Week 3: Art, Character, and Imagination

One of my many musical goals this year and beyond is to be able to be able to analyze a piece of music more technically.  For instance, I would like to learn how to identify the chordal progressions and keys etc. and mark up the score like I see many others here doing.  So this is my own challenge within a challenge. 

Week 3 is encouraging us to now focus on the character and emotional intent of the music.  Just as I noted above, I think I'll improve my musicianship by learning more technical and theoretical skills, I also believe that thinking and writing about the music away from the piano is just as important, if not more. 

I have no idea what I'm going to say as I'm still not convinced I understand what my end destination is but if you choose to follow me on this journey I can only apologize up front for my inability at mastering conciseness in writing.  

1) Faschingsschwank aus Wien: Fantasiebilder Op. 26, No. 2 - Romanze, in g minor by Robert Schumann

What does Romanze mean or imply?  For overall context, this piece is one of five pieces bound together under the title Faschingsschwank aus Wien or Carnival Scenes from Vienna followed by Fantasiebilder which are Fantasy Pictures. 

This is definitely not about young love, romance, or waxing lyrical about your current flame.  The typical purpose of "romantic" music is most likely meant to share it with whomever is mesmerizing you.  A musical gift that might substitute for physical passion.

This Romanze is music to be experienced in solitude.  The melody is simple and wistful and overflowing with melancholy.   It is a reverie that points to the past to some event laced with elements of repressed sadness or yearning.

The main clue is the descending line in a minor key.  Schumann offers a glimmer of hope though as the descent stops in the second bar and almost in defiance tries to turn upward in a struggle over and under the f# and finally reaching the g.  This bar is the key to the piece and mastering its tricky rhythm, I think.  The very last bar of the piece is this and especially emphasized by playing Adagio (even slower).

The middle section in a major key was really perplexing to me until I understood the concept above.  This is the contrast of trying to numb the pain through the abyss of nothingness.  You're taking a break and purposefully avoiding thinking about what is quite emotional or painful for you to think about.  

Tempo marking of Ziemlich langsam (pretty slow) backs up my conclusions above for interpretation and I use pedal for the opening and closing section.  I do not use pedal in the middle section except for the last bar as it is marked as such.  The goal is to emphasize the starkness.  

2) Bunte Blätter Op. 99, No. 10 - Präludium in b-flat minor by Robert Schumann

A two page work, the tenth of fourteen, in the set of Bunte Blätter (Colorful Leaves).  Marked as Energisch (Energetic), I am interpreting this piece in the direction of fervor, intensity or passion.  Energetic and speed are not the same thing here, in my opinion.  It should not appear to be a physical workout at the gym type of energy.

Much like the Romanze above, the motif is simple and consists of six notes over two bars.  The tempo I am aiming for revolves only around what gives the most gravity or weightiness to this thematic statement.  Fortunately, in my view, the most profound outcome is not excessively fast.  Humming or singing this theme makes it very clear what the tempo should be.  Too fast and it becomes meaningless and too slow one loses the sense of passion.

This six note theme is perfection in itself coupled with a bass marker on the strong beats but the sense of energy comes from the swells of the inner thirty-second notes played largely in unison by both the right and left hands.  The goal is to keep these below the surface possibly rising and falling from pianissimo to maximum mezzo forte.  Like some invisible force like the wind whipping around to and fro.   The combination of a slower theme and then in the background the craziness of unpredictability or chaos set the perfect stage of Romantic period imagery.

Like in the Romanze, I imputed my feelings into words.  I think my words surely don't equal the sense of humanity I feel in playing it.  Yet I feel it was written for some specific event in Schumann's life.  When it comes to the Präludium, I have been struggling over the past few weeks to find the right words to describe what I am aiming for in the interpretation.  I believe this is not so much conjuring up a specific event but more as an admonition from a great sage to anyone who has a soul who wants to pursue the unexplainable or rise up towards something profound and unspoken.

I'm not certain I'm a synesthete but if any piece makes me believe that I've experienced synesthesia, it is this one for sure.  Certainly I see or sense shapes or forms of some kind and this is why I have no words to describe it.  

No matter, I feel this music is a good example of music (art) that exemplify the Romantic period ideals and reflections of the struggles of humanity.

3) Wandererfantasie Op. 15 - Adagio in c-sharp minor by Franz Schubert

For me, the Adagio is simple and complex at the same time.  My interpretation is that this starts out as a funeral march (minor key) and alternates to a hymn with some hope (major key) and then to a struggle into the depths against darkness (minor key) and then contrasted with the song and comfort of angels (major key) and so on.  At the climax (fortissimo) section the struggle is real.  After soaring to the heights of heaven there is crashing downward forces slowly but surely pulling you back down to the depths of hell step by step.  

But then something happens.  There seems to be an equilibrium found.  The left hand forms a somewhat static barrier still pointing downward but staying relatively at the same altitude.  And then as Schubert always does, he let's the sun shine peak thru by ending this wall of sound in a major key transition of the next movement.  Meanwhile, the right hand quietly reminds us of the hope we had occasionally in the previous sound world.

Yes, I could have been practising now but I believe this exercise of trying to think about how I want to interpret these works has taught me more than just learning the notes.  Thank you for the opportunity to do this exercise and pursue this Romantic music challenge in a structured way. 

Very excellent suggestions