Schumann and Agencies of Improvisation
This chapter examines Schumann's improvisations in the years 1827–31. Diaries and contemporary accounts can help reconstruct his improvisational practices and set them in the context of the virtuoso‐composer tradition of Czerny, Moscheles, Hummel, and others. The chapter examines traces of improvisational practice in Schumann's early piano compositions, with a particular focus on the finale of the “Abegg” variations, which bears several marks of “postclassical” improvisation, such as the recurrent dominant pedal tone, multiple iterations of a simple chord progression, and a lack of melodic or motivic content in favor of figuration. The chapter further considers how Schumann's attitude toward improvisation, which became increasingly negative or restrictive over time, was shaped by the social values of the German educated bourgeoisie. Hans Christian Andersen's novel The Improviser, published in 1835, provides a contemporary lens for interpreting these cultural values.
Keywords: improvisation, Hans Christian Andersen, stile brillante, Bürgertum
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .