| Three Romances for Violin and Piano | |
|---|---|
| by Clara Schumann | |
 Schumann, in 1878, in a painting by Franz von Lenbach | |
| Opus | 22 |
| Composed | 1853 |
| Dedication | Joseph Joachim |
| Published |
|
| Movements | 3 |
The Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22 of Clara Schumann, were written in 1853 and first published in 1855.
Having moved to Düsseldorf in 1853, Clara Schumann, who said that "Women are not born to compose," produced several works, including these three romances. [1] Dedicated to the legendary violinist Joseph Joachim, Schumann and Joachim went on tour with them, even playing them before King George V of Hanover, who was "completely ecstatic" upon hearing them. [2] A critic for the Neue Berliner Musikzeitung praised them, declaring: "All three pieces display an individual character conceived in a truly sincere manner and written in a delicate and fragrant hand." [2] Stephen Pettitt for The Times, wrote, "Lush and poignant, they make one regret that Clara's career as a composer became subordinate to her husband's." [3]
The romances, scored for violin and piano, are written in three movements:
The first romance begins with hints of gypsy pathos, before a brief central theme with energetic arpeggios ensues. [4] This is followed by a final section similar to the first, in which Clara Schumann charmingly refers to the main theme from her husband Robert Schumann's first violin sonata. [5] The second romance is more wistful, with many embellishments. It is sometimes considered as representative of all three, beginning with a plaintive appetizer to its energetic, extroverted leaps and arpeggios, followed by a more developed section with the first theme present. [6] The last movement, while very similar to the first but approximately the same length in time as the first two, features long-limbed melodies with rippling, bubbling piano accompaniment. [7]
An average performance is about ten minutes in duration.
Johannes Brahms was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.
In music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display. During this time the accompaniment will rest, or sustain a note or chord. Thus an improvised cadenza is indicated in written notation by a fermata in all parts. A cadenza will usually occur over the final or penultimate note in a piece, the lead-in, or over the final or penultimate note in an important subsection of a piece. It can also be found before a final coda or ritornello.
Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
Clara Josephine Schumann was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital by lessening the importance of purely virtuosic works. She also composed solo piano pieces, a piano concerto, chamber music, choral pieces, and songs.
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Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century.
The Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, is a work for piano and orchestra completed by Johannes Brahms in 1858. The composer gave the work's public debut in Hanover, the following year. It was his first-performed orchestral work, and his first orchestral work performed to audience approval.
The Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44, by Robert Schumann was composed in 1842 and received its first public performance the following year. Noted for its "extroverted, exuberant" character, Schumann's piano quintet is considered one of his finest compositions and a major work of nineteenth-century chamber music. Composed for piano and string quartet, the work revolutionized the instrumentation and musical character of the piano quintet and established it as a quintessentially Romantic genre.
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Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, is a symphony by Johannes Brahms. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Symphony No. 2. In the interim Brahms had written some of his greatest works, including the Violin Concerto, two overtures, and Piano Concerto No. 2.
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Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49, was completed on 23 September 1839 and published the following year. The work is scored for a standard piano trio consisting of violin, cello and piano. It is one of Mendelssohn's most popular chamber works and is recognized as one of his greatest along with his Octet, Op. 20. During the initial composition of the work, Mendelssohn took the advice of fellow composer Ferdinand Hiller to revise the piano part. Hiller wrote, "with his usual conscientious earnestness when once he had made up his mind, he undertook the length and rewrite the whole pianoforte part."
Johannes Brahms composed his Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87, between 1880 and 1882. It is scored for piano, violin and cello. He wrote this piece at the age of 49.
The Three Romances for Oboe and Piano, Op. 94 is a composition by Robert Schumann, his only composition for oboe. It was composed in December 1849. The work consists of three short pieces in A-B-A form, and it was written during what was speculated to be one of Schumann's manic episodes.
Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132, is a trio composition by Robert Schumann in four movements for clarinet, viola and piano. He composed the clarinet-viola-piano trio in B-flat major, between 9 and 11 October 1853. The movements are connected by a motif (Kernmotiv). The work is dedicated to Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich, and was published in 1854 by Breitkopf & Härtel.
Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70, is a chamber music piece in A-flat major for piano and horn by Robert Schumann. It was written in February 1849. Schumann planned alternative editions before it was printed in which the horn or cello or violin can be replaced. The title was initially intended to be "Romance and Allegro". Schumann then decided on "Adagio and Allegro".
The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7, was composed by Clara Wieck, better known as Clara Schumann after her later marriage to Robert Schumann. She completed her only finished piano concerto in 1835, and played it first that year with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.
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