Kinderszenen

Kinderszenen (original spelling Kinderscenen, "Scenes from Childhood"), Opus 15, by Robert Schumann, is a set of thirteen pieces of music for piano written in 1838. In this work, Schumann provides us with his adult reminiscences of childhood. Schumann had originally written 30 movements for this work, but chose 13 for the final version.^[1] Robert Polansky has discussed the unused movements.^[2]

Schumann had originally labeled this work Leichte Stücke (Easy Pieces). Likewise, the section titles were only added after the completion of the music, and Schumann described the titles as "nothing more than delicate hints for execution and interpretation".^[3] Timothy Taylor has discussed Schumann's choice of titles for this work in the context of the changing situation of music in 19th century culture and economics.^[4]

In 1974, Eric Sams noted that there was no known complete manuscript of Kinderszenen.^[5]

Movements

Title	Key	Play	Notes
01. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen 00. Of Foreign Lands and Peoples	G major
02. Kuriose Geschichte 00. A Curious Story[6]	D major
03. Hasche-Mann 00. Blind Man's Bluff	B minor
04. Bittendes Kind 00. Pleading Child	D major
05. Glückes genug 00. Happy Enough	D major
06. Wichtige Begebenheit 00. An Important Event	A major
07. Träumerei 00. Dreaming	F major		This is one of Schumann's best known pieces; it was the title of a 1944 German biographical film on Robert Schumann.[7] Träumerei is also the opening and closing musical theme in the 1947 Hollywood film Song of Love, starring Katharine Hepburn as Clara Schumann Wieck.[8]
08. Am Kamin 00. At the Fireside	F major
09. Ritter vom Steckenpferd 00. Knight of the Hobbyhorse	C major
10. Fast zu ernst 00. Almost Too Serious	G-sharp minor
11. Fürchtenmachen 00. Frightening	E minor
12. Kind im Einschlummern 00. Child Falling Asleep	E minor
13. Der Dichter spricht 00. The Poet Speaks	G major

Notes and references

1. ^ The unused movements were published years later in Bunte Blätter, Opus 99, and Albumblätter, Opus 124.
2. ^ Polansky, Robert (Spring 1978). "The Rejected "Kinderscenen" of Robert Schumann's Opus 15". Journal of the American Musicological Society 31 (1): 126–131. doi:10.1525/jams.1978.31.1.03a00070. JSTOR 831388. 
3. ^ Thorpe, Day; Schumann, Robert; Von Irmer, Otto; Lampe, Walther (December 1990). "Music Reviews: Kinderszenen, Op. 15; Album für die Jugend, Op. 68 (Urtext)". Notes (2nd Ser.) 11 (4): 605–606. doi:10.2307/893060. JSTOR 837021. 
4. ^ Taylor, Timothy D. (December 1990). "Aesthetic and Cultural Issues in Schumann's "Kinderszenen"". International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 21 (2): 161–178. doi:10.2307/837021. JSTOR 837021. 
5. ^ Sams, Eric; Schumann; Goebels, Franzpeter (1974). "Schuman scenes". The Musical Times 115 (1572): 146. doi:10.2307/955016. JSTOR 955016. 
6. ^ original spelling: Curiose Geschichte
7. ^ Träumerei at the Internet Movie Database
8. ^ Träumerei played by Katharine Hepburn in the film Song of Love on YouTube

External links

• Kinderszenen performed by Donald Betts as interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext project of the Northern Arizona University; (Adobe Shockwave required)
• Kinderszenen: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• MSN Movies page on Robert Schumann