Kinderszenen Op. 15 (Schumann)
Movements
i Von fremden Ländern und Menschen: From foreign parts, ii Kuriose Geschichte: Funny story, iii Hasche-Mann: Blindman’s buff, iv Bittendes Kind: Entreating Child, v Glückes genug: Perfect Happiness, vi Wichtige Begebenheit: Important Event, vii Träumerei: Dreaming, viii Am Kamin: By the fireside, ix Ritter von Steckenpferd: On the rocking horse, x Fast zu ernst: Almost too serious, xi Fürchtenmachen: Frightening, xii Kind im Einschlummern: The child falling asleep, xiii Der Dichter spricht: The Poet Speaks
Notes
Movement 7, Träumerei, is one of Schumann’s best known pieces; it is the theme of the 1947 Hollywood film Song of Love, and Träumerei is the title of a 1944 German biographical film on Schumann.
Schumann wrote 30 movements for this work but chose 13 for the final version. Schumann initially intended to publish Kinderszenen together with Novelletten (Op. 21); the shared literary theme is suggested by the original title Kindergeschichten (Children’s Tales). He told his wife Clara that the “thirty small, droll things”, most of them less than a page in length, were inspired by her comment that he sometimes seemed “like a child”. He described them in 1840 as “more cheerful, gentler, more melodic” than his earlier works.
