Classical Music | Piano Music

Robert Schumann

Humoreske, Op. 20  Play

Daria Rabotkina Piano

Recorded on 08/30/2016, uploaded on 08/30/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

In 1839, Schumann wrote to the love of his life, Clara Wieck, “I have been sitting at the piano all week, composing and writing, laughing and crying all at once. You will find this state of affairs nicely evoked in my opus 20, the Grand Humoreske, which is about to be engraved.” This short passage shows just how special this work was for Schumann.

The title Humoreske can be interpreted in a couple of ways. Humor has always played a significant role in Schumann’s creativity, mostly drawing our attention to pompous characters portrayed as grotesque and self-absorbed. In some instances in this piece, humor manifests itself through the incessant repetition of the same motif. Ironically, the composer refers to this piece as “not very merry, and perhaps the most melancholy” of his works.

Another interpretation of the title involves some subtleties of the German vernacular. Schumann lamented, “The French do not understand the word Humoreske. It is truly deplorable that no good, suitable words exist in French for the two characteristics and concepts that are most deeply rooted in the German mentality: das Gemütliche (Schwärmerische) and Humor – of which the latter is a felicitous combination of gemütlich and witzig.”        Daria Rabotkina