Movements#

(Extremely animated), D minor # (Very inwardly and not too quickly), B major. This movement in ABACA form, with its lyrical main theme, includes two contrasting intermezzi. In his 1850 edition, Schumann extended the first reprise of the theme by twenty measures in order to repeat it in full. # (Very agitated), G minor # (Very slowly), B major/G minor # (Very lively), G minor # (Very slowly), B major # (Very fast), C minor/E major # (Fast and playful), G minor. Schumann used material from this movement in the fourth movement of his first symphony.#

Analysis#

Kreisleriana is a very dramatic work and is viewed by some critics as one of Schumann’s finest compositions. In 1839, soon after publishing it, Schumann called it in a letter “my favourite work”, remarking that “The title conveys nothing to any but Germans. Kreisler is one of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s creations, an eccentric, wild, and witty conductor.” In 1843, when he had moved from writing for solo piano to much larger works, in particular Paradise and the Peri, he still listed it as one of his best piano works. The work’s title was inspired by the character of Johannes Kreisler from works of E. T. A. Hoffmann. Like the kaleidoscopic Kreisler, each number has multiple contrasting sections, resembling the imaginary musician’s manic depression, and recalling Schumann’s own “Florestan” and “Eusebius”, the two characters Schumann used to indicate his own contrasting impulsive and dreamy sides. Johannes Kreisler appears in several books by Hoffmann, including Kater Murr and most notably in the “Kreisleriana” sections of Fantasy Pieces in Callot’s Manner, published in 1814. In a letter to his wife Clara, Schumann reveals that she figured prominently in the composition of Kreisleriana:

Further reading#

• Ingo Müller: “Die Rezeption E.T.A. Hoffmanns in der klassischen Musik des 19. bis 21. Jahrhunderts”. In: Unheimlich Fantastisch – E.T.A. Hoffmann 2022. Publication accompanying the exhibition of the Berlin State Library in collaboration with the Deutsches Romantik-Museum, Frankfurt, and the Bamberg State Library, Benjamin Schlodder, Christina Schmitz, Bettina Wagner and Wolfgang Bunzel (eds), Leipzig 2022, pp. 315–322

External links#

• “Kreisleriana, Op. 16”, detailed analysis and description, PianoSociety.com
• “Performance of Kreisleriana” by Jonathan Biss from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
• , , California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, 2012
• , Leon McCawley, Wigmore Hall, October 2020