schumann’s
gigue-like finale disappears in close imitation of the escape of E. T.
A. Hoffmann’s gamboling Kapellmeister. His diary notes: “As if on fire,
composed Kreisler piece in G minor in 6/8 meter with Trio in D minor.”
This masterwork, a collection of eight character pieces, is best described
in Schumann’s own words, which portray his compositional style at the time:
“…what is especially strange is that I create almost everything canonically,
but that I always discover the additional voices only afterwards, often
in inversions, altered rhythms, etc… My music appears to me so marvelously
interlaced in all its simplicity, such an expression from the heart, and
so it effects all for whom I have played it…”
Translation: William Melton
© Franz Vorraber
© Franz Vorraber