Arabeske for piano

Although he went on later in life to write some of the greatest vocal, chamber, and symphonic works, young Robert Schumann (1810-1856) devoted himself exclusively to the piano. He was fortunate to have a father who recognized and fostered his precocious talent. Each of Schumann’s first thirty published compositions is for solo piano, including two selections heard today. Acclaimed pianist Wilhelm Kempff regards these early pieces as “the most significant works Schumann ever wrote.” This is not to say that the music of the 1830s was always successful or that it came easily from his pen. Many unpublished efforts reveal a composer struggling to find his voice and give a particular motive its ideal musical setting.
As a teenager Schumann also revealed the literary aspirations that one might have expected from a bookseller’s son. Upon his father’s death, however, he was steered toward a practical profession (law) at the universities of Leipzig and Heidelberg. In truth, Schumann spent more time socializing with poets and composers, learning more about love than law. He maintained the façade of being a diligent scholar for nearly ten years before openly pursuing his musical ambitions. Schumann was understandably drawn by the allure of the touring virtuoso. Ironically, he ruined his own chances for such a career by overstraining his right hand—he used a contraption to strengthen the naturally weak fourth finger—, turning instead to composition and criticism. We are certainly the richer thereby, for like Moscheles, Paganini, or Thalberg, Schumann the touring virtuoso likely never would have found time or inclination to pen the mature essays and compositions that he eventually did.

Although counted among his piano pieces intended primarily for amateur performance in the 19th-century salon, Schumann’s Arabeske offers technical challenges for the experienced player, memorable themes, and some beautifully expressive moments. Loosely following the rondo form—ABACA—this piece opens with a lilting figure that never quite goes away, even after the introduction of a second, slightly more ponderous and demonstrative theme a few minutes into the work. Schumann takes us through more exploratory, darker passages of the piece, but the “A” theme still rises to the fore with a persistence that works toward creating a wonderful airiness throughout the Arabeske. The final section of the piece diverts us from the airiness via a stunningly tender passage where the sense of movement that has propelled the work until now falls away for a short meditation in the piano’s upper register with light accompaniment beneath. The principal figure has not been forgotten, however; we hear this gesture one final time as a last, soft punctuation.

(c) Jason Stell