The ''Symphonic Études'' (), Op. 13, is a set of

étude An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popu ...

s for solo

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

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 ...

. It began in 1834 as a

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

and sixteen

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

on a theme by Baron von Fricken, plus a further variation on an entirely different theme by

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was a German composer best known for his operas. He is considered to be the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.Ernestine von Fricken Christiane Ernestine Franziska von Fricken (7 September 1816 – 13 November 1844) was an Austrian pianist who, for a while, was the fiancée of Robert Schumann. Life Ernestine von Fricken was born on 7 September 1816 in Neuberg, Bo ...

, the Estrella of his '' Carnaval'' Op. 9. The baron, an amateur musician, had used the melody in a ''Theme with Variations'' for flute. Schumann had been engaged to Ernestine in 1834, only to break abruptly with her the year after. An autobiographical element is thus interwoven in the genesis of the ''Études symphoniques'' (as in that of many other works of Schumann's). Of the sixteen variations Schumann composed on Fricken's theme, only eleven were published by him. (An early version, completed between 1834 and January 1835, contained twelve movements). The final, twelfth, published étude was a variation on the theme from the Romance ''Du stolzes England freue dich'' (Proud England, rejoice!), from

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

's ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'' (as a tribute to Schumann's English friend,

William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...

). The earlier Fricken theme occasionally appears briefly during this étude. The work was first published in 1837 as ''XII Études Symphoniques''. Only nine of the twelve études were specifically designated as variations. The sequence was as follows: * Theme – ''Andante'' ^♯ minor* Etude I (Variation 1) – ''Un poco più vivo'' ^♯ minor* Etude II (Variation 2) – ''Andante'' ^♯ minor* Etude III – ''Vivace'' Major* Etude IV (Variation 3) – ''Allegro marcato'' ^♯ minor* Etude V (Variation 4) – ''Scherzando'' ^♯ minor* Etude VI (Variation 5) – ''Agitato'' ^♯ minor* Etude VII (Variation 6) – ''Allegro molto'' Major* Etude VIII (Variation 7) – ''Sempre marcatissimo'' ^♯ minor* Etude IX – ''Presto possibile'' ^♯ minor* Etude X (Variation 8) – ''Allegro con energia'' ^♯ minor* Etude XI (Variation 9) – ''Andante espressivo'' ^♯ minor* Etude XII (Finale) – ''Allegro brillante'' (based on Marschner's theme) ^♭ Major Other titles had been considered in September 1834: ''Variations pathétiques'' and ''Etuden im Orchestercharakter von Florestan und Eusebius''. In this latter case the ''Études'' would have been signed by two imaginary figures in whom Schumann personified two essential, opposite and complementary aspects of his own personality and his own poetic world. 'Florestan and Eusebius' then signed the ''

Davidsbündlertänze ''Davidsbündlertänze'' (''Dances of the League of David''), Op. 6, is a group of eighteen pieces for piano composed in 1837 by Robert Schumann, who named them after his music society Davidsbündler. The low opus number is misleading: the work ...

'', Op. 6; but only in the 1835 version of the ''Études symphoniques'' were the pieces divided so as to emphasize the alternation of more lyrical, melancholy and introvert pages (Eusebius) with those of a more excitable and dynamic nature (Florestan). In the 1837 version Florestan prevails. Fifteen years later, in a second edition (Leipzig 1852), the 1837 title ''Études symphoniques'' became ''Études en forme de variations'', two etudes (Nos. 3 and 9) that did not correspond to the new title (not being exactly variations) were eliminated, and some revisions were made in the piano writing. The entire work was dedicated to Schumann's English friend, the pianist and composer

. Bennett played the piece frequently in England to great acclaim, but Schumann thought it was unsuitable for public performance and advised his wife

Clara Clara may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Clara'' (2018 film), a Canadian sci-fi drama * ''Clara'' (2019 film), a Ukrainian animated fantasy film * ''Clara'' (TV series), a German TV series * Clara the Cow, mascot of the Greek TV show '' P ...

not to play it.

Character

Leaving aside the allusions to Florestan and Eusebius, all of Schumann's proposed titles show some of the essential character of Op. 13's conception. This was of 'studies' in the sense that the term had assumed in

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

's Op. 10, that is to say, concert pieces in which the investigation of possibilities of technique and timbre in writing for the piano is carried out; they are 'symphonic études' through the wealth and complexity of the colours evoked – the keyboard becomes an "orchestra" capable of blending, contrasting or superimposing different timbres. If etudes Nos. 3 and 9 are excluded, where the connection with the theme is tenuous, the etudes are in variation form. It was not the first time that Schumann had tackled variation form. But here the variation principle is used more as free transformation, no longer of an actual theme, but of a musical 'cell' or cells (as for example in the same composer's ''Carnaval''). The ''Études symphoniques'' learn the lesson 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 ''

Diabelli Variations The ''33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli'', Op. 120, commonly known as the ''Diabelli Variations'', is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli. It for ...

'': the theme that acts as a unifying element is amplified and transformed, and becomes the basis from which blossom inventions of divergent expressive character. The work also shows the influence of the ''

Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'' (), BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of thirty variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may ...

'', most obviously in the use of a pseudo-

French overture The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. Its basic formal division is into two parts, which are usually enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. They are complementary in style (slow in dotted rhythms and fast in ...

variation, and in the use of various canonic effects. The highly virtuosic demands of the piano writing are frequently aimed not merely at effect but at clarification of the

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

complexity and at delving more deeply into keyboard experimentation. The Etudes are considered to be one of the most difficult works for piano by Schumann (together with his ''Fantasy in C'' and ''Toccata'') and in Romantic literature as a whole.

Later publication history

In 1861, five years after Schumann's death, his father-in-law

Friedrich Wieck Johann Gottlob Friedrich Wieck (18 August 1785 – 6 October 1873) was a noted German piano teacher, voice teacher, owner of a piano store, and author of essays and music reviews. He is remembered as the teacher of his daughter, Clara, a chil ...

published a third edition under the editorial pseudonym "DAS" (an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for ''Der alte Schulmeister''). This edition attempted to reconcile the differences between the earlier two, and bore both the previous titles ''XII Études Symphoniques'' and ''Études en forme de variations''. On republishing the set in 1890,

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

restored the five variations that had been cut by Schumann. These are now often played, but in positions within the cycle that vary somewhat with each performance; there are now twelve variations and these five so-called "posthumous" variations which exist as a supplement. The five posthumously published sections (all based on Fricken's theme) are: * Variation I – ''Andante, Tempo del tema'' * Variation II – ''Meno mosso'' * Variation III – ''Allegro'' * Variation IV – ''Allegretto'' * Variation V – ''Moderato''.

Orchestrations

Two sections, including the ''Allegro brillante'', were orchestrated by

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

, and have been recorded.Amazon
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Notes

External links

Analysis and description of Robert Schumann's Symphonic Etudes * * * performed by Peter Bradley-Fulgoni {{DEFAULTSORT:Symphonic Etudes

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 ...

Piano music by Robert Schumann 1834 compositions Variations Compositions in C-sharp minor