Kinderszenen

Kinderszenen
by Robert Schumann
First edition title page
English	Scenes from Childhood
Opus	Op. 15
Period	Romantic period
Composed	1838
Movements	13 pieces
Scoring	Solo piano

Kinderszenen^[a] (German pronunciation: [ˈkɪndɐˌst͡seːnən], "Scenes from Childhood"), Op. 15, by Robert Schumann, is a set of thirteen pieces of music for piano written in 1838.

History and description[]

Schumann wrote 30 movements for this work but chose 13 for the final version. The unused movements were later published in Bunte Blätter, Op. 99, and Albumblätter, Op. 124.^[1] Schumann initially intended to publish Kinderszenen together with Novelletten (Opus 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.^[2]

Movement No. 7 of the work, Träumerei, is one of Schumann's best known pieces; it is the opening and closing musical theme of the 1947 Hollywood film Song of Love,^[3] and Träumerei is the title of a 1944 German biographical film on Schumann.^[4] In Russia, a hummed choral a cappella version became known as mourning music, being played annually during the Minute of Silence on Victory Day.^[5] In 2021, violinist Fenella Humphreys released an arrangement of Träumerei for violin.^[6]

Originally called Leichte Stücke ("Easy Pieces"), the section titles were only added after the completion of the composition, and Schumann described them as "nothing more than delicate hints for execution and interpretation".^[7] Timothy D. Taylor, however, has discussed the choice of titles for this work in the context of the changing situation of music culturally and economically, stating that the final movement, entitled Der Dichter spricht (The Poet Speaks), marked a realisation among composers that, due to the decline of patronage structures in the 19th century, their musical works must take on new meanings.^[8]

There is no known complete manuscript of Kinderszenen.^[9]

Pieces[]

This section includes inline links to audio files. If you have trouble playing the files, see Wikipedia Media help.

Title	Key	Play
01. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen 00. Of Foreign Lands and Peoples	G major	Menu 0:00
02. Kuriose Geschichte 00. A Curious Story[b]	D major	Menu 0:00
03. Hasche-Mann 00. Blind Man's Bluff	B minor	Menu 0:00
04. Bittendes Kind 00. Pleading Child	D major	Menu 0:00
05. Glückes genug 00. Happy Enough	D major	Menu 0:00
06. Wichtige Begebenheit 00. An Important Event	A major	Menu 0:00
07. Träumerei 00. Dreaming	F major	Menu 0:00
08. Am Kamin 00. At the Fireside[c]	F major	Menu 0:00
09. Ritter vom Steckenpferd 00. Knight of the Hobbyhorse	C major	Menu 0:00
10. Fast zu ernst 00. Almost Too Serious	G♯ minor	Menu 0:00
11. Fürchtenmachen 00. Frightening	E minor – G major	Menu 0:00
12. Kind im Einschlummern 00. Child Falling Asleep	E minor - E major	Menu 0:00
13. Der Dichter spricht 00. The Poet Speaks	G major	Menu 0:00

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Kinderszenen at Wikimedia Commons
• Kinderszenen: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Kinderszenen on YouTube, Cyprien Katsaris
• Kinderszenen on YouTube, Sergey Kuznetsov
• Kinderszenen (Performance) on YouTube, Clifford Curzon