Certificate Recital: Kimberly Shen, Piano

SCHUMANN: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 11

Schumann’s first piano sonata, like many of his early piano works, reflected his troubled personal life marred by romantic difficulties and mental illness. Dedicated to his future wife, Clara Wieck, the sonata could broadly be interpreted as an outcry of love for Clara and simultaneously an outcry of pain due to her father’s staunch disapproval of the couple and attempts to separate them. The first movement opens rather unconventionally with a lengthy introduction preceding the exposition. The remainder of the movement is alternately tumultuous and introspective, transparently demonstrating Schumann’s alternate musical personalities, Florestan and Eusebius. The second movement is a delicate and hauntingly beautiful aria based on the song An Anna written by Schumann at the age of 18. The third movement is a playful scherzo with two humorous trios—parodies of a Viennese waltz and a Chopin polonaise, respectively. The fourth and final movement thoroughly expands on a serious yet victorious theme (repeated five times in four different keys!) and explores a startlingly wide range of textures. The sonata ends in a triumphant coda featuring Schumann’s beloved galloping rhythms.

SCHUMANN: Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13

Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes had a turbulent publication history and were similarly composed against the backdrop of his romantic struggles. In 1834, Schumann secretly got engaged with fellow pianist, Ernestine von Fricken, a few months after meeting her and began composing a set of variations on a theme composed by her father. Early drafts of the work also bore a dedication to Ernestine’s mother. Schumann, however, abruptly dissolved the engagement the following year, perhaps after becoming infatuated with Clara. Nonetheless, he completed and first published the work as Symphonic Etudes in 1837 with a dedication instead to English pianist, William Bennett, and no mention of von Fricken apart from the commentary that the theme was “the composition of an amateur”. Schumann later made some revisions and published a second version in 1852. Later, in 1890, five additional variations were discovered and published posthumously by Johannes Brahms. It is now common performance practice to reincorporate some or all of the posthumous variations in locations chosen by the performer. Like a typical procrastinating college student I have not decided whether or not to follow this practice as of writing, so this will be left as a surprise.

The title Symphonic Etudes reflects the intense technical demands and orchestral textures of the variations. In general, the etudes explore a wide variety of characters but largely maintain the dark and intensely emotional atmosphere of the theme up until the final etude based on completely different theme derived from the romance “Du stolzes England freue dich” (“Proud England, rejoice!”) by Heinrich Marschner. The final theme is jubilant and triumphant and provides a highly memorable end to this monumental masterpiece.