Robert Schumann, the composer, decided to explore new genres like symphonies and chamber music after a decade focused on keyboard works and a year on Lieder.
Compositional Technique
In the Piano Quartet, a novel cello sonority is achieved by momentarily retuning the instrument's bottom string down a tone, allowing for a low B flat.
Historical Context
These works were written at a time when chamber music was transitioning from private performances to public concerts, with larger halls and more professional ensembles.
Critical Reception
Despite Schumann's belief that the Piano Quartet was more effective than the Quintet, it never achieved the same popularity, even during his lifetime.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Schumann aimed for a 'poetic' music, inspired by writers Tieck and Wackenroder, to express the inexpressible and reach the absolute, moving beyond mere appearances.
Composition History
Schumann's Piano Quintet Op. 44 was completed in less than two months during a period when he alternated between depression and elation.
Instruments
Isabelle Faust performs on a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1704, known as 'The Sleeping Beauty'.
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