''Papillons'' (French for "butterflies"), Op. 2, is a 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 Jean Paul (; born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, 21 March 1763 – 14 November 1825) was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories. Life and work Jean Paul was born at Wunsiedel, in the Fichtelgebirge mountain ...

's novel ' (''The Awkward Age''). The suite begins with a six-

measure Measure may refer to: * Measurement, the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event Law * Ballot measure, proposed legislation in the United States * Church of England Measure, legislation of the Church of England * Mea ...

introduction before launching into a variety of dance-like

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

. 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'', 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 Jörg Widmann (born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2018, Widmann was the third most performed contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freibu ...

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