Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 06/17/2015, uploaded on 09/12/2015

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Of the collections of character pieces Schumann composed for the piano, one perhaps stands out a little more than the rest, at least in terms of its popularity with both performers and the emotional connection it establishes with audiences. Nearly all adults have a nostalgic view of the carefree and innocent days of childhood and it was these reminiscences that served as Schumann's inspiration, and artistic goal, in his Kinderszenen (“Scenes from Childhood”).

Having left Leipzig for Vienna, Schumann was separated from his fiancée Clara and faced the daunting challenge of persuading her father for her hand in marriage. During this time, Schumann wrote to Clara in letters and in his music. In March 1838, in a letter to Clara, Schumann remarked, “You once said to me that I often seemed like a child, and I suddenly got inspired and knocked off around 30 quaint little pieces.” Of these thirty pieces, thirteen were selected to become the Kinderszenen.

Nearly all of the thirteen pieces are simple ternary forms. However, their simple construction and harmonies conceal a deeper complexity, which makes them all the more touching. Furthermore, Schumann's masterly command of imagery is in no way hampered by such simple expression. Beginning in G major, Kinderszenen embarks on a musical journey that is quite fitting for the vivid imagination of a child. Moving through various key relationships, in the tenth piece Schumann finds himself as far removed from G major as is musically possible—G sharp minor. Though, in a daring move, and a wholly Romantic one at that, the music comes full circle to close in G major in the final piece.

The seventh piece of the set, Träumerei (“Dreaming”), is one of Schumann's best known pieces. It has been a favorite encore among pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. It exists in several transcriptions and has been used in both a German autobiographical film on Robert Schumann and the Hollywood biopic Song of Love.      Joseph DuBose

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Kinderszenen, Op.15 (17’)     Schumann

Robert Schumann's five-year pursuit and courtship of Clara Wieck ended in marriage in 1840. The courtship had all the ingredients of a soap opera—a hostile father-in-law, an adoring young bride-to-be, secret correspondence, lawsuits and court battles, accusations of Schumann’s alcoholism, and his banishment from Wieck's house. It also gave rise in Schumann to a creative surge that produced much of the piano music by which he is so well known today.

In March 1838, barred from Clara's home, Schumann wrote to her: "I have been composing a whole book of things - wild, wondrous and solemn. Perhaps they are a response to something you wrote me saying that I often seem like a child...I have selected twelve and called them Kinderszenen ". When the pieces were published in the following year, he added a thirteenth and subtitled them "Easy Pieces for the Piano."

The pieces are short musical sketches of childhood, but written for adults and meant to be played by adults. Their apparent simplicity presents a challenge in that they try to present a child's view of situations or events, but expressed in adult musical language. Schumann appended titles to the individual sections after composing the music, including them as interpretive hints for the performer. In the last piece, Der Dichter spricht (The Poet speaks)Schumann – who saw himself as a poet – is probably speaking to his beloved Clara.            Notes by Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.