Robert Schumann
Carnaval, Op. 9
1. I. Prélude, Préambule: Quasi maestoso
2. II. Pierrot: Moderato
3. III. Arlequin: Vivo
4. IV. Valse noble: Un poco maestoso
5. V. Eusebius: Adagio
6. VI. Florestan: Passionato
7. VII. Coquette: Vivo
8. VIII. Réplique: L´istesso tempo – Sphinxes
9. IX. Papillions: Prestissimo
10. X. ASCH-SCHA (Lettres dansantes): Presto
11. XI. Chiarina: Passionato
12. XII. Chopin: Agitato
13. XIII. Estrella: Con affetto
14. XIV. Reconnaissance: Animato
15. XV. Pantalon et Colombine: Presto
16. XVI. Valse allemande: Molto vivace – XVII. Paganini (Intermezzo): Presto
17. XVIII. Aveu: Passionato
18. XIX. Promenade: Comodo
19. XX. Pause: Vivo – XXI. Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins: Non allegro
20. Prélude – Arabesque, Op. 18
Clara Wieck Schumann
21. Prélude – Soirées musicales Op. 6 No. 2 Notturno
Franz Liszt
Sonata in B minor, S178
22. Lento assai – Allegro energico
23. Andante sostenuto
24. Allegro energico (fugato)
25. Prélude – Consolation No. 3 in D flat major, S172: Lento placido
Piano Erard London 1856
Robert Schumann ©
The son of a bookseller and publisher, from the onset Robert Schumann was at least as interested in literature as he was in music, so it is natural that literary influences and techniques pervade much of his music, particularly from his favourite writer, Jean Paul Friedrich Richter – he even said he learnt “more counterpoint from Jean Paul than from my music teacher.”
Schumann was 24 when he wrote this collection of scenes from a masked ball. The separate sections are bundled together by 3 ‘sphinxes’ which appear in the middle and are directed by the composer to not be performed, but hold the answer to the riddle: spelling ‘ASCH’, the birthplace of Ernestine von Fricken, to whom Schumann was secretly engaged at the time of composition.
Most of the movements derive from these tiny acronymic fragments creating a subliminal sense of unity amongst the seemingly disparate musical aphorisms. The scenes unfold with a dizzying rapidity and include characters from the composer’s life: ‘Estrella’ was Ernestine; ‘Chiarina’ was Clara Wieck, whom he later married but was then only 15; Paganini and Chopin (who according to Frederick Niecks viewed Schumann with some disdain, and considered that Carnaval was not music at all); and traditional characters from commedia de l’arte. The sections alternate the physicality and hedonism of dance with more introspective and highly personal flights of fancy. The final March is a polemic representing the triumph of the Davidsbündler against the Philistines, the eternal battle between the outmoded and the new — an appearance of the Großvatertanz, a folk tune from the 17th Century, seemingly causes a refrain from the Finale of Beethoven’s “Emperor” concerto to take flight from it in distress!
RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 2025
CATALOGUE NUMBER: DACOCD 986
EAN: 5709499986004
