MM Oral Exam Presentation Schumann Op. 56
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1 Derek Remeš MM Orals Presentation April, 2014 A Performer's Guide to Six Studies in Canonic Form for Pedal Piano, Op. 56, by Robert Schumann This presentation will attempt to answer the following questions surrounding Robert Schumann's Six Studies in Canonic Form for Pedal Piano, Op. 56: • What was Schumann's relationship to the organ? • Why did Schumann write this set of canons? • How might a modern performer interpret these works at the organ? Part 1 - General Comments Relating to Op. 56 Schumann as Organist Organs Relating to Schumann The History of Op. 56 General Performance Suggestions Part 2 - Specific Comments about Movements of Op. 56 Part 1 - General Comments Relating to Op. 56 Schumann as Organist Opus 56, published in September 1845 in Leipzig by F. Whistling, is dedicated to Schumann's "honored teacher and friend," Johann Gottfried Kuntsch (1775-1855). Kuntsch was Schumann's first piano teacher and organist at the Marienkirche from 1802 to 1830, the largest church in Zwickau. Schumann was born in Zwickau in 1810, and baptized at the Marienkirche on June 14, 1810. (J.S. Bach's student Johann Ludwig Krebs was organist there from 1737-1743.) Kuntsch also taught piano at Dr. Archdeacon Döhner's private school, where Schumann studied from 1817 to 1825. Schumann wrote that Kuntsch was "a good teacher who 2 loved me, but whose playing was mediocre."1 Schumann remained lifelong friends with Kuntsch, although Clara Schumann wrote in 1889 that Kuntsch had not been "distinguished enough to be my husband's teacher."2 According to Jon Laukvik, we do not know for certain whether Schumann ever studied the organ.3 Despite this, Schumann gave the following advice in the Musikalische Haus- und Lebensregeln (conceived in 1848 as part of the Jugendalbum Op. 68 for piano): "Miss no opportunity to practice the organ. No other instrument avenges itself on impure and shoddy composition and playing like the organ does."4 Would Schumann have written this had he no experience practicing organ? Eric Friederick Jensen writes that Schumann was a gifted boy soprano, which could imply regular performances at the Marienkirche or another nearby church, likely accompanied by the organ.5 A diary entry from 1841 describes Schumann hearing a Silbermann organ while vacationing in Freiburg, and his intention to take lessons: "Lest I forget the most important thing, we also looked [today] at the outstanding Silbermann organ; the organist preluded and postluded a D minor fugue by Bach in C-sharp minor, which made us laugh a great deal. Clara also played, and soon might well be the most capable player. We are also planning to take organ lessons in Leipzig."6 Does his comment about Clara imply that while he has some skill at organ, Clara is the better player? The next entry implies neither of them had much ability, but also reveals Schumann's wit: "We also played the organ once in St. John's Church; an awful thing to remember because we did no handle it with any accomplishment, and in the Bach fugues Clara could never get past the second entrance, as though she 1 Wörner, Karl H.: Robert Schumann, Zurich, 1949, p. 27 2 Letter of 28 May 1889 to Frederick Niecks in Frederick Niecks, Robert Schumann (London, 1925), p. 32 3 Laukvik, Jon: Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing, Part 2: The Romantic Period, trans. Christopher Anderson, Carus, 2010, p. 163 4 Schumann, Robert: Gesammelte Schriften uuber Musik und Musiker. Selected articles ed. Herbert Schulze, Wiesbaden, n.d., p. 232 5 Jensen, Eric Friederick: Schumann, Oxford, 2012, p. 7 6 Stinson, Russel, Reception of Bach's Organ Works from Mendelssohn to Brahms, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) p. 84 3 were standing at a wide brook [i.e., Bach]- but we want to try it again soon; the instrument really is just too magnificent." Russel Stinnson describes a diary entry by Schumann from 1844, containing the passage, "first organ lesson."7 If the entry refers to Robert and not Clara, Robert did not follow through on his intentions of 1841, and apparently never studied in earnest with Kuntch. As 1844 is the same year Op. 56 was composed, perhaps the newly rented pedal piano (described later) spurred on Schumann's interest in formal organ lessons. Laukvik speculates that Kuntsch might have taken the young Schumann to at least see, if not play, the organ at the Marienkirche, or even travelled to the Silbermann organs in the nearby towns of Fraureuth and Ponitz (as noted above, Schumann came to think of Silbermann's organs as "outstanding" in 1841). It is known, however, that Schumann performed the piano part at age 11 of Friedrich Schneider's oratorio "Das Weltgericht" ("The Last Judgement") at the Marienkirche under the direction of Kuntsch.8 Schumann late wrote about the church: "Eines der merkwürdigsten Gebäude in Sachsen, dunkel und etwas phantastisch von Aussehen, ist es," / "It is one of the strangest buildings in Saxony, dark and somewhat marvelous[strange] in appearance,"9 (trans. by Derek Remes). Given that is likely Schumann had at least peripheral experience with the organ in his youth, an examination of dispositions of nearby instruments might yield insights into the registration of Schumann's pedal piano works at the organ. 7 Ibid. p. 91 8 Website brochure for tours of Schumann's home town: http://www.schumannzwickau.de/PDF/schumannweg.pdf 9 Gesammelte Schriften (Collected Letters), 1845, Book 2, p. 125 4 Organs Relating to Schumann Little is known of the organ at the Marienkirche in Zwikau during the early 19th cenutry, as it was replaced in the early 20th century. However, Gottfried Silbermann completed the 20-rank, 2-manual organ at the nearby town of Fraureuth in 1742. It remained in its original condition at least until 1850, when small repairs were made. This would have left it in the following form during Schumann's early years, should he have ever visited with Kuntsch: Silbermann organ at Fraureuth, 1742 Manual 1: Manual 2: Pedal Prinzipal 8' Gedacht 8' Subbaß 16' Quinta 4' Rohrflöte 4' Posaunenbaß 16' Octava 2' Nasat 3' Tertia 2' (1 3/5'?) Octava 2' Accessories: Mixture IV Quinta 1 1/2' (1 1/3') Manual push-coupler Cornet III Sufflet 1' Pedal coupler Quintadena 8' Sesquialtera Tremulant Rohrflöte 8' Cymbel II Calcantenklingel Spitzflöte 4' (Bellows-treader bell?) The very small pedal division with only 16' may require use of the pedal coupler, depending on the circumstances. The pedal Posaunenbaß 16' is the only reed. There is a complete 8' principal chorus on the main manual, with several mutation stops. Another nearby organ that Schumann may have known is the Silbermann organ at Ponitz, built in 1737. 5 Silbermann organ at Ponitz, 1737 Hautwerk: Oberwerk: Pedal: Bordun 16' Principal 8' Principal-Baß 16' Principal 8' Gedackt 8' Posaunen-Baß 16' Rohrflöte 8' Quintadehn 8' Octav-Baß 8' Viol di Gamba 8' Octava 4' Octava 4' Rohrflöte 4' Accessories: Spitz-flöte 4' Nassat 3' Calcantenglocke Quinta 3' Octava 2' Tremulant im Octava 2' Gemßhorn 2' Hauptwerk Tertia 1 3/5' Sesquialtera 1 3/5' Schwebung im Mixture IV Quinta 1 1/2' Oberwerk (drone?) Cornett III Sufflöth1 ' Pedal coupler (added Cymbeln II 1884) Vox humana 8' Manual push-coupler A glockenspiel was added in 1782, and organ was changed to equal- temperament in 1828, the same year Schumann moved to Leipzig to study law. Curiously, the pedal coupler was only added in 1884, which implies that the three original pedal stops were strong enough to balance on their own. Here we see a more developed stop-list of the same Silbermann style: greater variety of color at the 8' and 4' pitch levels, a vox humana on the Oberwerk, and a 16' bourdon in the Hauptwerk completes the principal chorus, with a secondary chorus on the Oberwerk. Even if Schumann never visited either of these organs, they are still important because they were part of the sound world that Schumann inhabited during his formative years. After a year in Heidelberg in 1829, Schumann lived in Leipzig from 1830 to 1843, when he was appointed Director of Composition at the new Leipzig Conservatory, headed by Mendelssohn. However, he moved to Dresden in 1844, which is where he composed Op. 56. While still in Leipzig, Schumann heard Mendelssohn's famous all-Bach organ concert at the Thomas-Kirche in 1840, and wrote a review in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, which demonstrates some knowledge of registration and organ repertoire: After a short [extemporized] introduction, [Mendelssohn] played a Fugue in E-flat Major, a noble work, containing three thoughts, built upon each other; then a fantasy on the chorale, "Deck thyself, Beloved 6 Soul," [...] then a grandly brilliant Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, both very difficult, even for masters of organ playing. After a pause, these were followed by the Passacaille in C Minor, with twenty-one variations, cleverly intertwined with each other and admirably handled in the registers by Mendelssohn; then a Pastorella in F Major, [...] closed by a Toccata in A Minor with a humoristic Bachian prelude [Likely the D minor Toccata (and fugue) BWV565, according to William Little]. Mendelssohn finished the concert with a fantasy of his own, where he displayed the fullest glory of his art; if I am not mistaken, it was based on the chorale text, "O Sacred Head now Wounded," into which he afterwards introduced the name of B A C H and a fugued movement, rounded off in such a clearly and masterly whole, that if printed, it would have appeared a finished work of art.10 Here we have a known instance of Schumann hearing a significant performer play the organ in an important venue.