Novelletten op.21
composed in 1838 - dedicated to Mr. Adolph Henselt Markirt und kräftig, F major Äußerst rasch und mit Bravour, D major Leicht und mit Humor, D major Ballmäßig. Sehr munter, D major Rauschend und festlich, D major Sehr lebhaft, mit vielem Humor, A major Äußerst rasch, Emajor Sehr lebhaft, D major |
Clara Schumann concertized in Vienna and
was awarded with the title Kammervirtuosin. In 1838 Schumann had a very
productive year after Clara accepted his proposal of marriage. The third
important musical cycle of 1838 was the Novelletten, op. 26, which joined
the Kinderszenen, op. 15, and the Kreisleriana, op. 16 (the latter originally
planned as part of the Novelletten). The designation Novelletten stemmed
from the literary genus, the novella. Schumann was writing musical letters
to Clara, “longish interconnected adventure tales.” “I don’t think that
anyone would deny me the chance to write you as often as you write me.
And I’d prefer to do so in music — the friend that best expresses what
is within. Indeed I have composed so horribly much over the last few weeks
— amusing things, stories of Egmont, family scenes with fathers, a wedding,
all highly amiable — and have called them all Novelletten.” In his
diary he wrote: “From April 1st to the 19th — as if I was in heaven
and transformed into one of the blessed — on the 9th a letter from my lass
— composed curious Novelletten in B flat major (no. 5) and D major (no.
2) — adore them — a warm spring day — a picture of you — fugues and contrapuntal
spirit in all my fantasies — otherwise full of longing.” Later he wrote
Clara, who wished to play some of the pieces in concert: “I am generally
quite pleased at your selections…but am totally against the Novellette
in A — it only functions properly in its place in the cycle; alone it fades
away too quickly…you would make the best impression with the second in
D; it has a beginning and end, develops well so it can be followed by the
listeners, and the trio offers good lyricism.” Schumann called
this second Novellette “Sarazene und Zuleika” after Goethe. The third Novellette
was named for Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” The composer wrote Clara in 1840:
“Today I wished that you were here with Liszt. He is simply too extraordinary.
He played the Novelletten, parts of the Phantasie, and the Sonata, and
I was completely moved. Quite differently than I had imagined them, but
always ingeniously, and to my ears with both a delicateness and directness
of feeling that he does not usually employ. Only Becker was there, with
tears in his eyes, I believe. The second Novellette in D major was a special
joy to hear; you cannot possibly believe the effect it made; he will also
include it in the third concert he is playing here.”
Translation: William Melton
© Franz Vorraber |