und Fantasien

The dialogue between word and music, which reaches its peak in songs set to text, also knows an important development in the interweaving of music and literature. This became particularly clear in Romanticism, and the figure who perhaps embodies this dialogue in an exemplary manner is that of Robert Schumann. For years he moved between the world of literature and that of music, and he continued to write "words" throughout his life. He founded a journal of which he was editor and inspired many readers with his profound insights. Literature and music were not two separate domains in Schumann's mind and oeuvre. Many of his instrumental works are clearly and unambiguously inspired by literary creations, and within his own oeuvre too there is a profound connection, typically represented by the figures "Florestan" and "Eusebius". These two pseudonyms represent the two sides of Schumann's personality and artistic current. "Florestan" is the impetuous, restless, reckless, daring and extraverted aspect; Eusebius, the pious, reflective, contemplative, calm, poetic and dreamy figure. These two opposite figures (who are incidentally twin brothers) represent, however, two sides of the romantic soul, as also emerged with another influential author from the same period, the poet and musician E.T.A. Hoffmann. In his 'Prinses Brambilla' fantasy is defined as "the realm that the human spirit governs in true life and existence according to its free will, in order to enjoy itself in a wholly unique way". It is identified with the character Giacinta, of whom it is written: "I could say that you are fantasy, whose wings need humor to be able to fly, but without the body of humor you would be nothing but wings, drifting away – a plaything of the wind – in the air". Fantasy and humor are two other poles of human creativity, and they could respectively be well represented by Eusebius and Florestan. In this sense, the word fantasy should be understood in the works performed on this Da Vinci Classics album. Of course, piano fantasies already had a long and glorious history before the nineteenth century, and formed a musical genre (albeit a genre without a clearly defined form… by definition). In the works recorded here, however, we can and must point to this double reference to the literary world: ballades refer to a poetic genre, both epic and passionate; fantasies are works in which this 'realm' of the 'free will of the human spirit' opens, spreads its 'wings' and is carried by 'humor'. Hoffmann, the author of these words, was himself also a composer, and his writings – crucial for German Romantic culture – are sprinkled with references to this art form. In particular, one of Hoffmann's creations would become iconic for the self-interpretation of the Romantic musician and composer. It was the figure of "Kapellmeister Kreisler", who appears in various works by Hoffmann and represented the essence of Romanticism in music. The book in which Kreisler is most prominently present is tellingly Hoffmann's Phantasiestücke in Callots Manier (1814-1815), with yet another reference to "fantasy". Both Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, although they belonged to two different generations, saw Kreisler as their alter ego, as a fictional creation that helped them interpret their own calling. In his late twenties, when Schumann ardently hoped to marry Clara Wieck, an extraordinarily talented pianist and composer who was nine years younger than him, one of the many piano cycles he had written in his youth came to light. This would be called Kreisleriana, and interestingly, Schumann seems to reveal that the title occurred to him before the actual pieces (whereas with him it was normally the other way around). He wrote: "Only Germans will understand the title [Kreisleriana]. Kreisler is a figure created by ETA Hoffmann, an eccentric, untamed, witty Kapellmeister. There are many things about him that you will like." Schumann's Kreisleriana came to light in phases, apparently in two parts. In a letter to Clara Wieck of 14 April 1838 the composer wrote: "In [Kreisleriana] you and an idea of yours will play the leading role, and I want to dedicate it to you – yes, to you and to no one else. – You will smile so sweetly when you recognize yourself in it." The association between Clara (or a "thought" or an "idea") of her and Kreisleriana recurs in Schumann's letters and diaries, and the dedication to her was also included in the proposal for publication of Kreisleriana that he initially sent to a publisher. Later, at Clara's insistence, he removed that (public) dedication, however, which Clara's father, who was strongly opposed to the love between Robert and Clara, would probably only have further annoyed. Ultimately, Schumann published Kreisleriana with a dedication to Frédéric Chopin, with whom he was friends and whom he greatly valued; Chopin would do the same the following year by dedicating his own Ballade op. 18 op. 28 op. 38 to Schumann. We jump ahead briefly to 1854. Clara and Robert were happily married and their family was blessed with numerous children and much music. But Robert had developed a serious mental illness, which eventually forced him to be admitted to a psychiatric institution in Endenich. Clara was left behind with their children, with a broken heart and all sorts of worries. In that situation, the support of a friend was essential to her, and she found it in the young Johannes Brahms, who was then 21 years old. Brahms had been a good friend of the family for some time, following the warm reception the couple had given him and his exceptional talent. Now he was ready to support Clara, with whom he would maintain a close friendship for the rest of his life (they would die within a few months of each other). During Robert's stay in Endenich, Brahms had written a collection of ballades, opus 10, which he would dedicate to his friend Julius Otto Grimm. Here too, however, the implicit dedication was to Clara, as Grimm himself soon noticed and wrote to the composer: "But has Mrs. Schumann also approved this dedication? For the Ballades owe their true origin to her. But you certainly would not have done this without her approval, so I receive such a double dedication." Both this and the Variations on a theme by Robert Schumann with the preceding opus number (op. 9) are closely connected with Robert's wife and Johannes' friend Clara. Brahms, namely, intended to publish a collection of pieces (including op. 9) under the title Leaves from the Diary of a Musician, compiled by the young Kreisler, a reference to the similarly titled Leaves from the Diary of a Travelling Lover, also written by Hoffmann. Although Brahms' lifelong friend Joseph Joachim persuaded him to abandon this plan, the connection with Hoffmann is also very strong in this case. The Ballades were presented to Schumann by Joachim for Christmas 1854, and on the following Epiphany Robert wrote enthusiastically about them: "What a beautiful first [piece], absolutely new. [...] The ending is beautiful – strange! The second, how different, how varied, rich in imagination; it contains enchanting passages. The concluding bass-F# seems to introduce the third Ballade. How shall we describe that? Demonic – absolutely sublime, and how it becomes ever more mysterious after the pp of the Trio, which is itself completely transfigured; then the return to the main section, and the conclusion. In the fourth Ballade, how beautiful that the strange opening melody sways back and forth between minor and major all the way to the end, and lingers sorrowfully in the major." Almost forty years later, in 1892, Brahms and Clara approached the end of their lives. Brahms now limited his compositional activity to the summer months, and the thunderous virtuosity and impassioned spirit that had characterized his early piano works had given way to a sound of exquisite poetry, melancholy and refinement. Clara heard from her student Ilona Eibenschütz, who was on vacation in Bad Ischl, where Brahms was also spending the summer, that Brahms had written some new piano pieces. She politely asked him to send her a copy; Brahms immediately complied with her request with the Fantasies opus 116, while it took somewhat longer for the Intermezzi opus 117 to be ready. Clara was enthusiastic about them and found them "wonderfully original". She also wrote in her diary: "Through these pieces I felt once again how my soul was traversed by the life of music. I can still play with sincere devotion, and I have returned with renewed enthusiasm to Robert's piano music." Thus the circle closes: from Hoffmann to Robert, to Clara, to Johannes, and back to Robert, in Clara's reverent and loving memory. Like a literary masterpiece, these musical pieces were able to lead fantasy along the path of memory and support the working out of grief, transforming sorrow and anguish into a pattern of beauty and hope.