Blumenstück in D flat major, Op.19

Among the several shorter pieces Schumann claimed to have written in Vienna around the end of 1838 and the beginning of 1839, alongside the “Rondelette,” was a “Guirlande,” which is now thought to be lost. It is not at all unlikely, however, that just as the “Rondelette” became Arabeske, Op.18, “Guirlande” became Blumenstück (“Flower Piece”), Op.19. It is true that Schumann’s cryptic description of “Guirlande,” as “variations, but not on a theme,” seems to be a less than perfect fit for Blumenstück. It is not far off it, however. Blumenstück is constructed as a combination of rondo and variation form, but not on the charming opening theme. The main theme, which is recalled three times (the second time in B flat minor, the last time in D flat major) is what appears at this point to be the first variation in A flat major. Between its recurrences are three other variations, all of which have one melodic factor in common with both the opening theme and the main theme - a series of adjacent notes in descending order reflecting, as in so many works of this period, Clara’s image in Robert’s imagination.

One of Schumann’s most intriguing projects was a piece he called Guirlande and which he described to his fiancée Clara Wieck, in a letter from Vienna in 1839, as “variations but not on a theme.” Since there is nothing by Schumann called Guirlande the long-standing assumption has been that, if he ever completed such a work, the score is now lost. It is not entirely unlikely, however, that Blumenstück - which was written in Vienna in 1839 as a companion to the similarly lyrical and similarly unambitious Arabeske - is Guirlande under a different name. There is not that much difference between the French “Guirlande” (Garland) and the German “Blumenstück” (Flower piece), and it would be not too extravagantly fanciful either to describe Schumann’s Blumenstück, Op.19, as “variations but not on a theme.”

Blumenstück begins with a charmingly confiding melody presented in two parts, each one repeated, like the theme for a set of variations. But where the first variation should be Schumann introduces a different (though no less attractive) tune which then becomes the main theme of a kind of rondo construction. Common to the opening theme, the rondo theme and the melodic material of the three episodes, however, is a descending motif of four or five notes incorporated in many of Schumann’s works of this period of enforced separation as an intimate message to his fiancée. So, while Blumenstück is not a set of variations on a theme, it can be described as a series of disguised variations on the composer’s melodic image of his beloved Clara.