It took Robert Schumann only four days in April 1838 to compose one of his masterpieces for the piano. The author was 28 years old, he was in love with Clara Wieck, and he was beginning to live the ordeal that he and Clara would have to go through to unite their lives in 1840.
Although it was written with Clara in mind, and for her, the work is dedicated to Chopin, whom Schumann admired with no qualms. But, according to the story, Chopin only liked the first page, the one containing the dedication. However, he would reciprocate the following year with the somewhat faint dedication of the Ballade No. 2.
Kreisler, a fictional character
Of course, Chopin must have been surprised by the title of the work, "Kreisleriana" (just as it still surprises today). And how could it not, when Robert Schumann himself pointed out that it would only be understandable to Germans. Indeed, it is taken from Johannes Kreisler, an eccentric fictional character and alter ego of the German poet, musician, and music critic E.T.A. Hoffmann. A singular chapel master, Kreisler is characterized as "a romantic who has lost his sense of reality." He unites madness and tenderness, uncontrolled and cunning, in a fantastic setting.
"Kreisleriana"
These are all aspects of the character that Schumann will work out musically by permuting the fantastic and the lyrical, the quirky and the adorable, and turning this alternation of nuances into the characteristic clues of the work.
Subjective and highly virtuosic, Kreisleriana is one of the high points in Schumann's piano literature. It is composed of eight sections, alternating (as it should be) slow, beautiful and serene movements with pressing and passionate ones, an alternation that each section also exhibits in itself. The tempi for each were originally noted by Schumann in German. The complete work lasts approximately half an hour.
Sections:
00 Ausserst bewegt (Agitatissimo)
02:48 Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch (Con molto expressione, non troppo presto)
10:10 Sehr aufgeregt (Molto agitato)
14:45 Sehr langsam (Lento assai)
18:34 Sehr lebhaft (Vivace assai)
22:15 Sehr langsam (Lento assai)
25:53 Sehr rasch (Molto presto)
28:06 Schnell und spielend (Vivace e scherzando)
Enigmatically, the piece ends without a hint of bravura in the lower part of the keyboard.
The rendition is by the outstanding pianist Yuja Wang, born in Beijing in 1987.
