Kreisleriana,Op. 16, is a composition in eightmovements byRobert Schumann for solopiano, subtitledPhantasien für das Pianoforte. Schumann claimed to have written it in only four days in April 1838[1] and a revised version appeared in 1850. The work was dedicated toFrédéric Chopin, but when a copy was sent to the Polish composer, "he commented favorably only on the design of the title page".[2]
Kreisleriana is a very dramatic work and is viewed by some critics as one of Schumann's finest compositions.[3][4][5] In 1839, soon after publishing it, Schumann called it in a letter "my favourite work," remarking that "The title conveys nothing to any but Germans.Kreisler is one ofE. T. A. Hoffmann's creations, an eccentric, wild, and witty conductor."[6] In 1843, when he had moved from writing for solo piano to much larger works, in particularParadise and the Peri, he still listed it as one of his best piano works.[7]
The work's title was inspired by the character ofJohannes Kreisler from works of E. T. A. Hoffmann.[8] Like the kaleidoscopic Kreisler, each number has multiple contrasting sections, resembling the imaginary musician'smanic depression, and recalling Schumann's own "Florestan" and "Eusebius," the two characters Schumann used to indicate his own contrasting impulsive and dreamy sides. Johannes Kreisler appears in several books by Hoffmann, includingKater Murr and most notably in theKreisleriana sections ofFantasy Pieces in Callot's Manner, published in 1814.
In a letter to his wifeClara, Schumann reveals that she has figured largely in the composition ofKreisleriana:
I'm overflowing with music and beautiful melodies now – imagine, since my last letter I've finished another whole notebook of new pieces. I intend to call it Kreisleriana. You and one of your ideas play the main role in it, and I want to dedicate it to you – yes, to you and nobody else – and then you will smile so sweetly when you discover yourself in it.[9]
Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch (Very inwardly and not too quickly),B♭ major. This movement in ABACA form, with its lyrical maintheme, includes two contrastingintermezzi. In his 1850 edition, Schumann extended the firstreprise of the theme by twenty measures in order to repeat it in full.[10]
^Eric Frederick Jensen states that it was composed between early May and mid-September 1838 –Schumann, Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 168 – but does not cite a reference.
^Stork, Karl, ed.,The Letters of Robert Schumann, London, 1907, pp. 126, 241.
^Schumann, Robert (2004). Herttrich, Ernst (ed.).Kreisleriana(PDF) (in German). G. Henle Verlag. pp. III. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2022-10-16. Retrieved2022-07-04.
^Carey, Norman, "An Improbable Intertwining: An Analysis of Schumann's Kreisleriana I and II, with Recommendations for Piano Practice,"Theory and Practice, vol. 32 (2007), p. 23.
^Fisk, Charles, "Performance, Analysis and Musical Imagining Part II: Schumann's 'Kreisleriana', No. 2",College Music Symposium, vol. 37 (1997), p. 95.
Ingo Müller: Die Rezeption E.T.A. Hoffmanns in der klassischen Musik des 19. bis 21. Jahrhunderts. In: “Unheimlich Fantastisch – E.T.A. Hoffmann 2022”. Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung der Staatsbibliothek Berlin in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Deutschen Romantik-Museum Frankfurt a. M. und der Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, hg. von Benjamin Schlodder, Christina Schmitz, Bettina Wagner und Wolfgang Bunzel, Leipzig 2022, ISBN 3959055730 S. 315-322.
