''Papillons'' (French for "butterflies"), Op. 2, is a

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite ...

of piano pieces written in 1831 by

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) 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 a ...

when he was 21 years old. The work is meant to represent a

masked ball A masquerade ball (or ''bal masqué'') is an event in which many participants attend in costume wearing a mask. (Compare the word "masque"—a formal written and sung court pageant.) Less formal "costume parties" may be a descendant of this tra ...

and was inspired by Jean Paul's novel ' (''The Awkward Age''). The suite begins with a six- measure introduction before launching into a variety of dance-like movements. Each movement is unrelated to the preceding ones, except that the second, A major, theme of the sixth movement recurs in G major in the tenth movement, and the theme of the first movement returns in the finale. notes that the 11th movement is appropriately a

polonaise The polonaise (, ; pl, polonez ) is a dance of Polish origin, one of the five Polish national dances in time. Its name is French for "Polish" adjective feminine/"Polish woman"/"girl". The original Polish name of the dance is Chodzony, meani ...

because the novel's character Wina is Polish. The last movement starts out by quoting the theme of the traditional "

Großvatertanz The Grossvatertanz (Grandfather Dance) is a German dance tune from the 17th century. It is generally considered a traditional folk tune. It is a tripartite tune: * 8 bars in time, Andante * 4 bars of a different theme in time, Allegro (repeated ...

" (Grandfather's Dance), which was always played at the end of a wedding or similar celebration. Repeated notes near the end of the piece suggest a clock striking, signifying the end of the ball.

Structure

The composition's twelve movements are: :* Introduction. ''Moderato'' (D major) # Waltz (D major) # Waltz – ''Prestissimo'' (E major) # Waltz (F minor) # Waltz (A major) # Polonaise (B major) # Waltz (D minor) # Waltz – ''Semplice'' (F minor) # Waltz (C minor) # Waltz – ''Prestissimo'' (B minor) # Waltz – ''Vivo'' (C major) # Polonaise (D major) # Finale (D major)

Related works

Schumann quoted some themes from ''Papillons'' in his later work, ''

Carnaval Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival ty ...

'', Op. 9, but none of them appear in section no. 9 of that work titled "Papillons". The main waltz theme from the first movement in ''Papillons'' was quoted in the section "Florestan", with an explicit acknowledgement written in the score, and again in the final section, "Marche des ''Davidsbündler'' contre les Philistins", but without acknowledgement. The "

" also appears in the final section, with the inscription "Thème du XVIIème siècle". Jörg Widmann quotes the first eight bars of the finale at the beginning of his third string quartet 'The Hunt': : \relative c'' :"Großvatertanz" (Grandfather's Dance)

References

External links

* *, performed by Alexander Ullman Piano music by Robert Schumann Compositions for solo piano 1831 compositions Music based on novels {{Classical-composition-stub