Album insights
One of the activities that were not part of the curriculum for the unwilling eighteen-year-old law student Schumann at Leipzig University was founding a piano quartet. The ensemble's social evenings, complete with drinks and music, involved enjoying large quantities of Bavarian beer and performing works such as Beethoven's Piano Trio Op. 97, Schubert's Trio in E-flat major, and the piano quartet by Bohemian composer Johann Ladislaus Dussek. Around this time, Schumann also composed a piano quartet in C minor, which still exists today. In November 1828, while working on it, he was emotionally disturbed by the news of Schubert's untimely death, reflected in a simple diary entry on the last day of the month: "My quartet—Schubert is dead—Shocking."
For a long time, this youthful piano quartet, infused with echoes of Schubert, remained an isolated experiment. It wasn't until 1842 that Schumann revisited chamber music for piano and string instruments. During that summer, he composed three quartets after a thorough study of Haydn's, Mozart's, and Beethoven's string quartets. Subsequently, he completed the Piano Quintet Op. 44, the Piano Quartet Op. 47, and an initial version of a Piano Trio in A minor in the last three months of that year. The final version of the latter piece wasn't established until 1850, when it was published as Fantasiestücke Op. 88.
Schumann's Piano Quartet never reached the same level of popularity as the renowned Quintet that preceded it. Even during the composer's lifetime, it was rarely heard. While Clara Schumann quickly included the Quintet in her repertoire, playing it more frequently than any other work by her husband, she only performed the Quartet in front of an audience in 1849. Yet, the Quartet may well be the more subtle and refined of the two works. Beginning with a slow introduction anticipating the main theme of the Allegro, its atmosphere reflects Schumann's study of Beethoven's string quartets. Moments of introspection interrupt one of Schumann's most lively pieces, with its pulsating rhythm rarely faltering.
The spirited Scherzo is crafted with Mendelssohnian lightness. Its delicately "tripping" theme reappears in both trio sections— the first relying on a smoothly flowing phrase clearly stemming from the Scherzo's theme, while the second consists of a distinctly Schumannesque sequence of sustained syncopated chords in contrasting voice ranges. Towards the end, the music seemingly dissipates with the help of the introductory phrase from the first trio.
In listening to the Fantasiestücke Op. 88, one might wonder if Schumann had looked into Haydn's late piano trios. The Romanze's initial melancholic folk-like melody reveals touching simplicity, recurring in a livelier form in the first episode of the following Humoreske. The various episodes cyclically return in the second piece, with the opening theme ending as a march's finale. The concluding reprise replicates the initial section precisely, but Schumann adds a coda that charmingly fades out the march in the distance.
When Clara Schumann mentioned that Robert was diligently working on a trio for piano, violin, and cello in G minor, she revealed her initial insights into the composition. The piece, a product of Schumann's passionate artistry, impressed Clara deeply during its first rehearsal. Composed in the fall of 1851, Schumann's Piano Trio in G minor was part of a rapid succession of three chamber music works. The trio's passionate inaugural theme hints at the d-Moll Sonata, commenced shortly after. Clara showcased both the trio and the d-Moll Sonata on November 15 at a chamber music evening in their own home. Playing alongside her were their musician friends, Geiger Joseph von Wasielewski and cellist Christian Reimers.
Schumann's final Piano Trio, mostly absent from contemporary repertoire, is sometimes cited as a marker of a decline in the composer's creativity. Yet, those captivated by the passionate Allegro, warm slow movement, or lively Scherzo would likely contest this judgment. While the Finale might appear pieced together, it skillfully ties the work's threads with remarkable sensitivity.
The opening movement, with its masterful intertwined string lines, showcases Schumann's enthusiasm for complex counterpoint. This reaches a climax in the central development, where the cello presents a mysterious pizzicato-driven idea leading into an extensive section with quadruple counterpoint maneuvers. The slow movement starts as a deeply expressive duet between the strings, escalating dramatically before returning to calmness and reintroducing the initial theme—this time with the pianist joining the melodic discourse.
The agitated Scherzo, which deeply impressed Clara Schumann, features an expansive theme reminiscent of the main theme from Schumann's d-Moll Symphony (No. 4). The two trio sections leave their mark on the Finale.
The principal theme of the Finale arises from the same longing interval that echoes in the secondary theme of the Allegro and at the beginning of the slow movement. In an additional unnoticeable effort to unify the work, melodies from the Scherzo's first trio reappear, followed by the march rhythm of the second trio. Towards the end, the smooth triplets from the second trio resound once more, introducing the work's exuberant conclusion.