Fantasie in C (Schumann)
Encyclopedia
The Fantasie in C major, Op. 17, was written by Robert Schumann
in 1836. It was revised prior to publication in 1839, when it was dedicated to Franz Liszt
. It is generally described as one of Schumann's greatest works for solo piano, and is one of the central works of the early Romantic period. The word "Fantasie" was Schumann's misspelling of the French Fantaisie. It is often called by the Italian version, Fantasia.
The first movement is rhapsodic and passionate; the middle movement (in E flat major) is a grandiose rondo based on a majestic march, with episodes that recall the emotion of the first movement; and the finale is slow and meditative.
(later to become his wife). This later became the first movement of the Fantasy. Later that year, he wrote two more movements to create a work intended as a contribution to the appeal for funds to erect a monument
to Beethoven
in his birthplace, Bonn
. Schumann offered the work to the publisher Kirstner, suggesting that 100 presentation copies could be sold to raise money for the monument. Other contributions to the Beethoven monument fund included Mendelssohn
's Variations sérieuses
. The original title of Schumann's work was "Obolen auf Beethovens Monument: Ruinen, Trophaen, Palmen, Grosse Sonate f.d. Piano f. Für Beethovens Denkmal". Kirstner refused, and Schumann tried offering the piece to Haslinger in January 1837. When Haslinger also refused, he offered it to Breitkopf und Härtel in May 1837. The movements' subtitles (Ruins, Trophies, Palms) became Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and Constellation, and were then removed altogether before Breitkopf und Härtel eventually issued the Fantasie in May 1839. It was printed with a dedication to Franz Liszt
.
The Beethoven monument
was eventually completed, due mainly to the efforts of Liszt, who paid 2,666 thaler, the largest single contribution. It was unveiled in grand style in 1845, the attendees including Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and many other dignitaries and composers, but not Schumann, who was ill.
("Resounding through all the notes/In the earth's colorful dream/There sounds a faint long-drawn note/For the one who listens in secret.")
The musical quotation
of a phrase from Beethoven's song cycle An die ferne Geliebte
in the coda of the first movement was not acknowledged by Schumann, and apparently was not spotted until 1910. The text of the passage quoted is: Accept then these songs[, beloved, which I sang for you alone]. Both the Schlegel stanza and the Beethoven quotation are appropriate to Schumann's current situation of separation from Clara Wieck
. Schumann wrote to Clara: The first movement may well be the most passionate I have ever composed – a deep lament for you. They still had many tribulations to suffer before they finally married four years later.
Schumann considered quoting Beethoven's 7th Symphony
in the finale; he did not do so, but there still remain some echoes of the symphony's second movement rhythm in the bass line of bars 30-33.
to Schumann in 1853. Clara Schumann did not start to perform the Fantasie in her concerts until 1866, ten years after the composer died.
The Fantasie has been recorded many times, including versions by Wilhelm Kempff
, Vladimir Horowitz
, Claudio Arrau
, Sviatoslav Richter
, Martha Argerich
, Daniel Barenboim
, Alicia de Larrocha
, Nelson Freire
and Murray Perahia
.
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
in 1836. It was revised prior to publication in 1839, when it was dedicated to Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
. It is generally described as one of Schumann's greatest works for solo piano, and is one of the central works of the early Romantic period. The word "Fantasie" was Schumann's misspelling of the French Fantaisie. It is often called by the Italian version, Fantasia.
Structure
The Fantasie is in loose sonata form. Its three movements are headed:- Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen; Im Legenden-Ton
- Mäßig. Durchaus energisch
- Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten.
The first movement is rhapsodic and passionate; the middle movement (in E flat major) is a grandiose rondo based on a majestic march, with episodes that recall the emotion of the first movement; and the finale is slow and meditative.
Genesis
The piece has its origin in early 1836, when Schumann composed a piece entitled Ruines expressing his distress at being parted from his beloved Clara WieckClara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
(later to become his wife). This later became the first movement of the Fantasy. Later that year, he wrote two more movements to create a work intended as a contribution to the appeal for funds to erect a monument
Beethoven Monument, Bonn
The Beethoven Monument is a large bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven that stands on the Münsterplatz in Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace. It was unveiled on 12 August 1845, in honour of the 75th anniversary of the composer's birth.-Background:...
to Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
in his birthplace, Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. Schumann offered the work to the publisher Kirstner, suggesting that 100 presentation copies could be sold to raise money for the monument. Other contributions to the Beethoven monument fund included Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's Variations sérieuses
Variations Sérieuses
The Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, is a set of variations, many of them requiring a virtuoso technique, on a theme in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn, lasting about twelve minutes in performance. It was completed on 4 June 1841....
. The original title of Schumann's work was "Obolen auf Beethovens Monument: Ruinen, Trophaen, Palmen, Grosse Sonate f.d. Piano f. Für Beethovens Denkmal". Kirstner refused, and Schumann tried offering the piece to Haslinger in January 1837. When Haslinger also refused, he offered it to Breitkopf und Härtel in May 1837. The movements' subtitles (Ruins, Trophies, Palms) became Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and Constellation, and were then removed altogether before Breitkopf und Härtel eventually issued the Fantasie in May 1839. It was printed with a dedication to Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
.
The Beethoven monument
Beethoven Monument, Bonn
The Beethoven Monument is a large bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven that stands on the Münsterplatz in Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace. It was unveiled on 12 August 1845, in honour of the 75th anniversary of the composer's birth.-Background:...
was eventually completed, due mainly to the efforts of Liszt, who paid 2,666 thaler, the largest single contribution. It was unveiled in grand style in 1845, the attendees including Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and many other dignitaries and composers, but not Schumann, who was ill.
Allusion and quotation
Schumann prefaced the work with a quote from Friedrich Schlegel:- Durch alle Töne tönet
- Im bunten Erdentraum
- Ein leiser Ton gezogen
- Für den, der heimlich lauschet.
("Resounding through all the notes/In the earth's colorful dream/There sounds a faint long-drawn note/For the one who listens in secret.")
The musical quotation
Musical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
of a phrase from Beethoven's song cycle An die ferne Geliebte
An die ferne Geliebte
, opus 98, is a composition by Ludwig van Beethoven in April 1816. It is considered to be the first example of a song cycle by a major composer.-Beethoven's :...
in the coda of the first movement was not acknowledged by Schumann, and apparently was not spotted until 1910. The text of the passage quoted is: Accept then these songs[, beloved, which I sang for you alone]. Both the Schlegel stanza and the Beethoven quotation are appropriate to Schumann's current situation of separation from Clara Wieck
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
. Schumann wrote to Clara: The first movement may well be the most passionate I have ever composed – a deep lament for you. They still had many tribulations to suffer before they finally married four years later.
Schumann considered quoting Beethoven's 7th Symphony
Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, in 1811, was the seventh of his nine symphonies. He worked on it while staying in the Bohemian spa town of Teplice in the hope of improving his health. It was completed in 1812, and was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries.At its debut,...
in the finale; he did not do so, but there still remain some echoes of the symphony's second movement rhythm in the bass line of bars 30-33.
Reception and performance
Liszt was one of the few pianists capable of meeting the then-unparalleled demands of the Fantasie, particularly the second movement coda's rapid skips in opposite directions simultaneously. He had played the piece to Schumann privately, and later incorporated it into his teaching repertory, but he considered it unsuitable for public performance and never played it in public. However, Liszt returned the honour by dedicating his own Sonata in B minorPiano Sonata (Liszt)
The Piano Sonata in B minor , S.178, is a musical composition for solo piano by Franz Liszt, published in 1854 with a dedication to Robert Schumann. It is often considered Liszt's greatest composition for solo piano. The piece has been often analyzed, particularly regarding issues of form.-...
to Schumann in 1853. Clara Schumann did not start to perform the Fantasie in her concerts until 1866, ten years after the composer died.
The Fantasie has been recorded many times, including versions by Wilhelm Kempff
Wilhelm Kempff
Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff was a German pianist and composer. Although his repertory included Bach, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well-known for his interpretations of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, both of whose complete sonatas he also...
, Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
, Claudio Arrau
Claudio Arrau
Claudio Arrau León was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Debussy...
, Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Childhood:...
, Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich is an Argentine pianist.-Early life:Argerich was born in Buenos Aires and started playing the piano at age three...
, Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
, Alicia de Larrocha
Alicia de Larrocha
Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle was a Spanish pianist from Catalonia. One of the great piano legends of the 20th century, Reuters called her "the greatest Spanish pianist in history", Time "one of the world's most outstanding pianists" and The Guardian "the leading Spanish pianist of her...
, Nelson Freire
Nelson Freire
Nelson Freire is a Brazilian classical pianist.Freire began playing the piano when he was three years old. He replayed from memory pieces his older sister had just performed. His teachers in Brazil were Nise Obino and Lucia Branco, former students of a pupil of Liszt. For his first public recital,...
and Murray Perahia
Murray Perahia
Murray Perahia KBE is an American concert pianist and conductor.-Early life:Murray Perahia was born in the Bronx borough of New York City to a family of Sephardi Jewish origin. According to the biography on his Mozart piano sonatas CD, his first language was Judaeo-Spanish or, Ladino. The family...
.