Carnaval

Between 1829 and 1839, Schumann composed a series of solo piano works that redefined the instrument’s expressive capabilities. Fascinated by human emotional impulse and changeability (especially his own), he labelled the two extremes in his personality Florestan and Eusebius—the former an outgoing, robust figure, the latter a moody introspective. This in turn fuelled his music, which combined with his fondness for musical ciphers to create a sequence of 21 miniatures—titled Carnaval (1834-35)—based on the musical motto A-S-C-H (German nomenclature for A-E-flat-C-B), the name of the Czech town where his fiancée at the time was living, as well as part of his own name and part of the German word for carnival: fasching. Set against the background of a masked ball, a series of brilliantly etched characters whirl swiftly past, including such traditional pantomime figures as Pierrot and Harlequin; the composers Paganini and Chopin; Schumann’s alter egos, Florestan and Eusebius; and his fiancée, Ernestine von Fricken, referred to as Estrella. As a final piece of theatre, Schumann brings back some of his favourite characters at the end for a final bow in “Marche des ‘Davidsbündler’ contre les Philistins”. Also heard is a proud march representing the Davidsbündler (“The League of David”), Schumann’s fantasy society dedicated to defending the best in contemporary music, and an old-fashioned “Grossvatertanz” (“Grandfather’s Dance”), symbolising the closed minds of the Philistines.