Progetto Martha Argerich

italiano

Works

Robert Schumann

Fantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces) for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73

 

In February 1849, Schumann began to write a series of chamber compositions in which the piano was paired with another instrument, often indicated ad libitum. The series began with the three Fantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces) for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73, in which the wind instrument part may also be played – with the necessary adjustments – by violin, cello or even trumpet, as is the case in the version we are hearing today. All three pieces are very short: none of them is over four minutes long. The first, Zart und mit Ausdruck (Tender and with expression), is a dashing, typically Schumannesque melody; the second, Lebhaft, leicht (Lively, light), is, on the contrary, more dreamy and fantastical in nature; and the last, Rasch und mit Feuer (Fast and with fire), is a breathtaking, impassioned race between the two instruments, in which transformed thematic elements drawn from the first two pieces reappear.

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1. Zart und mit Ausdruck
2. Lebhaft, leicht
3. Rasch und mit Feuer

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Performance