''Märchenerzählungen'' (

Fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

narrations), Op. 132, is a trio composition 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 four

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

for clarinet (violin ad libitum), viola and piano. He composed the clarinet-viola-piano trio in

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: Changes needed for ...

, between 9 and 11 October 1853. The movements are connected by a motif (''Kernmotiv''). The work is dedicated to Schumann's pupil

Albert Dietrich Albert Hermann Dietrich (28 August 182920 November 1908), was a German composer and conductor. In addition to his work, he is remembered for his friendship with Johannes Brahms. Dietrich was born at Golk, near Meissen. From 1851 he studied comp ...

, and was published in 1854 by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

History

The composition, one of Schumann's last works, uses the same combination of instruments as Mozart's ''

Kegelstatt Trio The ''Kegelstatt Trio'', K. 498, is a piano trio for clarinet, viola and piano in E-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History Mozart wrote the piano trio on 10 sheets (19 pages) in Vienna and dated the manuscript on 5 August 1786. Accordin ...

''. The composer was interested in the "picturesque and the fanciful", but left no link to specific fairy tales, as for his earlier ''

Märchenbilder ''Märchenbilder'' or ''Fairy Tale Pictures'', for Piano and Viola, Op. 113, was written by Robert Schumann in March 1851. The work is dedicated to the German violinist and conductor Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski. It consists of four character pi ...

'', Op. 113. The composition was completed in a few days.

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...

noted in her diary: "Heute vollendete Robert 4 Stücke für Klavier, Klarinette und Viola und war selbst sehr beglückt darüber. Er meint, diese Zusammenstellung werde sich höchst romantisch ausnehmen." (Today Robert completed 4 pieces for piano, clarinet and viola and was very happy about it. He thinks that this compilation will appear highly romantic.) The pieces were first performed privately by Clara as the pianist, the violist

Ruppert Becker Ruppert is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Jacob Ruppert, National Guard colonel, U.S. Representative from New York, brewery owner, owner of the New York Yankees *James Ruppert, responsible for the ...

and the clarinetist Johann Kochner. A little later,

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

presented them in public. The compositions were published by

shortly afterwards, and Schumann could present the first copy to the dedicatee, Albert Dietrich, in February 1854.

Structure

The composition is structured in four movements: # "Lebhaft, nicht zu schnell", # "Lebhaft und sehr markiert", ,

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...

# "Ruhiges Tempo, mit zartem Ausdruck", ,

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

# "Lebhaft, sehr markiert",

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

The first movement is marked "lively, not too fast". It alternates march music and dreamlike sections. The second movement, to be played "lively and strongly stressed rhythms", frames a lyrical section with march music of "a distinct rustic flavour". The third movement, marked "reposeful tempo, with tender expression" is a love duet of clarinet and viola, with constant movement in the piano. The fourth movement is marked as the second, has another duet in its centre, and quotes in the end a theme from the first movement.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchenerzahlungen Piano trios by Robert Schumann Compositions in B-flat major Compositions for viola