Composer 2/52 - Schumann

This week, I am spending quality time with the works of Robert Schumann, a German of the Romantic era, who lived from 1810-1856. His life included a heartrending love story, syphilis, and madness.

“Fantasy in C Op. 17” is in places delicate and tender, in others thrilling. When it slows to a near-total stop before vigorously returning, it is startling and grabs the listener’s attention. The piece contains several instances of this pattern. There is probably a better description, but I am no musician. It reminds me of the rapid switching of dreams in the best kind of sleep: starting out drinking tea with Shakespeare and Lady Gaga, stop for a moment and then suddenly you’re on an ice boat trying to play shuffleboard but it will not stop snowing, and then you’re at the world’s largest buffet and cannot find a knife. You are always sleeping, but the dream is evolving. That is how changeable this piece is, yet through it all, the repeating motifs and themes connect to one another. This is lovely music.

“The Kinderszenen, Op. 15” is one of the more recognizable pieces in classical music. I assume the title of the piece has something to do with children. I could use the Google, but I prefer the mystery. Something about this piece haunts me and pulls on my heartstrings. It is the music of little girls playing. Now, sweetness and light- then fighting, name-calling, girlish drama! This piece is particularly lovely for the contrasts, although the sweetness is not tooth-achingly sharp and the roughness is not violence, just small aggression. This is why it is the music of little girls playing, not of women. We women have higher highs and lower lows. It is what makes us interesting, after all.

“Carnaval” is merry and clever, nearly manic at times. It looks demanding to play. And it feels somehow lacking in heart compared to the previous two pieces. This is not sweeping, aching music. This is nearly frenzied, technically superior composition. I don’t like it. Schumann’s gift seems to be in making the listener have an emotional response. I keep waiting, and waiting, and I am just not connecting with this piece, in spite of the fact that it sounds... proper. Even listening to Rachmaninoff playing “Op. 9” from “Carnaval” , I keep waiting to be touched. It’s like trying to fall in love with someone who should be oh so right for you, a perfect fit on paper and your mother loves them. Everything seems to be as it should be, and yet it just isn’t quite working.

I conclude with a link to Victor Horowitz playing “The Kinderszenen, Op. 15”. I expect I will have this in my head all day.

I can’t say that I mind.