Robert Schumann
 

Schumann is my favourite composer because I often prefer to listen his masterpieces "Piano Concerto" and "Carnival". 

In 1839, apparently in connection with his work, Schumann wrote a letter to Clara Wieck in which he said: "I have already mentioned the Concerto to you; it is a cross between a symphony, concerto or large sonata. I now see that I cannot write a concerto for the virtuosos, I must create something else."

The composer had long nursed the idea of writing the Piano Concerto, opus 54. His first experiments in this branch of music go back to his early creative period. The first movement completed in 1841 was at first intended to be a one-movement work entitled "Fantasia" but later the author gave up this idea. 

Carnival is a piano cycle and its reflect the many sides of the composer' creative genius, especially his gift of creating sharply chiseled characters. The work' relatively loose pieces miniatures follow each other evoking a powerful stream of impressions and images.

The music of the Concerto for piano and orchestra of Schumann represents relaxation and a respite, filled with beautiful passages, identified with a soulful conversation.

According to Schumann, "Carnival" was written during the Leipzig carnival of 1835. Its concept seems to reflect the drama of life with its medley of contrast- side by side there is the exalted and the low, complex and primitive, serious and ridiculous, real and fictitious, disguised under a mask. These contrasts stirred the artist greatly, enhancing his yearning for beauty and genuine humanity, arousing in him longing and romantic fervour.

The Carnaval pathos is revealed in its depiction of conflicting forces and especially in its emotional exuberance as a composer' perception of life.

Maria Dumitru
"Duiliu Zamfirescu" School, Focsani, Romania
Teacher Petru Dumitru <petrudumitru@netscape.net>