Novelletten Gesänge Der Frühe

Description

Schumann was 28 years old when he composed in 1838 a cycle of eight pieces for piano, the Novelettes (Novelletten) Op. 21. This impressive and highly virtuosic collection is dedicated to the pianist Adolph von Henselt, whose spectacular playing and technique were often compared to those of Liszt. Presented by the composer as "long eccentric stories," the Novelettes were created around the same time as the Kinderszenen, two years before his marriage to Clara, to whom he confided: "I have written an astonishing amount of music for you over the past three weeks - jokes, Egmont-like tales, family scenes with fathers, a wedding, in short, extremely endearing things." Martin Helmchen has passionately taken on this cycle (adding the Gesänge der Frühe - Songs of Dawn - by Robert and three excerpts from Clara's Soirées musicales) with all the virtuosity he is known for. He was determined to record this program on a Bechstein pianoforte to capture the maximum colors of this flamboyant musical kaleidoscope.