Carnaval (Schumann)

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Robert Schumann's Carnaval, Op. 9 was written in 1834-1835 and dedicated to the violinist, Karol Lipiński. It is subtitled Scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes (Little Scenes on Four Notes). It consists of 22 pieces for piano connected by a recurring motif.

In each section of Carnaval appears either or both of two series of musical notes. These are:

• A, E-flat, C, B; these are signified in German as A-S-C-H

• A-flat, C, B; signified in German As-C-H.

These both spell the German name for the town in which Schumann's then fiancée, Ernestine von Fricken, was born (Asch; this is now Aš in the Czech Republic). They are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name.

In Carnaval, Schumann goes further musically than in Papillons, for in it he himself conceives the story of which it was the musical illustration. Carnaval remains famous for its resplendent chordal passages and its use of rhythmic displacement.

Although the work has 22 sections, only 20 of them are numbered. "Sphinxes" and "Intermezzo: Paganini" were not given numbers by the composer.

"Sphinxes" consists of three sections, each containing only one bar, in the configurations SCHA, AsCH and ASCH. It is generally omitted in performance and recording, although Sergei Rachmaninoff included it in his recording.

The sections of Carnaval are as follows:

1. Préambule (A-flat)

2. Pierrot (E-flat)

3. Arlequin (B-flat)

4. Valse noble (B-flat)

5. Eusebius (E-flat; depicting the composer's calm, deliberate side)

6. Florestan (G minor; depicting the composer's fiery impetuous side)

7. Coquette (B-flat; depticting the flirtatious servant from Friedrich Wieck's house who may have given him syphilis)

8. Réplique (G minor)

Sphinxes

9. Papillons (B-flat)

10. A.S.C.H. - S.C.H.A: Lettres Dansantes (but despite the title, the pattern used is As.C.H; E-flat)

11. Chiarina (C minor; depicting Clara Wieck)

12. Chopin (A-flat)

13. Estrella (F minor; depicting Ernestine von Fricken)

14. Reconnaissance (A-flat)

15. Pantalon et Colombine (F minor)

16. Valse Allemande (A-flat; German waltz)

Intermezzo: Paganini (F minor; with a reprise of the Valse Allemande)

17. Aveu (F minor)

18. Promenade (D-flat)

19. Pause (A-flat; leading directly without pause into ...

20. Marche des "Davidsbündler" contre les Philistins (A-flat, in which quotations from a number of the previous sections fleetingly reappear).