#ClassicsaDay #SchumannsCircle Week 3
By Ralph Graves
The Classics a Day team honors Robert Schumann’s birthday (June 8, 1810). The theme for June is Schumann and his circle. During the month, you’re encouraged to share works written by Schumann, his friends, his colleagues, his rivals — and of course, his wife.
6/14/21 Robert Schumann – Etudes in Variation Form on a Theme by Beethoven
Schumann worked on these variations on a theme from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony from 1831-1835. They were left incomplete at the time of his death but survived the posthumous purging of his manuscripts by Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms.
6/15/21 Ignaz Moscheles – Alexander Variations for Piano and Orchestra Op. 32
Moscheles was one of Schumann’s inspirations. Moscheles himself was greatly inspired by Beethoven.
6/16/12 Ludwig Schunke – Variations concertantes sur la Valse funèbre de Schubert, Op. 14
Schunke and Schumann were close friends, and both admired Schubert. Schuncke’s death at age 24 hit Schumann hard.
6/17/21 Franz Schubert – Symphony No. 9
Schumann discovered the manuscript for Schubert’s 9th in a chest. “The riches that lay here made me tremble with excitement,” he wrote.
6/18/21 Robert Schumann – Six Intermezzi, Op. 4
These were written in 1832, a year after Papillions. In a way, they’re a longer form of those pieces, although without any programmatic elements.
