Faschingsschwank aus Wien: Phantasiebilder

Robert Schumann spent six months in Vienna in 1838-39, hoping to improve his prospects enough to win the approval of Clara Wieck’s irascible father in Leipzig, who was forcibly separating the young lovers. The city provided much inspiration—he met Mozart’s son and Schubert’s brother—but a more unlikely stimulus was the fact that an Austrian censor had banned the singing of the Marseillaise, lest it spark public disorder. In his half-hour, five-movement solo piano work Faschingsschwank aus Wien (literally “Carnival Jest in Vienna”) the revolutionary French anthem appears briefly, in wafer-thin disguise. The cycle is predominantly exuberant, celebrating the European tradition of Carnival, a period of revelry in February including masked balls, drama, music, and everything that goes with them. The extensive opening movement is dominated by a waltz theme, punctuated by six episodes, one of which includes the moment of the Marseillaise. Next comes a short, wistful “Romanze” and an obsessively rhythmical “Scherzino”. The work’s most famous movement is its “Intermezzo”, in which an impassioned melody pours out over surging accompaniment. The “Finale” concludes the celebrations in a virtuoso whirl of delight.