Classical Music | Cello Music

Robert Schumann

Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70  Play

Katinka Kleijn Cello
Spencer Myer Piano

Recorded on 11/24/2004, uploaded on 02/27/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Adagio and Allegro, in A-Flat, Op. 70              Robert Schumann

In the late 1840s and early 1850s, Schumann composed a number of works that he felt could be played interchangeably by any of several instruments with piano accompaniment. Schumann composed the lyrical Adagio and Allegro for horn, cello or violin in Dresden during four days of February 1849. Schumann wrote this work and its companion, the Phantasiestücke, as an experiment, in which he was widening the concept of the "character piece." Prior to these works, the character piece had usually been the exclusive province of the piano.  Schumann enriched the format by adding the second instrument. The opening of the Adagio and Allegro echoes the work's original title, Romanze und Allegro, with its intimate evocation of a love song. After the gentle and lyrical introduction, the work becomes bolder, with a brightness that Schumann described as "fast and fiery."

Katinka Kleijn