The twin influences of Clara—a sterling musician herself—and Mendelssohn urged Schumann into an extended period of symphonic and chamber writing.
All in all, from the s to early s he produced four some-odd symphonies, three each string quartets and piano trios, a piano quintet and piano quartet, and assorted pieces for cello, oboe, clarinet, and horn, in addition to songs, more piano works, concertos, several oratorios, a musical setting of Faust , and even the opera Genoveva —quite an achievement for a composer whose thinking had formerly run more towards pithy pianistic epigrams.
This disheartening period, leading to his confinement and eventual death at age forty-six in a sanitarium, is the time of his final violin works, including the fascinating late Violin Sonata No.
To be sure, that creates balance problems between the two instruments, but in the service of an extraordinarily cohesive overall sonority. She was the first soloist at the premiere performance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in under the direction of Felix Mendelssohn. The concerto is scored for solo piano, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, timpani, and strings. When Clara Wieck married Robert Schumann she was a world-renowned pianist, while hardly anyone had ever heard of her new husband.
She had been raised by her domineering father, a piano teacher and piano salesman who, for an hour each day, taught her piano, violin, voice, theory, harmony, counterpoint, and composition. She was expected to practice for two hours afterwards. He introduced her to the leading lights of music as they passed through Leipzig, took her to every kind of musical performance, managed her career as a pianist, and accompanied her on her tours.
He also bitterly opposed the marriage. No doubt he also opposed their marrying because it would have thrown a wrench into the carefully planned career he had plotted for his daughter. He refused permission for them to marry, to the point where the couple had to appeal to the courts to intervene.
Clara continued her composing and her concert career, as indeed she had to, for she was the breadwinner of the family. Eventually, after having had eight children, she all but ceased composing—there simply was not enough time in the day. Should I expect to be the one? She began this concerto at the age of She composed it originally as a konzertsatz , a one-movement work. She later expanded it to three movements that are connected without pause, orchestrating the new movements herself.
It is a stunning achievement for a teenager, even in a world that contained a Felix Mendelssohn who conducted the premiere. The first movement is a fantasy-like theme and variations, the second is a Romanze scored for piano and cello alone, and the Finale begins sounding very much like a polonaise , but turns out more like a rondo.
Her gift for lyricism shines through it all, along with immense power and virtuosity. Eventually those trumpets and drums formed a striking motto, which pervades the entire work.
Filling in the parts took longer as he bounced from exuberance to exhaustion. It is music of light and shade, sunshine and shadow…The first movement is full of my struggle and in its character it is capricious and refractory…. It is very peevish and perverse in character…. Sometimes I fear my semi-invalid state can be divined from the music. The four movement work is highly integrated with all movements sharing the key of C major, and also sharing motifs and themes.
For example, the opening brass motto emerges again in the second and fourth movements. The symphony opens with a slow introduction, featuring the trumpet motto theme, accompanied with a sub-text of creeping strings providing a sinuous background.
A sudden outburst from the violins provides the statement of the jagged, rugged first theme. A second subject, relaxed and resigned, concludes the exposition. A long pedal point in the bass brings a return to the strong first theme and recapitulation. The coda re-sounds the distinctive brass motto before conclusion. A succeeding scherzo is cast in five parts, including two trio sections.
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