Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Kinderszenen (Schumann): Thoughts?

Hi all- I'm tossing around the idea of performing Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood)at my next home "recital" for friends. I've had mixed feelings about this work, but as I work on it (with two more "scenes" to go), it is growing on me. What are your thoughts on Op. 15- is this something you think an audience might enjoy? Do you enjoy playing it or hearing it? Is there any wisdom you'd like to impart when it comes to understanding and internalizing this music in general? Just curious as to how people feel about this work... Thanks!

I'm about to start working on this set myself.

Is this something you think an audience might enjoy?

Depends on your audience I guess. Classical music lovers would certainly enjoy but less informed people expecting virtuosic display may be disappointed. There is a lot of contrast and variety in the whole set so maybe something in there for everyone to enjoy.

Do you enjoy playing it or hearing it?

Yes, although I haven't started working on it yet. I know I'm going to enjoy playing them.

Is there any wisdom you'd like to impart when it comes to understanding and internalizing this music in general?

In some ways this music isn't very difficult technically but artistically Schumann gives you a lot to chew on emotionally and philosophically. The titles are Schumann's so they do suggest a "program" to a certain extent. Of course most of it is not literal but instead evoke certain moods, and nostalgia from childhood experiences. I think these pieces are something you can come back to time and again and discover something new and significant each time.

Good luck!

These delightful pieces, played as a set, should please almost any audience. One of my friends played the set in a series of joint recitals in which we collaborate. Our audience is a mix of experienced recital-goers and first-time attendees at a classical recital. They all enjoyed the listening experience. For our audience, I believe that it helped that we had the individual titles of each piece printed in the program.

Don't dismiss them (I'm quite sure that you are not likely to do so) as pieces for children. If your audience is gently reminded that these are pieces that evoke childhood memories as seen from adulthood, that may even enhance their enjoyment of the works.

Regards,

I've been working on them as well. I love the first piece. My wife loaded "Goodnight Moon" a read aloud version of the story into her Ipad for our grandchildren, and playing in the background of the story is the first piece. That's when I decided to get the music and learn them. Several of them are tricky and to some extent, they all take practice, but they're both fun to play and listen to.

Schumann says "Leichte Stücke". "Leicht" must be for the listeners. For the player, these pieces are hard. Getting the melody out while you're contorting your fingers to reach accompaniment chords.


Yes I think Schumann was right about "Leichte Stücke" in this respect.



Yes it's very nice to play.



No, I think this is not tne usual Schumann that we get here. But I did not play all scenes.

Hi, SwB! I've presented this work myself, many years back. Since you're conducting a "home" recital, I'd take advantage of that to walk the listeners through the set before presenting it, and perhaps also provide a "cheat sheet" of the individual pieces, so that the audience can follow along. As others have indicated, this is a set of pieces ABOUT children, not FOR children -- the technical difficulties are not to be underestimated. Personally, I find it most satisfying by far to present this work as a complete set, and I'm pretty sure most listeners will react very positively to the entire set. Since Schumann gives you very clear directives about the character and emotional content of each miniature, I would make every attempt to individualize each piece as much as possible. For me, the cumulative effect of the entire set is magical -- certainly one of Schumann's best efforts.

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone! Tim, I agree that walking people through each piece is a good idea and will make it more interesting. Everyone's feedback here has encouraged me to go forward with including this set on my list. Thanks!

They're so great. (I've performed them.) The last five are the best imho. As with any set of short pieces you do really have to have in mind the quality of each piece that you'd most like to bring across -- individualize them, as Tim says -- and how each relates to the preceding and following pieces.

I really like this set. I was deciding for quite a long time between this set and Tchaikovsky's Seasons on which one I would like to learn in full in the next year or so. In the end I picked tchaikovsky just because there's one for each month which is right on target with my one year goal.

When I finish Seasons I will probably do the Schumann, Traumerei is one of my favourite simple pieces, and most people know it so it's a huge crowd pleaser.

Really nice article talking about this piece.

http://www.interlude.hk/front/childrens-tales-scenes-childhood/

Murray Perahia discusses this set.
Part 1
https://youtu.be/S3EtmoX2beY

Part 2

https://youtu.be/Jgq16qX3bHY

Part 3

https://youtu.be/eDM4M7OJwH0

That's a very good discussion of this suite. I found myself agreeing with many of Perahia's thoughts, especially regarding the opening piece.

Kinderszenen is nice but also look at Papillons

I found Perahia's advice helpful in regard to tempo when I was learning these. There is a tradition of performing them much slower than the metronome markings and so one has to make a decision how close to be to the MMs vs. how close to the performing tradition.

clearly, many of the great pianists have been inspired to play and record these works. perhaps they aren't quite as virtuosic as many of schumann's compositions, but there are plenty of technically challenging sections. to a degree, audiences have been jaded/spoilt by two distortions -- mistaken that they are children's pieces, because they can appeal to all ages, but clearly they're for adults reflecting on childhood, and the second, over-saturation with excessively maudlin versions of 'traeumerei' (horowitz one of the principal perpetrators). you're fortunate to have the inspiration for the project and the ability to carry it through. have fun.

Unless Schumann himself coined the phrase "About children, but not for children", I don't really agree with that idea. I think many of these pieces would appeal to children, and I think they are often studied individually young pianists. Because of their great beauty and subtlety they can also be performed by adults and professionals.

Anyone know who first coined the phrase "About children, but not for children."

He wrote them for Clara when she was, I think, 19. To me that indicates looking back on childhood, but not for a child, and also not looking back from such a distance that one is maudlin about it.

Just because he wrote them for Clara, I don't think this means they aren't also appropriate for someone younger than she was at the time. Similarly, just because Schumann was looking back on childhood(this seems automatic for an adult writing pieces about childhood), I don't see why that makes then not for children.

I see Kinderszenen as not that different from Schumann's Album for the Young except the Album pieces are so short, so limited in keyboard compass, and on such a simple technical level that the are almost forced to be far less beautiful and subtle than those in Kinderscenen.

Well, of course we can take a piece beyond its original dedicatee and intent, but if you are asking who the composer wrote the piece for, that is the answer.

Kinderszenen is in the same category as Children's Corner, not Album for the Young or similar educational pieces for children by Tchaikovsky etc.