Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54

and, though now in disguise, they inform the transitional material which leads to the second subject - an animato version of the Chiarina melody on clarinet accompanied by flowing piano arpeggios.

The slow(Andante espressivo) element in the first movements is introduced after a brisk orchestral climax and a lingering modulation to the poetically remote key of A flat major. The piano, encouraged by clarinet, gets so lost in contemplation of the Chiarina melody here that it takes a determined recall of the opening flourish to rouse it and to effect a return to the opening tempo. In the recapitulation that follows the Andante espressivo episode is replaced by a thoughtful cadenza. The finale element is a coda in quick march time.

After that, Schumann clearly felt that an extended slow movement would be out of place. The Intermezzo is actually a glimpse of a Robert and Clara dialogue - Clara entering first with a pretty inversion of the Chiarina motif in F major, Robert answering with a handsome cello melody in C major - designed as an oblique introduction to the last movement.

As a transitional allusion to the Chiarina melody makes clear just before the strings sweep the piano into the Allegro vivace, the new theme that follows is yet another variant, this one in a bright A major. The second subject, introduced by strings in E major and apparently in a different metre, creates a diversion, provoking some wittily capricious piano writing as the soloist seems to be out of step with the orchestra. A return of the opening theme settles the metrical ambiguity and prepares the way for a development that begins with a fugal episode and ends by mischievously provoking the recapitulation into starting in the wrong key - an ingenious device that allows Schumann to recall the main theme for one last time to initiate a brilliantly sustained A major coda.

A few months after his marriage to Clara Wieck in 1840 Schumann wrote a Fantasie in A minor that she, one of the greatest pianists of her generation, described as “wonderful.” Amazingly - considering the fame of its young composer and the certain prospect that Clara would adopt it as a regular item in her repertoire - no publisher was prepared to touch it. The most likely explanation is that a one-movement Fantasie for piano and orchestra did not have the commercial potential of a full-scale concerto in three movements. Certainly, when Schumann finally conceded the point and returned to the Fantasie to add an intermezzo and a finale and so complete the Piano Concerto in A minor, there was no further delay in publication. Clara Schumann gave the first performance of the new work in the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 1 January 1846.

Ironically, the structural concept that shaped the Fantasie in A minor was far more appropriate to a single-movement work than to the concerto first movement it eventually, and so successfully, became. Schumann’s original idea, which survives intact in the Allegro affettuoso of the Concerto in A minor, was to include slow-movement and finale elements within a kind of sonata-form construction. He determined to do it, moreover, by basing the whole thing on only one theme - a four-note motif derived from the musical letters in “Chiarina,” which was one of his pseudonyms for Clara. So the first four notes of the melody introduced by woodwind after the opening piano flourish are both a private message and the thematic basis of much else in the work. Those four notes are confirmed in their status as the piano repeats the theme and, though now in disguise, they inform the transitional material which leads to the second subject - an animato version of the Chiarina melody on clarinet accompanied by flowing piano arpeggios.

The slow(Andante espressivo) element in the first movements is introduced after a brisk orchestral climax on another derivative of the main theme and a lingering modulation to the poetically remote key of A flat major. The piano, encouraged by clarinet, gets so lost in contemplation of the Chiarina melody here that it takes a determined recall of the opening flourish to rouse it and to effect a return to the opening tempo. The renewed activity is sustained long enough to create the conditions for a full-scale recapitulation of the Allegro affettuoso material. The Andante espressivo episode, on the other hand is replaced by a cadenza which, though more thoughtful than heroic, leads on a dramatic trill into the quick march-like version of the main theme that animates the coda.

Returning to the Fantasie in 1845 to incorporate it into a regular concerto, Schumann clearly felt that an extended slow movement would be out of place here. The Intermezzo is actually a glimpse of a Robert and Clara dialogue - Clara entering first with a pretty inversion of the Chiarina motif in F major, Robert answering with a handsome cello melody in C major - designed as an oblique introduction to the last movement.

As a transitional allusion to the Chiarina melody makes clear just before the strings sweep the piano into the first subject of the Allegro vivace, the new theme is yet another variant, this one in a bright A major. The second subject, introduced by strings in E major and syncopated to sound as if the metre had changed from 3/4 to 3/2, probably derives from the same source. Certainly, it gives rise to some wittily capricious piano writing as the soloist reverts to 3/4 while the strings continue as though still in 3/2. A return of the opening theme settles the metrical contradiction and prepares the way for a development beginning with a fugal episode and ending in the (for recapitulation purposes) wrong key. So, although the second subject duly returns in the tonic, the first has to be recalled yet again to initiate a brilliant A major coda.

Considering how problematic the content of some of the Schumann piano music that got published before the composer’s marriage to Clara Wieck in 1840, it is difficult to understand why no one was prepared to back the Fantasie in A minor he wrote for her shortly after that happy event. It is true that a score for piano and orchestra carries more risks for a publisher than a solo piece but - with one of the most familiar names in German music on the title page and one of the leading pianists of the day to champion it - the Fantasie should have been an attractive proposition, even without taking the quality of the music into account. As for that last consideration, Clara rehearsed the work with Fedinand David and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in August 1841 (shortly before the birth of her first child) and declared it “wonderful.”

One of the difficulties must have been that the Fantasie was not the three-movement concerto any publisher would have preferred - and which it actually became when Schumann conceded the point and added the Intermezzo and the finale to complete the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54, four years later. Others, presumably, were that it conformed to contemporary standards neither in keyboard virtuosity nor in formal layout. Ironically, however, the structural concept that shaped the Fantasie in A minor was far more appropriate to a single-movement work than to the concerto first movement it eventually, and so successfully, became.

Schumann’s original idea, which survives intact in the Allegro affettuoso of the Concerto in A minor, was to include slow-movement and finale elements within a kind of sonata-form construction. He determined to do it, moreover, by basing the whole thing on only one theme - a four-note motif derived from the musical letters in “Chiarina,” which was one of his pseudonyms for Clara. So the melody introduced by woodwind after the opening piano flourish begins with the four notes C, B (H in German nomenclature), A, A. They are confirmed in their status as the piano repeats the theme and, though now in disguise, they inform the transitional material which leads to the second subject in the relative major - an animato version of the Chiarina melody on clarinet accompanied by flowing piano arpeggios.

The slow-movement (Andante espressivo) element is introduced into the Allegro affettuoso after a brisk orchestral climax on another derivative of the main theme and a lingering modulation to the poetically remote key of A flat major. The piano, encouraged by clarinet, gets so lost in contemplation of the Chiarina melody here that it takes a determined recall of the opening flourish to rouse it and to effect a return to the opening tempo. The renewed activity is sustained long enough to create the conditions for a full-scale recapitulation of the Allegro affettuoso material. The Andante espressivo episode, on the other hand is replaced by a cadenza which, though more thoughtful than heroic, leads on a dramatic trill into the quick march-like version of the main theme that animates the coda.

Returning to the Fantasie in 1845 to incorporate it into a regular concerto, Schumann clearly felt that an extended slow movement would be out of place. The Intermezzo is actually a glimpse of a Robert and Clara dialogue - Clara entering first with a pretty inversion of the Chiarina motif in F major, Robert answering with a handsome cello melody in C major - designed as an oblique introduction to the last movement.

As a transitional allusion to the Chiarina melody makes clear just before the strings sweep the piano into the first subject of the Allegro vivace, the new theme is yet another variant, this one in a bright A major. The second subject, introduced by strings in E major and syncopated to sound as if the metre had changed from 3/4 to 3/2, probably derives from the same source. Certainly, it gives rise to some wittily capricious piano writing as the soloist reverts to 3/4 while the strings continue as though still in 3/2. A return of the opening theme settles the metrical contradiction and prepares the way for a development beginning with a fugal episode and ending in the (for recapitulation purposes) wrong key of D major. So, although the second subject duly returns in the tonic, the first has to be recalled yet again to initiate a brilliant A major coda.