Schumann, R.: Kreisleriana / Faschingsschwank Aus Wien

Jeno Jan

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Cat No: 8550783

Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 4891030507838

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: SCHUMANN, R.

Description
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)Kreisleriana Op. 16Faschingsschwank aus Wien Op. 26 (Carnival in Vienna)Arabeske Op. 18Much of the piano music of Schumann was written before his marriage in 1840to Clara Wieck, a match that her father, once Schumann's piano teacher, had doneall he could to prevent. Schumann himself combined literary interests withmusical, eventually persuading his widowed mother and his guardian to allow himto leave university and devote his attention to the latter. A weakness in hisfingers frustrated his ambition to become a virtuoso pianist and after 1840, ayear in which he w rote a vast number of songs, he was encouraged by his youngwife to tackle larger orchestral forms. Although widely respected both as acomposer and as a writer on musical subjects, he had no official position untilhis appointment as director of music in D??sseldorf in 1850, his unhappy tenurethere interrupted by a break-down and final insanity, leading to his death in1856.Schumann was deeply influenced by the writing of E.T.A. Hoffmann and in Kreisleriana,completed in 1838 and dedicated on publication to Chopin, he pays tribute toHoffmann and his fictional character Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, used byHoffmann to express his own ideas of the conflict between the artist andPhilistine society. In a letter to Clara, Schumann tells her that the new workis one in which she and one of her ideas play the main part; it is to bededicated to her and no-one else and as she recognises herself in it she maysmile fondly. Comparison between Clara and Kreisler could hardly be flattering,bearing in mind Hoffmann's original descriptive title Lucid Intervals of anInsane Musician.The eight short pieces that constitute Kreisleriana express varyingmoods, starting with an agitated D minor, followed by an expressive B flat majorpiece that includes two contrasted Intermezzi. The first mood returns in astormy G minor, succeeded by a gentler interlude that serves to introduce anenergetic G minor episode. The sixth piece, in a tranquil B flat major, givesway to a turbulent C minor seventh, with its own interlude of counterpoint,relaxing finally as it moves towards the concluding G minor scherzando. Schumannrevised Kreisleriana in 1850.By the year 1839, when he wrote his Faschingsschwank aus Wien, RobertSchumann was deeply involved in a public quarrel with his former teacher andfuture reluctant father-in-law Friedrich Wieck, who had supported his initialambitions of a musical career. As a student, however, Schumann lackedapplication, at least in the technical aspects of the art, while winning anearly reputation as a journalist writing on musical subjects and as a composer,in particular, of attractive piano pieces, often in the form of short vignettesrather than more extended compositions. A brief flirtation with another ofWieck's pupils was followed by a more serious attachment to Wieck's youngestdaughter Clara, who became Schumann's wife only in 1840, after prolongedlitigation between
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