Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 09/09/2010, uploaded on 09/09/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Äußerst bewegt -- Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch -- Sehr aufgeregt -- Sehr langsam -- Sehr lebhaft -- Sehr langsam -- Sehr rasch -- Schnell und spielend

Programmatic music was one of the distinct innovations of the 19^th century. Before then, the descriptive element of music—that which evokes certain images in the listener's mind—was closely tied to the expression of poetical texts. The Romantic composers, however, abandoned words and experimented with telling a story, either literally or emotionally, through musical tones. The first largely successful attempt at this was made by Beethoven in his "Pastoral" Symphony in which each movement bore a descriptive title, but, to quote Beethoven's own words, was "more the expression of feeling than painting." While Beethoven was perhaps inspired by what he witnessed around him in daily life, later composers more often turned to literature for the inspiration of their compositions. They also varied greatly in approach. Composers like Franz Liszt and Richard Strauss employed large orchestras in their symphonic poems and were usually more concerned with actual events of the stories they were telling. Others, like Schumann, followed Beethoven's lead and focused primarily on the broader emotional and psychological aspects.

An noteworthy example is Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana, based on a novel by E.T.A. Hoffman of the same title. Composed in 1838 and dedicated to Chopin, Kreisleriana is a set of eight movements for piano solo. The main character of Hoffmann's Kreisleriana is a fictional composer by the name of Johannes Kreisler. Kreisler was at odds with the world around him, half-crazed and intensely passionate. To represent these sudden changes in character, Schumann constructed each movement of the Kreisleriana to contain two sections of vastly different character, one often intense and dramatic, the other dreamy and lyrical. It is possible that while the piece was written to describe the fictitious character of Johannes Kreisler, Schumann was also knowingly portraying himself as well. In his critical writings, Schumann often used the characters of Florestan and Eusebius to portray his own two-sided personality. Florestan was hot-headed and passionate while Eusebius, on the other hand, was dreamy and introspective.

The character of Johannes Kreisler, and Schumann's Kreiserliana, also reached beyond Schumann and influenced the young Johannes Brahms, who was familiar with Schumann's work. Brahms attributed some of his early works to Johannes Kreisler. These works were playful or passionate in character. Furthermore, in the Variations on Theme of Robert Schumann, op. 9, Brahms signed particular variations "Kr" for Kreisler, these variations being fast and ardent, while others are signed "B" for Brahms, being, conversely, more lyrical and subdued.     Joseph DuBose