Schumann Sieben Stücke in Fughetennform, Op126 - Rosemary Oleary

The Sieben Stücke were composed during a very fruitful year in Schumann's life.1853 saw him compose piano accompaniments for the solo violin sonatas, partitas and cello suites of Bach.Daverio suggested that his return to contrapuntal writing stemmed from his "need to get his mind in order," and from his wish to make Bach's music more accessible to the public. Chissell suggested that the motivation for writing these pieces could have come from his wish to expose his children to fugal form-perhaps in preparation for the Forty-eight.
Despite the valid need for theoretical analysis in engaging the performer in a deeper understanding of the music; when it comes to performance more innate musical skills are required in interpreting complex fugal structure in order to project the musical shape and structure with audible clarity and control.
1. Nicht schnell leise vorzutragen
2. Mässig
3.Ziemlich bewegt
4.Lebhaft
5.Ziemlich langsam, empfindungsvoll vorzutragen
6.Sehr schnell
7.Langsam,ausdrucksvoll
In order to provide a different perspective on these pieces I recorded nos. 4 and 6 on the harpsichord as I felt this might provide a pleasant departure from the norm.
Robert Schumann in 3D reconstruction from portraits by the artist Hadi Karimi