![]() The waltz theme is quoted in the middle section before the last ten bars of the Maestoso return to and expand the start. The ‘Schubert’ Variations begin with a Maestoso introduction of which the opening motif is extracted from the following 1st Variation, which had actually been written first. Crucially, Schumann used only the first twenty-four bars of the ‘Variations on the Waltz of Longing’ to open what is a very different musical work, the remaining material of the ‘Schubert’ Variations being left unfinished. 9 began to take shape, the “Scenen” now challenging the ‘Philistines’ and passionately overriding each other. The result was that as the circumstances in his life changed, the Carnaval, Op. Furthermore, in September 1834 he discovered the similarity between the musical letters of his fiancé’s home town (ASCH) and those of his own name (SCHumAnn) and used these motives as the new basis of the work. One can hear a gradual change in the mood of his music as the dreaming ‘Eusebius’ is increasingly ousted by the stormy ‘Florestan’, and consequently Schumann no longer described “lilies of love”, but saw in their place a “masked ball”. However in 1834, with the foundation of his Neue Zeitschrift für Musik in April and his engagement to Ernestine von Fricken, these retrospective feelings began to fade as Schumann looked to the future. The dedication is only deserved and valued by a soul in A flat, one which is like yours, like yours alone my treasured friend.” To Schumann the theme was one of the “waltzes of the heart” which were the keys of “D flat and A flat waxing lyrically … evening flowers and figures in the dusk, the remembrance of lost youth and of a thousand loves” and which “remind us of something beyond our reach”. They are actually lilies of love, held together by the Waltz of Longing. As he wrote to Henriette Voigt: “It is said that precious stones generate sparks of inspiration and many musical names have come together to form what I would like to call ‘Scenen’. His work met with Schumann’s disapproval however for he felt it “inappropriate … to set such heroic variations on such a heartfelt theme as Franz Schubert’s Waltz of Longing.” The virtuosic piece for piano and orchestra missed the poetic grasp of its inspiration since “in the deafening noise of the world … the flower of lyricism cannot blossom beautifully and freely – rather it quietly buds and floats its perfume in secret.” His own variations are therefore lyrical and intimate and reveal “particular soul states”. The catalyst for the composition of the ‘Schubert’ Variations was possibly provided by his highly regarded friend Ludwig Schuncke, who had recently composed variations on the same theme. ![]() ![]() The resulting fragment was dedicated to Henriette Voigt, a close friend and skilled pianist whose house Schumann frequented from early 1834 and whose enthusiasm for Schubert he shared. In November 1833 he began work on a first draft for the ‘Variations on the Waltz of Longing’ and in 1834 made two more attempts to finish the piece. His diary on 2nd March 1829 mentions a “fruitful improvisation on the Waltz of Longing” eight months later he requested the music for the complete Schubert Waltzes from Friedrich Wieck and according to Friedrich Täglichsbeck played them “beautifully and whenever he had the chance”. He heard his songs for the first time, was introduced by Agnes Carus to the four-hand works for piano and fell in love both with “Schubert’s Waltzes and her”. ![]() In 1827 Schumann began “revelling” in the music of Franz Schubert. ![]() Reconstructed from the manuscripts by Andreas Boyde ![]()
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