In the spring of 1838, 28-year-old Robert Schumann was right in the middle of his eventful and lengthy courtship with Clara Wieck, nine years his junior. Despite her youth, Clara was already a noted and internationally acclaimed pianist who spent much of the year on tour, so the courtship had to be conducted mainly by letter. The last tour, which had begun in October of the previous year, had been going on for five months. It seemed never-ending to Robert, but he filled the waiting period by working hard. In March of that year, he wrote to Clara:
"I have discovered that suspense and longing are the best spurs to the imagination. I have had my full share of these the last few days, as I sat waiting for your letter and writing whole volumes of wonderful, crazy, gay compositions, which will make you open your eyes when you play them. Indeed, I sometimes feel as if I should burst with music. Before I forget, let me tell you what I have written. Whether or no in response to some words you once wrote saying I some times seemed to you like a child, I took flight and amused myself with working out thirty droll little pieces, twelve of which I have selected and christened Kinderszenen. You will like them, though you will have to forget you are a virtuoso for the time being."
Scenes from childhood
Clara Wieck (1819 - 1896)
Indeed, the small set of miniatures, Kinderszenen, does not pose great technical difficulties to their interpretation, although they were clearly not written for children to exercise with.
Of the 30 pieces referred to, Schumann chose thirteen to integrate this simple "suite" which, according to scholars, constitutes a tribute to childhood memories and feelings from an adult perspective; miniatures that – given Schumann's troubled soul – led a 24-year-old Julio Cortázar to point them out as "a ray of sunshine in the tormented atmosphere of his art".
After the work was finished, Schumann attached to each piece a title, which has no other purpose than to subtly suggest its character to the performer.
With the popular Träumerei as piece N°7, the thirteen scenes are:
00:38 Scene No.1 | Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Of Foreign Lands and Peoples)
02:09 Scene No.2 | Kuriose Geschichte (A Curious Story)
03:15 Scene No.3 | Hasche-Mann (Blind Man's Bluff)
03:48 Scene No.4 | Bittendes Kind (Pleading Child)
04:38 Scene No.5 | Glückes genug (Happy Enough)
05:17 Scene No.6 | Wichtige Begebenheit (An Important Event)
06:09 Scene No.7 | Träumerei (Dreaming) http://youtu.be/6z82w0l6kwE
08:43 Scene No.8 | Am Kamin (At the Fireside)
10:02 Scene No.9 | Ritter vom Steckenpferd (Knight of the Hobbyhorse)
10:43 Scene No.10 | Fast zu ernst (Almost Too Serious)
12:12 Scene No.11 | Fürchtenmachen (Frightening)
13:52 Scene No.12 | Kind im Einschlummern (Child Falling Asleep)
15:31 Scene No.13 | Der Dichter spricht (The Poet Speaks)
The rendition is by master Vladimir Horovitz, born in Kyiv on 1 October 1903 and died on 5 November 1989 in New York, aged 86.
