' in B-flat major, Op. 20, is a romantic

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

piece by

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, composed in 1839 and dedicated to Julie von Webenau. Schumann cited

Jean Paul Jean Paul (; born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, 21 March 1763 – 14 November 1825) was a German Romanticism, German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories. Life and work Jean Paul was born at Wunsiedel, in the Ficht ...

's style of humour as source of inspiration, although there are no direct programmatic links to Jean Paul's oeuvre found in the piece.

Structure

The '' Humoreske'' consists of seven sections (not originally indicated as such by the composer except for the last one, ""), to be played

attacca A variety of musical terms is encountered in Sheet music, printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms Italian musical terms used in English, are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conv ...

after each other. Although the piece is nominally written in

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: Changes needed for ...

, most of the piece is set in B-flat major's relative minor key,

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...

. The musical texture and emotional tone, though, varies widely and differs greatly between the sections: # "" (Simple) (B major, , M. M. = 80) #:"" (Very fast and light) (B major, , M. M. = 138) #:"" (Even faster) (G minor) #:"", (First tempo, as in the beginning) (B major, ) # "" (Hastily) (G minor, , M. M. = 126) #:"" (Gradually more lively and stronger) (

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

) #:"" (As previously) '' Adagio'' # "" (Simple and delicate) (G minor, , M. M. = 100) #:"

Intermezzo In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...

" (B major, , M. M. = 100) # "" (Heartfelt) (B major, , M. M. = 116) #:"" (Quicker) (Tempo I) # "" (Very lively) (G-minor/B major, , M. M. = 76) #:"" (Increasingly lively) ''

Stretto The Italian term ''stretto'' (plural: ''stretti'') has two distinct meanings in music: # In a fugue, ''stretto'' () is the imitation of the subject in close succession, so that the answer enters before the subject is completed.Apel, Willi, ed. ( ...

'' # "" (With some pomp) (modulating, , M. M. = 92) # "" (To the resolution) (B major, , M. M. = 112 ) ''Allegro'' A typical performance is about 27 minutes long. It is less popular with audiences than with pianists, and Robert Cummings wrote that some musicologists view it as an ill-judged attempt by Schumann to “take his formula in '' Kreisleriana'' a step further.” However, it has been championed by critics such as Judith Chernaik and John C. Tibbetts (who consider ''Humoreske'' among Schumann's greatest pieces) as well as Anthony Tommasini, who referred to it as one of Schumann’s “most astonishing, and most overlooked, piano works”.

Sources

* Robert Schumann: ''Sämtliche Klavierwerke'', vol. IV,

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

, Wiesbaden 1988, pp. 1–29.

References

External links

*
Performance of ''Humoreske''
by from the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

format *, Piano soloist: Alicia de Larrocha * Piano Soloist: Piotr Anderszewski {{Authority control Piano music by Robert Schumann Music dedicated to family or friends Compositions for solo piano 1839 compositions Compositions in B-flat major