Magical Joy of Piano Fourhands Preview | The Schumanns at the Piano
Hello and welcome back to our email preview series! As a way to prepare for the upcoming concert, Magical Joy of Piano Fourhands, we are diving into the world of piano music across the composers that will be represented in the concerts in November! While you’re here, don’t forget to RSVP– we sold out our last concerts 😜
We have previously covered the Schumanns and their work in these guided listening blog posts:
Today, we will discuss their contributions to Piano fourhands music. Because the Schumann family was at the center of salon culture, both Clara and Robert’s catalogues are rich with this specific ensemble which shows the necessity of piano fourhands!
Clara Schumann only had one original composition for piano fourhands (her last), but made many arrangements of other works likely to be presented at salons. Practically speaking, piano fourhands is a much easier ensemble to assemble than an entire string quartet, so the necessity for these arrangements is very evident– not only for circles of musicians and composers but also for the common household where piano ownership was growing in popularity.
Robert Schumann composed and published quite frequently for piano fourhands including eight polonaises, twelve pieces for children, and a handful of other salon pieces. His twelve kinderstüke point to another necessity of piano fourhands– as a pedagogical tool.
Guided Listening | Robert Schumann Abendlied “Evening Song” Op. 85 No. 12
For our guided listening, I thought it would be nice to showcase this piece from Robert’s Klavierstücke für kleine und große Kinder op. 85, edited by Clara. As the title suggests, it’s the last of the twelve small pieces written for young and old children. This particular movement stands out to me as a gem in that it’s much more contemplative than the rest of the set. It gives the performers an opportunity to be much more melodically expressive than the livelier movements, but is still short and sweet.
From seeing the two parts side by side, we can notice the clear delineation of duties between the primo and secondo parts; the secondo part has most of the “framing” with a chorale texture while the primo part covers the melodic material, however there are very distinct duties of each part despite what the listener hears in the foreground.
For example, even though the secondo part is mostly in the “background”, there are many chances where certain inflections of moving notes or accidentals will break through the texture and therefore become the driving part of the musical phrase (aka why I love being second violin ;-) ).
À l’inverse, although the primo part appears to be simple on the page having fewer notes, the task of phrasing and shaping each note is very important– especially when considering the delicate texture on which the player is playing off of.
In your listening, see if you can pick out the times when the secondo part is able to break through the texture and try to follow the trajectory of each melodic line the primo puts forth. Bonus points if you recognize the page turner in the video LOL…
Further listening | Schumann Piano Quintet in Eb major Op. 44 Arranged by Clara Schumann
A true collaborative effort between the Schumann siblings is this arrangement of Robert’s Piano Quintet. Originally composed for 2 violins, viola, cello, and piano, it was quite a feat to be able to fit all that information in just ten fingers. In your listening– especially if you’ve never heard the original– I would encourage you to try and guess which melodic lines were written for which instrument!
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