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The Inner Musical Workings of Robert Schumann, 1828-1840

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The Inner Musical Workings of Robert Schumann, 1828-1840 ôc /(.-l-êz ln Two Volumes Geoffrey Narramore Moon Volume Two A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Elder Conservatorium - School of Performing Arts, Adelaide University. November 2001 Volume 1 Abstract 1 Copyright statement 1l Acknowledgments 111 Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Foundations of a Compositional Habit 20 Chapter 3: Schumann and Jean Paul 33 Chapter 4: Schumann and Music Theory 47 Chapter 5: Cracking the Code 67 Chapter 6: The Wedding Keys 93 Chapter 7: Clara's Keys 160 Chapter 8: Robert's Keys 185 Chapter 9: The Schumann Keys 236 Chapter 10: Keys of Parental Authority 271 Volume 2 Chapter lL: A Hero in Disguise 298 Chapter 12: Doubles and Trouble 339 Chapter 13: Detours Through the Alphabet 393 Chapter 14: Two Laments for Clara 460 Chapter 15: Solemn as the Pause s15 Chapter 16: The Mad Musician 541 Chapter 17: Conclusion 583 Appendix I Songs, February - September 1840 607 Appendix II Works for Piano Solo, 1830' 1840 611 Bibliography 612 4.,'- IC Having discussed the songs of February - September 1840 we no\M go back to the beginning of Schumann's compositional activities, that is, not to the ABEGG variations (composed in 1830) which approximate to the style of Hummel and other works of the period, but to Papillons, Opus 2 (183 1) and the Intermezzi, Opus 4 (1832) which are uniquely Schumannesque. These two works, composed after Schumann had taken up residence in Leipzig for the second time, reveal his early attempts, as he wrote on his 2l't birthday, 8 Junel831, at "putting into music my feelings in words".l The diary entries reveal that his "feelings" were mainly pre-occupied with his status as a single male, encumbered with sensual thoughts, unsatisfactory sexual fantasies (and actions!) and the longing for a unique female heart, a female beloved in whom he could confide. P¡prr,r,oNs, Opus 2 There is probably more written about Papillons, Opus 2, than any other work of Schumann. The various approaches to this work can be summarized under the following headings: compositional process; harmonic and formal coherence; programmatic interpretation; literary parallels; and added to these, autobiographical context. t Tgb I, 339 298 Compositional Process The main studies (in German) on this theme are by Wolfgang Gertler2 and more recently by V/olfgang Boettiche..3 Kathleen Dalea draws extensively upon the former in her discussion of Papillons in English. Most other writers in English also touch upon this issue which, however, is not the primary concem of this thesis. To summarize: Papillons is derived from several pre-existing works ol musical sketches, the re- working of which (together with the addition of new material) is brought together in a comprehensive set of pieces placed within the framework of D major, forming a total musical statement. The inspiration for the work was Chapter 63 and perhaps the last paragraph of Chapter 64 of Jean Paul's novel Flegeljohre. Harmonic and Formal Coherence One of the most recent studies dealing with this theme is that of Peter Kaminskys, though since he deals more extensively with Opus 6 and 9, his treatment of Opus 2 is rather sparse and to some extent dependent on an article by John Daverio6. Subsequent to this last mentioned article, Daverio has published a book on Schumann which has one of the best overviews of Papillons in English and, on the subject of this particular heading, he states: . Schumann employs a number of tried-and-true harmonic and motivic strategies in the interest of cohesion. Organised around D major, the cycle makes frequent recourse to thematic recall: a quiet A-major episode from No. 6 in a G-major context, .þrtissimo, in No. 10; the opening D-major waltz reappears in the same key during the Finale, interwoven with snippets of the Grossvatertanz,bu| even these techniques are subjected to a process of defamiliarization. While Papillons begins and ends in D, it hardly articulates 'Wolfgang Gertler. Robert Schumann in seiner frühen Klavierwerkerz. (Wolfenbtittel: publisher unknown, 193 l). ' Wolfgang Boetticher. Robert Schumanns Klovierwerke - Neue biographische und textlvitische Untersuchungen, Teil I, Opus 1-ó. (Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichschofen, 1976). a Kathleen Dale. "The Piano Music" in Schumann, A Symposium, ed. Gerald Abraham. (London: Oxford Universþ Press, 1952). t Peter Kaminsþ. "Principles of Formal Structure in Schumann's Early Piano Cycles". Music Theory Spectrum | | 12. (1989): 207 -25. 6lohn Daverio. "schumann's 'Im Legendenton' and Friedrich Schlegel's Arabesque". I gth-Century Music lll2 (1987): 150-63. 299 that tonality - or any other - in a conventional manner. No sooner has D been affirmed in the Introduzione andthe first movement than it is immediately negated by the abrupt move to Eb for No. 2. What Schumann called "selÊ annihilation" (sich-selbst-vernichten) operates within the cycle as well: the C major of No. 10 effectively cancels the third-based progression from F minor to Db major over the course of Nos. 7 arrd 9. Similarly, the thematic recurrences form less a dense web than a gossamer tissue of premonitions and recollections. ... Hence Papillons is_animated by an odd sort of logic, the fanciful logic of the system of fragments.T Daverio's concept of the "fanciful logic of the system of fragments" will be discussed more fully under the heading of "literary parallels" Programmatic Interpretation This is the most controversial and speculative area of all approaches to Papillons, yet several scholars over the years have attempted to decipher a programmatic meaning for the individual pieces of the work8. This has been stimulated by several letters that Schumann wrote about Papillons, by notations he made in his own copy of Flegeljahre, assigning the first ten pieces to various sections of the text in Chapter 63, and by the account given by Julius Knorr (an associate of Schumann) which differs considerably from the former two categories of explanation and makes no specific reference to Flegeljahre at all. The letters in question are as follows. To Ludwig Rellstab: ... Less for the editor of Iris than for the poet and kindred spirit of Jean Paul I will take the liberty of adding a few words to the Papillons concerning their origin, since the thread that connects them is scarcely visible. You will recall that the last scene in the Flegeljahre - masked ball - Walt - vult - masks - v/ina - Vult's dancing - the exchange of masks - confessions - anger - disclosures - hurying away - final scene and then the departing brother. - Often I continued to turn the last page over, for the end seemed to me only a new beginning - almost without knowing it I was at the piano, and thus arose one papillon after the other. May you find in these origins a pardon for the whole, which in its particulars very often calls for one.e 7 Daverio, Schumann (1997), 88f 8 For example, Ludwig Riemann's "Eine zweite Deutung der 'Papillon s' ". Neue Musiløeitung (Stuttgart), 38 (1917) ly E.F.Jensen's "Explicating Jean Paul: Robert Schumann's Program for Papill Music,22l2 (1998): 127-43. e Cited in Aesthetics",318. 300 To his family: ... then tell them that they must read the last scene of Jean Paul's Flegeljalre as soon as possible and that the Papillons were really intended to transpose this masked ball into tone, and then ask them whether there is perhaps correctly mirrored in the Papillons something of Wina's angelic love, of Walt's poetic nature, and of Vult's lightning-sharp soul ...10 To Henriette Voigt, in talking of Papillons: If you ever have a free minute, please read the last Chapter of the Flegeljalre, where everything stands in black and white even to the giant boot in F-sharp minor ... I will mention also that I have set the text to the music, not the reverse - otherwise it seems to me a "foolish beginning". Only the last one, which by playful chance formed an answer to the first, was aroused by Jean Paulll. It is clear from these three excerpts alone, conflicting as they may be in at least one respect, that in one way or another Flegeljahre was the inspiration for Papillons ra terms of content. There are those who attempt to decipher the meaning of the work from these three letters in conjunction with the notations in Schumann's copy of Flegeljahre. However, it is not necessary to give a complete account of these notations as they can be found in Lippmanr2 arrdDaveriol3 in full. One of the more recent attempts to seek specific connections between text and music is by Jacques Chailley. His is an unabashed programmatic approach whereby various aspects of the music - style, rhythm, texture, and motivic elements - are seen to mirror the text in a directly illustrative manner. For example: No. 5 supplies us in the text of the poet [Jean Paul] with a meticulous commentary. It concerns the dance between Wina and Walt. Both are looking in a silent dialogue with a penetrating glance behind the mask of the partner. V/alt recognizes'Wina behind her mask, as the beautiful Polish woman. It is scarcely an accident that Schumann, with this moment of recognition, begins with a Polonaise. Also one can find again the recognition behind the mask in the music, in the tender dialogue between both soprano parts. t0 Lippman, "schumann's Aesthetics", 318. tt Lippman, "schumann's Aesthetics", 320. t' Lippman, "schumann's Aesthetics", 3 I5-3 I 6 13 Daverio, Schumann (1997),493-50 L 301 No. 6. The text speaks of a double mask of miner and coachman [Walt's original maskl in an ironic way ..
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