Schumann String Quartets Emerson

Cover image: Snow Storm; Steam-Boat off Harbour’s Mouth(1842) Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 41/1 Created in 1842, the same year that Robert Schumann wrote his three string quartets, 1 I. Introduzione. Andante espressivo — Allegro 9. 11 Turner’s painting fully conveys the Romanticism, modernity and intensity of these 2 II. Scherzo. Presto 3. 46 extraordinary compositions. 3 III. Adagio 5. 34 4 IV. Presto 6.19

String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2 5 I. Allegro vivace 5. 54 6 II. Andante, quasi variazioni 7. 23 7 III. Scherzo. Presto 3. 15 8 IV. Allegro molto vivace 6. 52

String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3 9 I. Andante espressivo — Allegro molto moderato 6. 57 10 II. Assai agitato 6. 17 11 III. Adagio molto 8. 01 12 Finale. Allegro molto vivace 7. 11 Total playing time: 76. 46 Emerson String Quartet: Eugene Drucker, first in Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 Philip Setzer, first violin in Quartet No. 3 Lawrence Dutton, , At a time when lives, livelihoods and the performing arts have been threatened by of opus 41 no. 1, when the music suddenly becomes more peaceful and shifts a worldwide crisis, we are grateful for the opportunity to share a labor of love that from minor to major, the use of drones on A reminds us of the musette section in pre-dated the pandemic: our recording of Schumann’s three quartets, opus 41. Beethoven’s opus 132. Indeed, the shadow of Beethoven looms over each of these We’ve lived with this music intermittently since our early years, having recorded opus quartets, in which we also find evidence of the contrapuntal skill that must have 41 no. 3 in the mid-1980s and occasionally performed the other two works within come from Schumann’s intensive study of Bach’s fugues. Perhaps in the mercurial the next decade. But our immersion in the entire opus, which was the result of a scherzo of opus 41 no. 2 we can hear a reference to the gossamer-textured scherzos “miracle month” of Schumann’s creative inspiration in the summer of 1842, has been of Schumann’s friend Mendelssohn. But throughout this body of work there are enormously gratifying for us. unmistakable signs of Schumann’s unique artistic personality: the obsession with syncopations and rhythmic displacement; sudden shifts of mood and key, as in the We performers feel an intense connection to each of the great composers whose slow, somber introduction to the A Minor quartet, which rouses itself to herald the works we are privileged to interpret. Few classical musicians can live happily without optimistic tone of the Allegro; and the ominous martial figure that dominates the the spiritual sustenance afforded by the music of Bach and Beethoven, or the next movement, to name just a few of the idiosyncratic touches we love. elegance and sheer beauty of Mozart. We relish the emotional and sonic extremes of the quartets of Bartók, Berg and Shostakovich. The entire Romantic period provides During this shutdown, some of us may find it difficult to summon the us with a rich vein of personal expression, ranging from Schubert’s powerful lyricism to organizational and creative energies that have filled our lives until now. Sometimes the folk-inspired inflections of Dvorak. it’s hard even to practice our instruments without a clear idea of what or when we’ll rehearse, or where our next concert might take place. With such uncertainty, Schumann’s music occupies a special place in our repertoire as individual players and it’s helpful to think of the mood swings — the alternating periods of depression as a quartet. Rarely has mental instability provided such fertile soil for a rich aesthetic and manic creativity — that governed Schumann’s life. Feeling vulnerable, we harvest. All three of the slow movements of opus 41 are gorgeous outpourings of pure are inspired by the artistic strength of this fragile genius. Listening to the final feeling, full of unusual textures and prominent solos for each instrument. We hear edits of these quartets, we stop thinking of our own wishes and demands as echoes of the slow movement of Beethoven’s opus 127 in the Andante of Schumann’s instrumentalists and start to connect to the deep spirit of the Romantic period, as opus 41 no. 2: the mellow key of A-flat Major, the lilting theme spun sensuously across embodied in the life and work of Robert Schumann. its 12/8 meter, and the variation technique that takes us on a long, often surprising journey, describing a narrative arc that comes full circle. In the impetuous finale - Eugene Drucker

4 5 Schumann’s String Quartets: Life al were fomenting was coincident with concept of “metal fatigue” was discovered Nastassja Kinski, ditto). A condensed, and Music in a Turbulent Time the revolution of technologies like steam and which led to the beginnings of unsentimentalized overview of the story and electrical power (making possible governmental regulation of the rail might be helpful here, since it will set up In February of 1842, Clara Wieck the railroad and telegraph systems which system. Accelerating transport and trade our couple as they begin their trip — which Schumann (1819-1896) embarked on a were starting to criss-cross Europe); mass also aided the spread of disease, cholera will lead, more or less directly, to the concert tour of northern Germany and production in agriculture, manufacture, in particular, which was carried from India composition of the Three Quartets, op.41. Denmark. The 22-year-old piano virtuoso, and building; the commercial development to Europe, North America, and beyond, well-known since her early teens, traveled of photography — all of which were quickly killing over 30 million people in a series Mental illness was pervasive in with her husband of a year-and-a-half, transforming the charming localities of of six pandemic waves across the 19th Schumann’s family. His father, a small- 31-year-old avant garde composer and the Old Order into our modern, globally century. In the summer of 1833, Schumann town bookseller and publisher who “new music journalist” Robert Schumann connected, industrial/capitalist world. lost his brother and sister-in-law to the supported and nurtured his very talented (1810-1856), and the first of their eight (As if to symbolize this historical passing, second wave (1826-37), precipitating a son’s artistic ambitions, developed some children. The Europe through which they a few weeks after the Schumanns begin debilitating bout of suicidal depression, kind of “nervous disorder” shortly after traveled was in deep sociopolitical flux, their journey, Constanze Mozart von the first in a series which would plague Robert’s birth; his older sister is described poised, as it were, between revolutions: Nissen, widow of Wolfgang Amadeus, dies him until his death at 46. as having had serious developmental the “Second French Revolution” of in Salzburg, comfortable and prosperous issues, dying in her late teens; and 1830/32, and the broader, more convulsive at last, at the age of 80.) Schumann’s mental/emotional turmoils two of his children with Clara had revolutions of 1848 — the short-lived have long been part of popular classical- mental issues severe enough to require “Springtime of the Nations” — also the Change happened fast, with the usual music lore [referenced in a Seinfeld institutionalization. Schumann’s own life, year of the Communist Manifesto. It was a unintended catastrophic consequences. episode, no less [“The Jacket”, 1991], from his early 20’s, teetered between time of mass migration from the country In May 1842, for example, just after Clara as has his tumultuous courtship and periods of almost superhuman creative to urban centers, upending old class- returned from her tour, the young rail marriage, which one may see hilariously exhilaration and crippling depression, structures and economies. The aesthetic industry suffered its first major disaster — misrepresented in films such asSong psychosis, and suicide attempts. revolution that Schumann, Berlioz, a derailment on the Paris-Versailles line of Love (1944, with Katherine Hepburn He was 16 when his father died; his Wagner, Delacroix, Turner, Hugo, Poe, et killing up to 200 people, wherein the as Clara) or Spring Symphony (1983, mother was not as keen on his musical

6 7 career and insisted he go to law school. and indiscipline, couldn’t have been an In 1834, he became engaged to equivalent of only a few thousand dollars Unsurprisingly, his foray into law did easy student, and Wieck’s attention was the adopted daughter of a wealthy per year during his entire creative life. not take, as he spent most of his time increasingly taken up with another pupil, landowner, but when it came to light absorbing the newest music of the his daughter Clara, whose virtuoso career that she was illegitimate and would bring Schumann spent his twenties, especially time, improvising at the piano, writing he had been planning since before her no dowry, meaning he would “have to after recovering from his 1833 breakdown, overheated bits of novels and plays, and birth. She was nine when Schumann first work like a day laborer,” he cancelled the creating a torrent of fantastical, inventive, indulging in plenty of late-adolescent began his study and 11 when she began engagement. One may not applaud his and, for the time, very unusual solo piano carousing {this autobiographical sketch concert touring, and Wieck would be gone actions, but it is true that the economic music — Carnival, Kreisleriana, Childhood gives a flavor: “Easter 1828. Night for longer and longer periods as he traveled prospects for a composer at that time Scenes, Novelettes, et al — which still raptures. Constant improvisation daily. with her. Schumann’s trajectory was ranged from poor to destitute. The era forms the basis of his popularity. His Also literary fantasies in Jean Paul’s further deflected when he suffered some of aristocratic patronage had died with position at the time, however, was manner. Special enthusiasm for Schubert, sort of injury or dystonia to his right hand the revolutions and the bourgeoisie probably more that of an edgy avant Beethoven too. Bach less. Letter to Franz [the popular story is that it was a result of were becoming the new audience; the gardist (think, for example, of a composer/ Schubert (not sent).” When Schubert using some kind of finger-strengthening marketplace suddenly looked quite pianist like Cecil Taylor or Thelonious died later that year, Schumann was contraption. However, historians — and different. If you weren’t a flashy performer Monk). Through the Wiecks, Schumann disconsolate and “wept loudly through Clara as well — have doubted that the or teacher, publishing was your only had met Mendelssohn and Liszt, who the night.”]. After some pleading, his machine was the root cause. Schumann option. However, the symphonies and began to champion his music (if, at times, mother allowed him to petition to study was a seriously tense guy; all you have to do that Princes Razumovsky warily). Around 1835, his relationship with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano is play his music at the piano to understand or Esterhazy were happy to pay for to the now 16-year-old Clara turned teacher in Leipzig. Wieck was sufficiently how he might have ended up with stress- were a harder sell to the newly birthed from collegial to romantic. Although impressed to take him on, going so far related issues.] and eventually had to middle class, who wanted popular songs Wieck himself seems to have been a as to say he could make Schumann into abandon hopes of a performing career. and facile salon numbers. According to thoroughly deplorable character, one a famous virtuoso after a few years of Always an enthusiastic promoter of modern Henry Raynor’s Music and Society Since might understand why he wasn’t thrilled study. But the course of study was not music, he began writing articles, and even 1815 (1978), Franz Schubert, for all his to see his teenage daughter coupled with smooth. Schumann, full of enthusiasms started his own new music periodical. miraculous fecundity, made the modern a crazy composer, 10 years her senior,

8 9 with no visible means of support — and Press; Clara Schumann: The Artist and the up and mature, like the big boys wrote — In one sense, the history and aesthetic of he did everything in his power, including Woman. Nancy Reich, Cornell University and it is a good guess that during these the Romantics can be seen as a reaction libel and threats, to thwart it. Clara and Press; “Clara Schumann” in Women six difficult weeks alone he was gearing to the socio-economic revolutions Robert’s letters, throughout their besieged Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, himself up to take on such a challenge. that were taking place. Artists were five-year courtship and sixteen years of 1150–1950. Nancy Reich, University of Clara returned at the end of April, as did increasingly drawn to the fantastical marriage, reveal a truly deep connection. Illinois Press.] his energy and confidence. His pattern was and macabre, to the otherworldly But they are also shot through (especially to compose in bursts (the manic side of his characters inhabiting the tales of E.T.A. to modern eyes) with issues of career, Now — accompanying his wife on a bipolarity, if you will). In 1840, his marriage Hoffmann and Poe, to the alienated, money, and gender roles. Clara may have tour where he was primarily “Clara’s had provoked an outpouring of 140 to the insane. Frankenstein was written indeed represented true love, but she husband” — all this seems to have been extraordinary songs, and similarly, in early in 1818 and vampires began appearing also represented a professional lifeline very much on his mind. He was increasingly June 1842, something clicked: after a bit of in stories, plays, even an opera (Der and economic security. As a popular and dismayed at his marginalization and in sketching, he began the first quartet on the Vampyr (1828), by Heinrich Marschner), widely respected performer, she brought mid-March bolted the tour and returned to 4th and, before finishing, began the second throughout the 1820’s and 30’s. The “alle his music to a wide audience, though Leipzig. He was too depressed to compose a week later. Both were done by the end of Menschen” of the Revolutionary Era in his lifetime she was by far the more and, ever insecure about his essentially the month. Between July 8-22 he wrote the was giving way to a focus on individual well known of the two. The ramifications self-taught compositional technique, third. All three are substantial, 4-movement and subjective experience. (Thoreau, of Clara’s motivations in all of this run spent his time between drinking “beer and works. He arranged a run-through of the another contemporary of Schumann, through much of what is covered in champagne” doing counterpoint exercises complete set on September 8. He then would decamp to Walden in 1845.) In this essay. However, having neither the and studying Beethoven and Mozart proceeded to write his marvelous Piano his ground-breaking piano music of the expertise nor the space here to explore quartets. (From the sound of his own Quintet op.44 between Sept 23-Oct 12; 1830’s, Schumann had created musical them in greater detail, I would redirect quartets, he was studying some Schubert, then the Piano Quartet op. 47 in November, portraits of a quasi-mythical cast of those interested to the following sources: too). Both Clara and Liszt had urged him and the Fantasy Pieces for piano trio op. 88 characters derived from different aspects [Clara Schumann: An Artist’s Life, Based to expand beyond songs and short piano in December — much of his best chamber of his own personality and his friends’. on Material Found in Diaries and Letters. pieces into large-scale instrumental works music in a remarkable six-month surge. He even formed them into a secret Berthold Litzmann, Cambridge University — symphonies and chamber music, grown society dedicated to artistic freedom

10 11 and the eradication of Philistinism (the structuring. Haydn, Mozart, and ambitions and towards the older, Davidsbündler, or “League of David”). Beethoven would start with musical established structures of his artistic The music itself seems to leap out at cells, phrases that often, on their own, fathers. The quartets are dedicated to you from the first note, with an in-the- were so generic as to have almost no Mendelssohn, who had, years before, moment urgency that reveals its roots inherent emotional content. But out of traded his youthful spark for a smooth, in improvisation. Every piece is highly the material’s contrast, dialogue, and “Great Master” respectability. The classic characterized — you get the vibe from eventual resolution they built complex, forms may not have been as natural a fit the very beginning. The basic texture, dramatic architectures. So it is interesting for Schumann’s talent as they were for derived from Schubert’s piano writing, to see, as we do in the music on this Mendelssohn’s, but he brought it off with is a long, multi-phrase melody spun out recording, how Schumann met the a wonderful sort of seat-of-the-pants over an accompanying network of pulsing challenge of confronting Beethoven mastery. rhythmic/harmonic patterns (and yes, this on the latter’s “home turf”: the string could also be a description of some jazz quartet. He had already confronted He took as his model the 4-movement practice). Each piece, essentially, is the Beethoven on his own turf, the piano, in template, prevalent from Mozart’s melody: when it ends, the piece is over. his Fantasy, op.17 — written as part of a late symphonies and chamber music Schumann would create larger structures project to raise money for a Beethoven through Middle Period Beethoven, then by collaging many melodies together into monument. In it, he forged an original, taken up by Schubert: a grand first nested, repeating patterns, and though he effective large-scale form that grows movement in sonata form, followed had a film-editor’s knack for knowing what naturally out of its impulsive material by a slow movement and a scherzo, in to follow what with, the music doesn’t and owes very little to conventional either order, capped with a rondo finale. “build” but rather remains in a gripping sonata practice. In the string quartets, (Beethoven’s late quartets, in which he present tense. however, he completely embraced completely exploded the template, were Classical form as he saw it. This might be still considered so weird that neither This is not Sonata Form, the thesis/ seen as yet another reaction — this time Schubert, Schumann, nor Brahms ever antithesis/synthesis that drives Classical Robert Schumann in 1839 to his wayward youth and scattershot attempted emulating them formally.) The Lithography by Josef Kriehuber (1800-1876)

12 13 “received” forms of the slow movement because criticisms like these are, at root, Short Notes on the Individual III. Adagio and scherzo more easily accommodated personal opinions, and my job is not to Quartets — Intended for Those A gorgeous, long-lined cantilena whose Schumann’s process since they were prejudice but, I hope, to enlighten. Who Love Music But Don’t first notes bear astrong resemblance to sectional and based on tunes. The outer Understand Music Theory Lingo. the slow movement of Beethoven’s Ninth movements, the pillars that support Symphony. A declamatory middle section the structure, were, in the Classical further summons the spirit of the Master. style, constructed of an ongoing and No.1, in A Minor ever-developing series of phrases; even IV. Presto — Moderato — Presto when motives or melodies came back, I. Introduzione. Andante espressivo — A jolly, chattering romp. Right near the they were always transformed in some Allegro end, everything suddenly halts and we way. If you are familiar with this kind Nothing says, “We’re being serious here,” hear what sounds like bagpipes from of music and with Schumann’s piano like a slow introduction — a clear shout- afar — a strange, unbidden memory (and music, it is fascinating to hear him out to Beethoven’s fondness for them. echo of a similar passage in Beethoven’s adapting his style to this kind of diction. Once the Allegro gets rolling, beautiful Quartet, Op. 132). He is not always successful, especially melodies and beguiling harmonies in the “development” bits, too often alternate with bouncy, sequential relying on strings of obsessively repeated Beethoven-ing. No.2 in F Major sequences in an attempt to whip up some Beethovenian momentum. Also, his sense II. Scherzo. Presto — Intermezzo — I. Allegro vivace of pacing can feel a little off at times — Presto Schumann seems to have gotten most of there are moments when the music seems Rhythmically obsessive; lots of the overt Beethoven-ing out of his system to reach a truly satisfying resolution, but syncopation. An “Intermezzo” suddenly in the first quartet and No.2 begins with then goes on to repeat some melody puts the brakes on, harmonic motion is a sweet, almost Haydnesque melody. or other because the Form demanded suspended — a magical effect. The second theme has a bittersweet, it. I will not specify particular moments yearning quality that threatens to

14 15 become the emotional center of the No.3 in A Major III. Adagio molto movement. An extraordinary outpouring that sounds I. Andante espressivo — Allegro molto like a letter written late at night and from II. Andante, quasi Variazioni moderato the depths of the soul. A spooky repeated Theme, six variations, and a coda. Though Schumann was fond of creating themes note figure, like the ticking of a clock, very slow, each variation features a out of friends’ names by turning the letters appears and recedes. The writer seems to different kind of obsessive, syncopated into notes. The slow introduction of the be trying to get everything into this letter, rhythm. The downbeat can feel elusive, third quartet focuses on a falling two-note but it grows ever later, and gradually, with the mood is unsettled. phrase that can only be heard as the actual the ticking, the movement falls asleep. vocalization of “Cla-ra!” The main theme of III. Scherzo. Presto — Trio. l’istesso the Allegro also starts with this motive, and IV. Allegro molto vivace tempo — Presto is followed by a stream of notes that seems A rocking, syncopated, folk-dance revolves More obsessive syncopation — everything to expand it to “Clara! — there are a million among other, smoother episodes—a begins on the upbeat, which keeps the things I have to talk to you about!” Because it carousel of shifting moods that recalls the rhythm tumbling forward. The oddly feels like a communication from one soul to quicksilver changes of his piano music. hushed, minor-key atmosphere gives this another, this quartet is the most emotionally He has, in a sense, finally made the string scherzo (literally, a “playful piece”) a direct (and original) of the three — you follow quartet his own. disturbing overtone. As if trying to lighten the rise and fall of a melody as if it were the things up, the Trio is slap-stick silly. trajectory of hope and doubt. © Paul Epstein

IV. Allegro molto vivace II. Assai agitato; variations Schumann is hitting his stride here — you Instead of a scherzo, four variations and really start to hear his individual voice coda on a pulsing, “very agitated” theme. coming through. A careening, surprising, and invigorating ride.

16 17 Acknowledgments Also available on PRODUCTION TEAM Executive producer Renaud Loranger A&R manager Kate Rockett Recording producer Da-Hong Seetoo

Cover photography Jürgen Frank Liner notes & short notes on the individual quartets © Paul Epstein Design Marjolein Coenrady Product management Kasper van Kooten

The A Minor Quartet was recorded on Dec 19-20, 2018 at Concordia College, Bronxville NY, the F Major Quartet on Jan 23-24, 2019 at Drew University, Madison, NJ, and the A Major PTC 5186 718 PTC 5186 827 Quartet on May 16-17, 2018 at Concordia College, Bronxville NY.

PENTATONE TEAM Vice President A&R Renaud Loranger | Managing Director Simon M. Eder

A&R Manager Kate Rockett | Product Manager Kasper van Kooten PTC 5186 807 PTC 5186 673 Head of Marketing, PR & Sales Silvia Pietrosanti 19 Sit back and enjoy