''Märchenbilder'' or ''Fairy Tale Pictures'', for Piano and Viola, Op. 113, was written 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 ...

in March 1851. The work is dedicated to the German

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Wilhe ...

. It consists of four

character piece A character piece is a musical composition which is expressive of a specific mood or non-musical idea. History The first appearance of the term "character piece" is in the ''avertissement'' (preface) to Marin Marais's fifth book of viola da gamba ...

s and is an original composition featuring the

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

from the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. Schumann gives us few clues as to what creatures or events are depicted within each movement. His 1853 composition '' Märchenerzählungen'' for clarinet, viola and piano also leaves the details to the imagination of the performers and the audience. The autograph manuscript of the work was purchased in May 2014 by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, where it is currently preserved.

Movements

# ''Nicht schnell'' (Not Fast) in

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 ...

# ''Lebhaft'' (Lively) in

F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...

# ''Rasch'' (Quick) in

# ''Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck'' (Slowly, with Melancholic Expression) in

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

The fourth of these movements is based on a theme that resembles one introduced in the third movement of

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 ...

's Symphony No. 9 (Op. 125). Whether this is coincidental is unconfirmed.

Sources

* Margit L. McCorkle, ''Robert Schumann. Thematisch-Bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis'', München-Mainz 2003, p. 160 *

Klaus Martin Kopitz Klaus Martin Kopitz (born January 29, 1955, Stendal) is a German composer and musicologist. He became known in particular with his album ''Mia Brentano's Hidden Sea. 20 songs for 2 pianos''. In the US, it was 2018 on the annual "Want List" of t ...

& Torsten Oltrogge, ''Ein Dichter namens

Louis du Rieux Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

und Schumanns „Märchenbilder“ op. 113. Annäherungen an einen geheimnisvollen Verehrer des Komponisten'', in: ''Denkströme. Journal der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'', no. 11 (2013), p. 112–14
PDF

External links

Märchenbilder
Schumann's autograph manuscript in the Library of Congress *
Performance of Märchenbilder
by

Paul Neubauer Paul Neubauer (born in Encino, California, in 1962) is an American violist. Neubauer was a student of Paul Doktor, Alan de Veritch and William Primrose. In 1980, aged 17, he won the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and Workshop on the ...

(viola) and

Anne-Marie McDermott Anne-Marie McDermott is an American classical pianist and member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She is also the artistic director of the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival in Key Largo, Flori ...

(piano) 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
Background and Ideas for Interpretations
by Zsuzsanna Lipták-Pikó, Masters Thesis 1851 compositions Chamber music by Robert Schumann Compositions for viola and piano Compositions in D minor Music based on fairy tales {{chamber-composition-stub