Classical Music | Ensemble Music

Recorded on 05/16/2012, uploaded on 10/24/2012

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat Major is bold, dramatic and hyper-emotional. At the height of Romanticism, the experience of chamber music transitioned from being an intimate, salon recital among friends to the more formal and vast concert hall performance. Until now, I had never thought to make a connection between chamber music's evolution from salon to stage and Romanticism's exaggerated expressiveness. When rehearsing or coaching student groups, we often discuss the idea of putting on stage makeup; the same way that actors cake on the paint to be visible by their audience from a hundred feet away, we distort dynamics and nuances under the ear so that they can be experienced by concert-goers in the very last row.

So, here's my chicken-and-egg question: did Romantic chamber music transition from the salon to the stage because it could finally "hold up" on the concert stage? Or, did the concert stage provide a vehicle for chamber music to become more, well... EXTREME? That's right! We're presupposing that EXTREME CHAMBER MUSIC predates EXTREME SPORTS by about 150 years! And just when you thought we couldn't possibly be that cool.

In any case, this gorgeous piece of music takes us on a journey of loving tenderness, driving anxiety, exuberance, and drama. Each movement is an independent and exquisite artistic rendering.  (Notes by Herine Coetzee Koschak)

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Robert Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat major, op. 47

In his childhood, Robert Schumann’s attention was equally divided between music and literature. Though literature would remain a strong influence on him throughout his lifetime, music eventually became the focus of his energies. Even so, he initially aspired to be a concert pianist and not a composer. It was not until a damaging injury to his right hand destroyed his hopes of becoming a piano virtuoso that Schumann turned wholeheartedly to composition. For the first seven years of his compositional career (1832-39), Schumann composed almost exclusively for the piano. In 1840, he turned to the composition of song, inspired in part by his courtship of Clara Wieck. Despite his earlier deriding of the genre, Schumann’s lieder would eventually become his legacy. He then quickly branched out into other genres. His first two symphonies (though the second would be heavily revised and reprinted) appeared the following year, and in 1842 he devoted himself fully to the composition of chamber music. It was here, in such an intimate realm, the Schumann found a far more welcoming home than he did in orchestral music. This single year saw the creation of three string quartets; his Piano Quintet in E-flat major, which is among his most admired and beloved works; and a Piano Quartet in the same key. This later work was begun only a few days after the Quintet was finished. Though the two works share the same key, they are indeed vastly different works. Of the two, the Quartet possessed the more traditional form, albeit with a subtle nod to Beethoven with the placing of the Scherzo second in the order of movements. Apparent in the work is also Schumann’s developing skill at counterpoint, particularly in the extensive development section of the first movement and the fugal opening of the finale. Schumann’s tendency for lengthy developments and large-scale forms, perhaps developed from his admiration for the music of Franz Schubert, is also evident, as well as his penchant for extreme weakening of the bar line through heavy use of syncopation.      Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.