If I Could Choose Only One Work By...SCHUMANN
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- čas přidán 18. 02. 2023
- It Would Have To Be...Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major
11. Vaughan Williams: Job
12. Bach: Goldberg Variations
13. R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
14. Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
15. Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies (Nos. 82-87)
16. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
17. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor
18. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
19. Chopin: Preludes
20. Verdi: Rigoletto
21. Roussel: Symphony No. 2
22. Copland: Appalachian Spring (complete original ballet)
23. Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2
24. Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
25. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2
26. Rimsky-Korsakov: Opera Suites (Scottish National Orchestra/Järvi) Chandos
27. Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire
28. Smetana: Ma Vlást
29. Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
30. Bizet: Carmen
31. Elgar: In the South
32. Sullivan: The Mikado
33. Dvořák: Symphony No. 8; Cello Concerto (Piatigorsky/Munch/Boston Symphony) RCA
34. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies
35. Monteverdi: Orfeo
36. Scarlatti: Sonatas
The Piano Quintet. Bigger than a string quartet. Bigger than a piano trio. It pushed chamber music into a scope and size and beauty of expression that feels like one of the key moments in the evolution of the Romantic style.
I still say the Piano Concerto! It's one of the great Romantic concertos ever written.
Just gonna drop this in the comments, since even amongst Schumann fans, I think it's overlooked:
I have to say "Hats off!" - the Fantasy in C, Op. 17 is the greatest piano sonata that isn't a piano sonata ever written by anybody. Great as Schumann's character pieces are, the Fantasy is a masterpiece on a truly grand scale.
Totally agree with this choice. The Op 17 Fantasie is truly the best example of the "Florestan & Eusebius" sides of Schumann. The first movement was, as Schumann wrote, "the most passionate I have ever composed," and the final movement is nothing short of sublime.
I've always felt the Fantasie is his greatest work. The other pieces have beautiful moments that come and go too quickly sometimes but this fantasie is to me is the one of the most passionate pieces of music I've ever heard. Its alwys been a real favorite of mine. The first bars kind of suck you into a whirlpool of feeling and Schuman get a hold of you and doesn't let you go until he's completed taking you on a long emotional trip. Unlike some of his other stuff, this one is built right it doesn't dump you out on the shoulder after the first curve, he keeps you buckled in. Great choice.
I would choose Kinderszenen. It is a lovely piece, full of great tunes, very representative of Schumann's style.
Dear David, thanks for this beautiful tribute to Schumann!
His piano works are special - no one is like him. Great choice and one that I haven’t heard - nice!
Another special thing about the Fantasy, Op. 17, is that it has brought the best out of so many great artists.
Dave, watching you disect and discuss a new, colorful, delectable box of classical goodies is better than watching Dave Portnoy's pizza reviews. I'm already salivating over it.
Schumann is my favorite romantic composer. I don't think anyone else from that era did such superb work in so many genres. I even think his opera and choral works are rather underrated. That's one thing that makes picking a single work nearly impossible. Especially when it comes to his best handful of solo piano pieces (I'd nominate the Fantasy, Davidsbundlertanze, Symphonic Etudes, Kreisleriana, and Kinderszenen) it feels like choosing among equals. I feel similarly about his best handful of song cycles. That leaves his orchestral and chamber music, from which I think the piano concerto and piano quintet are the top contenders, and I adore both. I'm tempted to go with the piano quintet simply because that's the last one I listened to, and because it has an almost Mozartian element in its final movements' thematic synthesis that really tickles the same deep-down part of my brain that causes the finale of Mozart's 41st to be one of "transcendental" experiences for me (the piano quintet isn't QUITE that, but it's close!).
I'll go with his Piano Concerto. I know it's very well known but that's for a good reason. It's the most poetic ever composed.
Yes, the Fantasy in C is Schumann's greatest piano work, something which only Beethoven could have dreamt of had he lived beyond 1840.
A great choice, and I think it would have been mine too. A close second would have been Dichterliebe, to my mind the greatest song cycle ever written.
This is such a great series!
It’s definitely a wonderful work and hearing your explanation and reasoning, I better understand this choice, by the end of the video, than I did at the beginning! My immediate pick was for Kreisleriana…still my absolute favorite work by Schumann…but as you’ve pointed out previously, it’s not about our personal favorites. Thanks as always. Every day I look forward, so much to seeing your new posts and learning from their content. Best wishes from California.
For John Williams, how about the soundtrack to the Empire Strikes Back. I definitely feel that he’s at his best in film music despite his more “serious” concert pieces. All the best leitmotifs are in play by the end of this movie including the much used and transformed Imperial March and the gorgeously Lydian Yoda’s theme. Although some lesser known and some simply lesser movies have wonderful Williams scores, this one so perfectly matches the film and the film is iconic (Many would argue largely because of the score).
I’m also very surprised that a piano work was not more commonly suggested. I think it’s because a lot of us are not really thinking about the criteria for this series. Instead, we more often opt for those works that are more famous or that we just like more. I would urge the fellowship to more carefully consider what work or types of work are most representative of the composer.
Years ago I purchased the complete Robert Schumann piano works done by Jorg Demus which are very good. I think Demus is often overlooked..worked for a lot of smaller labels Vox etc. It is always a pleasure to listen to you on a daily basis. Jerel