Arabesque (Schumann)
The Arabesque op. 18 is a short piano piece by Robert Schumann , which he composed in Vienna in 1839 . Like his Blumenstück op. 19 , he dedicated it to Friederike Serre , an important art patron, who invited musicians and poets to her estate near Dresden and who had supported the connection between the composer and Clara Wieck .
The title arabesque again gives an indication of the essence of the piece, which has something ornamental , pleasantly embellished, in that an intimate, simple melody is played around by delicate figures.
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The piece in C major , which is easy and delicate to play , is a rondo , the refrain of which recurs three times, is interrupted and contrasted by two darker interludes in E and A minor ( Minors I and II, a little slower ) and with a coda ( at the end ) ends.
The simple cantilena is characterized by the repeated suggestion motif and the forward-pushing, dotted rhythm and flowing modulations . The melody unfolds on what appears to be a polyphonic fabric, in which, similar to the first piece in the children's scenes From Foreign Lands and People , two voices are played by the left hand. The ascending theme reaches the subdominant parallel in D minor in bar 5 , after a repetition of the four bar period it is led to the dominant G major and again to the tonic in bar 16. In the second section, which is given a wistful character by the two turns into the parallel key of E minor, the tonic is reached in bar 25 and the theme is designed as at the beginning.
Only in the two serious interludes is there a dynamic increase in the largely restrained piece, the piano setting becomes denser. While Minore I, which is reminiscent of a quartet movement, shows the theme of the refrain only faintly, the similarity in the second episode in A minor is unmistakable - the characteristic suggestion motif can be found as well as the upward movement of the theme.
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Schumann himself was critical of the delicate, somewhat Biedermeier -looking piece and described it as "weak and for women."
Unlike Ludwig van Beethoven , for example , Schumann did not go to Vienna of his own volition, but followed an instruction from his later father-in-law Friedrich Wieck to establish his own existence there. Wieck had tried several times to prevent the relationship between Clara and Robert, sent his daughter on tours and dictated negative letters to Schumann.
During the painful separation from Clara, Schumann was very productive; In addition to the arabesque, he composed the flower piece op. 19 , the humoresque , parts of the lively carnival swank from Vienna and other pieces.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Harenberg piano music guide, 600 works from the baroque to the present, Robert Schumann, Arabeske op.18, Blumenstück op.19, Meyers, Mannheim 2004, p. 795