The Three Romances of Robert Schumann's opus 28 were written in 1839, intended as a work to be performed as a set. But yesterday and today, there was one piece that won the public's favor, No. 2, which pianists are used to presenting today as a stand-alone piece.
The Opus was dedicated to a certain Graf Heinrich II Reuss-Köstritz, a complete unknown today. Not so much for Clara Wieck (future Clara Schumann) because, enchanted with the lyricism of the second piece, she was not happy that it was dedicated to the now-unknown nobleman Graf Heinrich and not to her. And so she let Schumann know:
"...I being your bride, you must necessarily dedicate something else to me, though I know nothing more tender than these three romanzas, particularly the middle one, a beautiful love duet."
Indeed, Robert did not dedicate them to Clara but instead sent them to her as a Christmas present, in 1839, and that is how Clara knew them. We know that Clara was already an extraordinary pianist who spent half the year on tour in Europe. Robert understood that the three pieces were not worthy of an artist of such stature.
Perhaps the Three Romances were not up to Clara's standards, but that did not prevent Robert from holding them in high esteem. As time passed, "the middle one" Romanza became one of his most famous short works. Needless to say, Clara contributed significantly to this, making the Three Romances known to audiences in most of Europe. They thus earned a secure place in the piano repertoire, alongside Schumann's earlier works of greater scope, say Carnaval (1835) or Kreisleriana (1838).
