Humoresques

Featuring

Sofja Gülbadamova
Edvard Grieg
Antonín Dvořák
Max Reger
Robert Schumann

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Composition History

Dvořák's eight Humoresques, Op. 101, were composed in 1894 during a holiday in his Bohemian homeland, towards the end of his years in America.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The concept of 'humour' in the Romantic era, particularly for Jean Paul, involved the feeling of being split between the self and the world, and the acceptance of the relativity of all that is finite in view of the infinite.

Compositional Technique

Max Reger's Five Humoresques, Op. 20, often play with musical masks, including styles reminiscent of Schumann, Brahms, Chopin (a funeral march), and even a Tchaikovsky miniature.

Performer Biography

Sofja Gülbadamova, the pianist on this recording, is highly acclaimed for her poetic interpretations and striking musicality, and has been called a 'pianistic tsunami'.

Composition History

Robert Schumann's Humoreske, Op. 20, the central work on this album, was composed during his struggle to marry Clara Wieck, whose father opposed their union.

Cultural Impact

Dvořák's seventh Humoresque, with its characteristic dotted rhythm, became world-famous and has been the subject of countless transcriptions.

Compositional Technique

Schumann's Humoreske, Op. 20, features an 'inner voice' written on a separate, smaller subsidiary staff, which, according to Clara Schumann, should not be played but rather subtly filter through the piano figures.