The ''Julius Caesar'' overture, Op. 128, is a

concert overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which were ...

written in

1851 Events January–March * January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion in China, one of the bloodiest revolts that would lead to 20 million deaths. * January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-d ...

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 ...

, inspired by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' and influenced by the '' Egmont'' and '' Coriolan'' overtures of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Background

''Julius Caesar'' is usually associated with two other Schumann concert overtures written about that time, also inspired by great literature: ''The Bride of Messina'', Op. 100 (based on Schiller's eponymous play) and ''Hermann und Dorothea'', Op. 136 (based on

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

). The year 1851 was intensely active for Schumann: not only did he complete these three overtures, he also wrote his Piano Trio No. 3, his 1st and 2nd violin sonatas, a chamber oratorio, lieder, works for chorus and orchestra, and works for solo piano; and thoroughly revised his Symphony No. 4.

Composition

The ''Julius Caesar'' overture is in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

and is scored for piccolo, flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and strings. The gloomy, brooding nature of the overture has often been noted: ''A darkly hued work, imbued with a spirit of tragic grandeur from start to finish''; ''a brooding introduction to Shakespeare's play, full of oppressive, militaristic flourishes and hinting at some violent threat that never fully manifests itself''.

Influences

It was not intended to portray the historical person of

, but was inspired by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's eponymous play. In his sketches for the work, beneath the staves on the first page Schumann wrote down what he considered the central "plot points" of the play: "Caesar / Life in Rome. Brutus. / Conspiracy. Calpurnia. The Ides. Death. Philippi. / Octavian's revenge. Victory over Brutus". It also drew inspiration from two overtures of

: that to his

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

to '' Egmont'', with which it shares the key of

, the "uncompromising

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

", and the coda in the major key;Paul Hamburger, Liner notes to recording by Vienna Philharmonic under

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...

and to a lesser extent his concert overture '' Coriolan''.

Creation

Schumann started writing the music in mid-January 1851. His wife Clara noted in her diary on 17 January that he was now working on the overture. He wrote out the full score between 27 January and 2 February, finishing it only a few days before he conducted the premiere of his 3rd Symphony, "Rhenish" (6 February).Peter F. Ostwald, ''Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius'', p. 250
Retrieved 15 September 2014

First performances and Schumann's health

The work had its premiere on 3 August 1852 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. Earlier that year he had consulted Dr Wolfgang Müller about his physical ailments. Müller was also a director of the Düsseldorf Music Society, of which Schumann was Music Director and chief conductor, and advised him to do less conducting and hand some of the work to his deputy Julius Tausch. On 8 July Schumann commenced a series of 18 cold baths in the Rhine under Müller's instruction. This resulted in some improvement in his condition. On 30 July, against Müller's advice, he attended the first rehearsal of the ''Julius Caesar'' overture under Tausch, but became agitated and took over the conducting of the work himself. At the concert on 3 August, once again without warning, he took personal command of the orchestra and conducted the premiere of the work himself; he also went on to "tactlessly" conduct a Beethoven overture that Tausch had rehearsed but Schumann had not. The ''Julius Caesar'' Overture produced little noticeable effect on the audience. The result for Schumann was exhaustion, and Müller recommended he have more intensive treatment, and sent him for sea baths at Scheveningen, Netherlands. This was the beginning of the insanity that marked his last years.

Possible cryptogram

Schumann was known to be interested in

musical cryptogram A musical cryptogram is a cryptogrammatic sequence of musical symbols which can be taken to refer to an extra-musical text by some 'logical' relationship, usually between note names and letters. The most common and best known examples result fr ...

s, best demonstrated in his piano suite '' Carnaval'', Op. 9. Eric Sams suggests there are many other clues throughout Schumann's works, including a cipher for "C-A-E-S-A-R" in the opening chords of the ''Julius Caesar'' overture.Eric Sams, "Did Schumann Use Ciphers?", ''The Musical Times'', August 1965
Retrieved 15 September 2014

Legacy

The work has been recorded a number of times, but is not often performed in concert.

References

{{Robert Schumann Concert overtures Compositions by Robert Schumann 1851 compositions Compositions in F minor Music based on works by William Shakespeare Works based on Julius Caesar (play) category:Depictions of Julius Caesar in music Cultural depictions of Augustus