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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

Eusebius, Florestan, and Other Friends: Robert Schumann’s Use of Literary Figures in His

Writings and Piano Compositions

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Master of Music in Music, Performance

Nasim Moattar

May 2020

The thesis of Nasim Moattar is approved:

Professor Mark Richman Date

Dr. Gayle Kowalchyk Date

Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov, Chair Date

California State University Northridge

Table of Contents

Signature Page ii

List of Musical Examples iv

Abstract v

Section 1 1

Bibliography 20

iii

List of Musical Examples

Example 1.1. Papillons, Op.2, No.1…………………………………………….10

Example 1.2. Carnaval, Op.9, Florestan, mm.19-22.…………………………...10

Example 1.3. Papillons, Op.2, Finale, end………………………………………11

Example 1.4. Carnaval, Op.9, Eusebius, opening……………………………….12

Example 1.5. Carnaval, Op. 9, Florestan, opening………………………………13

Example 1.6. Carnaval, Op.9, Estrella…………………………………………...14

Example 1.7. Davidsbündlertanze, No.18, opening……………………………...16

Example 1.8. Kreisleriana, Op. 16, opening……………………………………...18

Example 1.9. Kreisleriana, Op.16, mm.23-45…………………………………....18

Abstract

Eusebius, Florestan, and Other Friends: Robert Schumann’s Use of Literary Figures in His

Writings and Piano Compositions

Nasim Moattar

Master of Music in Music, Performance

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was one of the most influential characters of the Romantic Era.

He was not only a leading composer of different forms of music, but also a prominent critical writer and a journalist. His writings were greatly influenced and inspired by the works of Jean-

Paul Richter as well as E. T. A. Hoffmann; and in his early works as a critic, he has used their fictional characters with different titles. Schumann's music was engaged with the literary traditions of his time and was a strong reflection of his literary imagination. In this paper, I will

v describe Schumann’s use of characters or alter-identities as part of a literary tradition in which he participated, both as a composer and a writer, and will examine his use of these literary characters and their influence on his piano works. I will conduct this research using primary sources such as his letters, critical writings, and his music, as well as secondary sources such as articles, journal entries, and books written by scholars on this subject.

Section 1

Robert Schumann, a composer of the Nineteenth century in Germany, was as much literary as he was musical. He was not only a leading composer of the Romantic Era, but also a prominent critical writer as well as a journalist. He was a true Romantic in combining life and art and had a passion for extreme emotions. He also supported poetry and literature.1 He strongly believed that music, like any other form of the art, must be appropriate with its time, and it should always look forward while at the same time building on the works of the masters of the past. Schumann’s music was always closely related to the important events of his life and the people he loved.

Schumann was also a very literary composer and in his early years he was devoted to literature and music and experimented with both.2 He was greatly influenced by the literary works of Jean-

Paul Richter as well as E. T. A. Hoffman. Schumann’s music was greatly engaged with the literary traditions of his time, and it was a strong reflection of his literary imagination. He used literary figures in his writings as well as his compositions, which reflected his literary imagination. In his imagination, Schumann had a society of literary figures who were communicating with each other, arguing at times, and having conversations. Through the interactions of these characters, who all existed in the real world with different names as his circle of close friends and family, he used them to critique other composers’ works and publish his viewpoints about music of his time. He also used these figures to give unique characteristics to smaller parts of his larger piano cycles. Based on his mental picture of each character, in his larger piano works, he composed the smaller pieces and titled them with the name of that figure.

In this paper, I will describe Schumann’s use of literary figures as part of a literary tradition that

1 Judith Chernaik, Schumann: The Faces and The Masks (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018): ix.

2 Ibid. 1 he participated in, both as a composer and a writer and will examine his use of these literary characters and their influence on his major piano works. I will also inspect the influence of Jean

Paul and E. T. A. Hoffman on Schumann’s literal and musical works as well as his literary imagination. In order to conduct this research, I have used Schumann’s letters, diaries, and critical writings on different subjects. I will also examine four of his major piano works –

Papillons, Op. 2; Carnaval, Op.9; Davidsbündlertanze, Op.6; and Kreisleriana, Op.16 – where there are clearer appearances of the literary figures and the connection between literary sources and the characters in his music is more transparent.

Schumann’s interest in literature and his ambition in becoming a writer was in part due to his father August Schumann’s status as a bookseller, publisher, and translator of Sir Walter

Scott. Robert grew up reading many books and familiarizing himself with literature of his time.

The influence of Jean-Paul Richter and E. T. A. Hoffman was not only prominent on his literary works but was also significant in his music. Of all the books that Schumann read in his life, none of them was more influential to him that the works of Jean Paul.3 He wrote in his diary in 1828:

I often asked myself where I would be if I had not known Jean Paul: because he seems to be intertwined with me, on one side at least. For I sensed him earlier: perhaps I would write exactly as I do now, but I would not avoid the society of men, and I would dream less. I cannot really imagine exactly what I would be like. It’s a question I cannot answer.4

3 Ulrich Tadday, “Life and Literature, Poetry and Philosophy: Robert Schumann’s Aesthetics of Music,” in The Cambridge Companion to Schumann, ed. Beate Perrey (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007): 40.

4 Ibid. 2

The impact of Jean Paul’s great novels was significant on Schumann’s literary works as well as his compositions. One of Jean Paul’s greatest influences on Schumann was the way Jean Paul used literary figures in his famous work Flegeljahre (1804). In this novel, Jean Paul introduced for the first time his alter identities, the twin brothers by the names of Walt and Vult. Walt and

Vult Harnrisch in Jean Paul Richter’s Flegeljahre were the immediate literary inspirations for

Schumann’s doubles.5 Schumann described his famous Papillons, Op.2 as a musical representation of the masquerade that ended that novel, one of the most popular literary works of its time. He begged his mother and his sisters in- law to read the novel in order to discover

“Wina's angelic love, Walt's poetical nature, [and] Vult's sparkling intellect in the separate

6 sections of Papillons.” Florestan and Eusebius, famous alter identities of Schumann, who played major roles in his literary writings as well as his compositions, were directly inspired by

Jean Paul’s famous novel, Flageljahre. According to Judith Chernaik in her book Schumann, The

Faces and The Masks, Schumann mentions the doubles in multiple novels by Jean Paul in his diary: “It was Jean Paul who coined the term Doppelganger, meaning a ghostly double or exact image of the self, as in the dark poem (untitled) in Heine’s Book of Songs that Schubert set as

7 Der Doppelganger.” Therefore, the use of multiple personalities was neither a unique characteristic of Schumann’s music and literature, nor was it evidence of his mental illness.

Schumann had just been following a literary tradition that existed in 19th century Germany. He studied them in the works of his favorite authors and found the best place for them in his writings and his piano compositions.

5 Judith Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers: Florestan and Eusabius Revisited,” The Musical Times 152, no.1917 (2011): 45-46.

6 Ibid., 46.

7 Chernaik, Schumann: The faces and the Masks, 20.

E. T. A. Hoffman was Schumann’s other favorite author who significantly influenced his literary and musical works. Similar to Jean Paul, Hoffman introduced literary characters in his famous work Kreisleriana (1815), a series of essays and stories, and his novel Lebensansichten

8 des Katers Murr (The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, 1820-2). After his lifelong passion for Jean Paul, Schumann greatly respected E. T. A. Hoffman. Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler was Hoffman’s alter-ego, who was furious about the situation of music. Schumann took

Hoffman’s character and used it as a model for his own style of journalism in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, NZfM.9 In Hoffman’s stories, Kreisler is his own double who fluctuates between dreamer and madman. Kreisler is the hero of The Tomcat Murr and in other words, Hoffman’s doppelganger. In Hoffman’s stories, the line between fantasy and reality is not clear and “he

10 usually places ordinary people in extraordinary situations.” Schumann’s major piano composition Kreisleriana, is inspired by the character of Johannes Kreisler from Hoffman’s works.

In July 1831, a few days after his twenty-first birthday, Schumann wrote in his diary:

“Completely new personae are entering my diary today- two of my best friends whom, nevertheless, I have never seen before. They are Florestan and Eusebius.”11 Florestan and

Eusebius are Schumann’s famous alter-egos who not only entered his diary, but also became independent characters in his music and his essays.12 They played a key role as his alter identities

8 Beate Perrey, “Schumann’s Lives, and Afterlives: An Introduction” in The Cambridge Companion to Schumann (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007): 14.

9 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 46.

10 Kautsky, “Eusebius, Florestan and friends: Schumann and the Doppelganger Tradition in German Literature,” The American Music Teacher 61, no.2 (Oc2 2011): 32.

11 Perrey, “Schumann’s Lives, and Afterlives,”13.

12 Chernaik, Schumann: The faces and The Masks, 20.

4 or doubles and in some cases, even authors of his critical writings and one of the main themes of his piano compositions for over a decade. Florestan and Eusebius are believed to be Schumann’s double characters and could reflect the introvert and extrovert aspects of his personality. He describes Florestan’s character the wild, and Eusebius’s the mild.13 In his own words in a verse to Clara, he describes Florestan and Eusebius as below:

Eusebius’s mildness, Florestan’s ire- I can give thee, at will, my tears or my fire, For my soul by turns two spirits possess- The spirits of joy and of bitterness.14

To Schumann, Eusebius and Florestan were not separate from himself, and he asked Clara to accept his alter identities as an inseparable part of him. Schumann had taken Florestan’s name from Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, which was a powerful political work. Florestan was the name of the hero of Fidelio who was unjustly imprisoned. Schumann was familiar with the performance and had seen the score before. Recently, he had also been secretly playing a four- hand piano version of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, dedicated originally to Napoleon. In the

Eroica, Schumann had recognized images of freedom and peace. In Beethoven’s music,

Florestan represented the ideal of poetry and truth to which Schumann had passionately devoted himself.15 Schumann chose this name for his alter identity because this character tells the truth in

Beethoven’s works. Schumann strongly believed in freedom of the arts and through Florestan’s character, he could express his true feelings and thoughts. He called Florestan the “friend of my

13 Ibid.

14 Robert Schumann, The Letters of Robert Schumann, ed. Karl Storck (London: John Murray, 1907): 58.

15 Chernaik, Schumann: The Faces and the Masks, 21-22.

5 heart,” and “my ‘I’” in his writings.16 Although Florestan’s name was closely associated with

Beethoven for Schumann, Eusebius did not have any origin or resemblance. The only possibility might be that he was inspired by Raphael’s painting Eusebius of Cremona Raising Three Men from the Dead as he was very fond of Raphael’s works. Another possibility according to

Chernaik in Schumann: The Faces and the Masks is that although Schumann was by no means a religious person, he asked Clara in a letter, to look at the calendar on both sides of her own saint’s day, where she will find St. Eusebius.17 Eusebius was the dreamer part of Schumann’s personality and had a gentle and soft character. In his compositions, Schumann repeatedly stops in a middle of a piece and starts dreaming. The mood and tone completely change when he converts to the Eusebius part of his character even if it is short and lasts for a few measures only.

These changes in the mood, are usually very abrupt and sudden. He then immediately goes back to the main structure of the piece after the short period of dreaming and continues where he left off.

Schumann had also renamed his close circle of friends and had given new identities to them: Frederick Wieck, his piano teacher, had become Meister Raro; Clara, Wieck’s daughter and Schumann’s future wife, was Zilia; and Robert’s Lover Christel, was Charitas. Three years later, these friends became his imaginary society of artists that he called the Davidsbündler, or

Band of David.18 He described his society twenty years later in his own words:

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 45.

A society that was more than a secret society, that is, that existed only in the mind of its creator, the Davidsbündler. In order to express different views on art, it seemed appropriate to invent contrasting artistic characters, among whom Florestan and Eusebius were the most important, while midway between them stood Meister Raro. This Davidsbündlerschaft wound itself like a red thread through the journal pages, binding together Dichtung und Wahrheit (truth and invention) in a humorous manner.19 The Davidsbündler society was not just an imaginary creation that existed secretly in

Schumann’s mind. It served the very important purpose of inventing artistic characters who would help with writing the pages of his critical music journal.

In 1834, Schumann became the founder and editor of the music journal Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, and his imaginary circle were the contributors to the journal. In his journal, aside from his close circle, Mendelssohn also became F. Meritis; his teacher Dorn, Musikdirektor; and his close friend Flechsig, the Jungling Echomein. In this journal, Schumann wrote critically about music, a subject which was new at the time, and combined excerpts from literature and poetry with his critical writing. Below is an example of Schumann’s critical writing in his famous essay

An Opus 2, in which he admires Chopin’s genius through his literary characters, Florestan and

Eusebius:

Eusebius came in quietly the other day. You know the ironic smile on his pale face with which he seeks to creak suspense. I was sitting at the piano with Florestan. Florestan is, as you were, one of those rare musical minds which anticipate, as it were that which is new and extraordinary. Today, however, he was surprised. With the words, “Hats off, gentlemen- a genius!” Eusebius laid a piece of music on the piano rack. We were not allowed to see the title page. Vacantly I turned over its leaves; something magic in it. And besides this, it seems to me that every composer presents a different character of note forms to the eye; Beethoven looks very different from Mozart on paper; just as Jean Paul’s prose is different from that of Goethe.20

19 Ibid.

20 Robert Schumann, On Music and Musicians, ed. Konard Wolff (New York: Pantheon, 1946): 126.

Schumann delighted in becoming others and liked to create a group of different voices speaking to, against, and for each other, but always through and in him.21 By utilizing his literary figures,

Schumann spoke the truth through his characters in his writings, and he could do so very freely.

The goal of the New Journal for Music was to challenge the influential and established

Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (a German- language periodical published in the 19th century),which was running, in his opinion, by a self-satisfied group of Philistines.22 Schumann regarded some composers as inferiors or Philistines and believed that they are mostly concerned about composing technically flashy and virtuosic passages and worry less about the musical and artistic aspect of their compositions. He critiqued their work in his journal for being only for people’s entertainment and serving no musical goal.

For a decade, from 1829-1839, Schumann composed almost exclusively for solo piano.23

During these years, he composed mostly in larger forms and wrote some major character pieces which have been among his most performed compositions to this day. Schumann’s use of literary figures was not limited to his critical writings and essays. Since 1831, when he invented these literary characters, and they entered his diary for the first time, they made appearances in his piano compositions as well. Based on the original manuscript, Florestan and Eusebius composed nearly all the piano works of the 1830s, including Carnaval, Etudes symphoniques and the C major Fantasie. On the title pages of his Piano Sonata op. 11 (1835) and the Davidsbündlertanze

(1837), instead of Schumann’s name, Florestan’s and Eusebius’s names appear, and they have

21 Perrey, “Schumann’s Lives, and Afterlives,” 14.

22 Perrey, “Schumann’s Lives, and Afterlives,” 26.

23 John Daverio, “Piano Works I: A World of Images,” in The Cambridge Companion to Schumann, ed. Beate Perrey (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007): 65.

8 initialed each dance ‘F.’ or ‘E.’24 To Schumann, these figures were his real friends who each had their own personality and role in his compositions.

Papillons, Op. 2, published in April 1832, is the first piece in which he used his literary figures. This work is meant to represent a masked ball and includes twelve dance pieces.

Papillons is a musical representation of Jean Paul’s famous novel Flegeljahre which also takes place in a masked ball. Schuman, like Jean Paul, was very fascinated with the idea of the masks or disguises and their possibilities and cleverness. In the words of Kautsky in her article:

“Papillons actually models itself after Walt and Vult’s final evening together; it depicts a giant boot wearing and carrying itself (thus itself self-reflexive), various dances and Walt and Vult’s exchanges during the festivities.”25 Schumann’s alter identities, Florestan and Eusebius, are the immediate literary representations of Walt and Vult, Jean Paul’s imaginary twins in his novel.26

The rising and falling scale in Papillons, No.1, bars 1-4, is believed to be the key Papillon. The reason for that is not only Schumann’s return to it exactly the same in the Finale of the cycle, but also Schumann’s introducing it in the Florestan piece of his Carnaval, at first with a little hesitation, and then in full, marked ‘Papillon?’ (see example 1.1 and 1.2).27

24 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 48.

25 Kautsky, “Eusebius, Florestan and Friends,” 34.

26 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 45.

27 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Papillons Op.2: a case study,” Musical Times 153 no. 1920 (Autumn 2012): 70.

Example 1.1, Robert Schumann, Papillons Op.2, no.1 (excerpt)

Example 1.2, Schumann, Carnaval Op.9, Florestan (excerpt)

The dances in Papillons are not directly related to each other, and their melodies and rhythms are different. However, the character pieces are interwoven with dancers in a way that one sees the emotions of the dancers themselves being in love, anxious, and overall creating carnival chaos.28 In Papillons, Schumann creates strong images and moods in each dance piece that are completely different from one another. Although the dance pieces do not have descriptive titles, he creates very descriptive scenes in each short piece. The Finale includes the opening motif with the Grandfather’s Dance which traditionally serves as the second to last dance at a German ball. In this section, each dancer makes his or her own entrance, tramping or spinning cheerfully, flirting with other dancers, joining forces, and disappearing as the clock

28 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Papillons Op.2,” 69.

10 strikes six.29 Strikes of the clock are shown by the repeated “A’s” in the right hand, towards the end of the piece, which also indicates the end of the ball (see example 1.3).

Example 1.3, Schumann, Papillons Op.2, Finale, end (excerpt)

Carnaval Op. 9 is Schumann’s most popular piano suite and has been recorded and musically critiqued the most among his piano works. This composition is considered to be a musical version of the unsuccessful Davidsbündler novel, since each masked figure is characterized in this piece with music instead of words. Carnaval, like Papillons, Op.2, is a masquerade in which Florestan and Eusebius play a more functional role in it. They appear as

29 Chernaik, Schumann: The faces and The Masks, 25.

11 musical characters distinguished by tone, rhythm, and harmony.30 Eusebius’s voice is sotto voce, it is a soft lyrical tone in Eb, and it usually moves gently by steps above a slow rising or falling bass (see example 1.4). Florestan on the other hand, has leaps that move wildly all over the keyboard using diminished seventh chords landing repeatedly on F# or F with sforzando accents

(see example1.5) 31. In Carnaval, two of the pieces are titled Florestan and Eusebius, and each piece is in accordance with the figure’s character and his personality.

Example 1.4, Schumann, Carnaval Op.9, Eusebius, opening

30 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 48.

31 Ibid.

Example 1.5, Schumann Carnaval Op. 9, Florestan, opening

What makes Carnaval distinctive from Schumann’s other compositions is that he has used many figures and masks and has characterized them in music. Besides featuring Florestan,

Eusebius, and Meister Raro (Wieck), some of the comedia dell’arte figures appear in Carnaval in a series of comic pranks. Pierrot and Arlequin, Pantalone and Colombine are comedia dell’arte characters that are closely related to Eusebius and Florestan, Wieck, and Clara.32 They are the traditional clowns of comedia dell’arte, such as the melancholy Pierrot and the playful

Arlequin.33 Chiarina is a picture of Clara at the piano. It is shown by fortissimo octaves at fast speed, for her confidence and mastery in playing the instrument. Like Florestan, her voice is appassionato, as she energetically shows her natural mastery of the keyboard.34 Other characters in Carnaval include Paganini and Chopin, honorary characters of Davidsbünd, who are artistically introduced in their own compositional style. The Chopin piece has a free-floating and

32 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 50.

33 Chernaik, Schumann: The faces and The Masks, 37.

34 Ibid., 38.

13 smooth melody and arpeggiated accompaniments. Schumann had heard Niccolò Paganini, a famous Italian virtuoso violinist, perform live and had been admiring his technique as well as musicality, thinking of him as a magician.35 The Paganini piece has rapid presto leaps, which represent rapid short bows and change of strings, and its flow is unstoppable. Ernestine,

Schumann’s fiancé at the time, is Estrella, meaning star. Her dance introduces her officially as a member of the Davidsbünd, inviting her to dance with others and to join the march against the

Philistines that ends the carnival. Her piece is a waltz with strong accents that suggests grace and courteous self-control. Intervals in soft piano sound, fast and molto espressivo, suggest

Ernestine’s childlike character. The con affetto instruction, which means with feeling and tenderness, suggests a love affair. Therefore, the contrasting sections of Estrellla suggest

Ernestine’s aristocratic background and her innocent character (see example 1.6).36

Example 1.6, Schumann, Carnaval Op.9, Estrella

35 Ibid.

36 Ibid.

At the end of Carnaval, the Philistines are represented in the traditional Grandfather’s

Dance which ends Paillons as well. They are represented in a dance called Marche des

Davidsbündler contre les Philistines.37

In comparing Schumann’s Carnaval to his later work Davidsbündlertanze, one can see that he explores a different territory in his music. Although Davidsbündlertanze is Op.6, it was composed after Carnaval, which is Op. 9. In his later works, he no longer uses masks, but faces instead. The members of the Davidsbünd are no longer dressed as commedia dell’arte figures, and as the masks are dropped, the images in his later music are less superficial, they haunt the listener like a distant memory from the past.38 Davidsbündlertanze is the title of a piano composition which was published in 1838 in a set of 18 waltzes in two volumes and each movement of the work is signed either ‘F.’ or ‘E.’, representing Florestan and Eusebius as composers of each movement. Unlike Carnaval, in which the dance pieces are titled Florestan and Eusebius, this work is not as much a portrait of their characters as it is their supposed compositions.39 Each character’s contribution in this work is differentiated by changes in key, pace, and dynamics. Eusebius’s voice has the markings of Innig (intimate), Einfach (simple),

Zart und singend (tender and singing), versus Florestan’s Ungeduldig (impatient), Frisch (fresh) voice.40 At the end of each book of nine dances, Clara is recalled in her favorite key of C. The ninth dance is a brilliant piece which recalls her performance as Chiarina in Carnaval. The final waltz, a coda described by Eusebius as superfluous, reminds us of a rhythmic pattern that we

37 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 50.

38 Laura Tunbridge, “Piano Works II: Afterimages,” in The Cambridge Companion to Schumann, ed. Beate Perrey (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007): 86.

39 Tunbridge, “Piano Works II,” 86.

40 Chernaik, “Schumann’s Doppelgangers,” 50.

15 hear both in Papillons and Carnaval.41 In Book 1, above the final piece reads: “Here Florestan stopped and his lips trembled with sorrow,”42 and it is followed by a lively dance in C major suggesting Clara’s portrait in Carnaval as Chiarina. In Book 2, above the final dance reads:

“superfluously, Eusebius added the following, and his eyes shone with great happiness.”43 He added a pianissimo arpeggio in G7 which leads to a waltz in C, as if Clara is speaking herself

(see example 1.7).44

Example 1.7, Schumann, Davidsbündlertanze, no.18, opening

Another piano composition in which Schumann used his imaginary figures is

Kreisleriana (1838). Similar to Papillons, Op.2 that was inspired by Jean Paul’s Flegeljahre,

Kreisleriana was also directly influenced by E. T. A. Hoffman’s Kreisleriana in his

Fantasiestucke in Callots Manier and Hoffman’s own double Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler.

Kreisler is Hoffman’s imaginary character who is represented in other works of Hoffman, including Kater Murr. This piece responds to Hoffman’s text in terms of subject matter as well as structure. This piece has eight movements with very abrupt changes between the movements and within them. Although Schumann did not reject physicality, he saw music as a means to

41 Ibid.

42 Chernaik, Schumann: The Faces and the Masks, 84.

43 Ibid.

44 Ibid.

16 provide an entry into the secrets of the spiritual world.45 He too, like Kreisler, always intentionally floated on the border of insanity, and frequently held on to the idea of going mad.

However, he often looked for and chose safer alternatives in his imagination and inner world, and those alternatives were his literary figures and the characters which he used in his compositions and his literary writings. Of all his piano pieces, Kreisleriana seems to be the most about his struggles with dream versus reality and sane versus insane with its contrast in key and mood, its rhythmic variations, and the clear existence of Johannes Kreisler. Based on a novel written half by a cat (The Life and Opinions of Kater Murr, is an autobiography of a cat named

Tomcat Murr), this piece is mostly about split identities; and for both Hoffman and Schumann, this is a place where humor and mental imbalance come dangerously close together. It is clear that Schumann, like Hoffman, was also struggling with the fine line between reality and dreams, and with his music he was in fact trying to show his doubles and split identities to the world in a meaningful way. In Kreisleriana, Op.16, Florestan opens the piece with his fiery and fierce character, but this does not last long (see example 1.8). Schumann makes a sudden transition in the middle section to Eusebius and the dreamy part of his character. The mood suddenly changes as Schumann pauses to dream for a while in a soft, mild tone and with a change of key (see example 1.9). Then Schumann changes the mood yet again and makes a transition to the first theme where we can hear the fiery Florestan opening all the way to the end of the first movement. This juxtaposition between reality and dreams, and between the dual parts of his identity, also shows to what extent Schumann was inspired and influenced by the philosophy and works of E. T. A. Hoffman and his unique imagination.

45 Kautsky, “Eusebius, Florestan and Friends,” 33. 17

Example 1.8, Schumann, Kreisleriana Op.16, Opening

Example 1.9, Schumann, Kreisleriana, mm.23-34 (excerpt)

As a conclusion, literary characters and imaginary figures not only had a key role in literary and critical writings of Robert Schumann but were also an inseparable part of his piano compositions, specifically between the years of 1829-1839 when he wrote exclusively for piano.

Despite the common belief, use of multiple personalities was neither exclusive to Schumann’s works, nor was it an early sign of his madness.46 Schumann was following the Doppelganger tradition of the 19th century Germany which existed in poems, novels, and essays of the great masters of that era, such as Jean Paul and E. T. A. Hoffman. Schumann looked for these traditions and studied them deeply in the works of his two most favorite authors and found a place for them in his piano works. Schumann believed that these figures were not separate from himself and were in fact part of him. In his piano compositions, he has mostly used these characters as masks, as in Carnaval; however, in comparing this work to his later work

Davidsbündlertanze, one finds out that he has no longer used the commedia dell’arte figures and his images are more real.47 In other words, in his later piano works, Schumann used faces, not masks, and this is evidence of his stronger confidence in himself and shows that Florestan and

Eusebius were, in fact, the dual sides of the composer’s own character.

46 Kautsky, “Eusebius, Florestan and Friends,” 31.

47 Tunbridge, “Piano Works II”, 86. 19

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———."Schumann's Papillons Op.2: a case study." Musical Times 153, no.1920 (Autumn 2012): 67-86.

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