Ann Schein Q SCHUMANNSCHUMANN: Davidsbündlertänze (18 Characteristic Pieces), Opus 6 37:51

Lebhaft 1:45Innig 1:32Mit Humor (Etwas hahnbüchen) 1:31Ungeduldig 0:43Einfach 2:15Sehr rasch (Sehr rasch und in sich hinein) 1:35Nicht schnell (Mit äußerst starker Empfindung) 4:17Frisch 1:11Lebhaft 1:46Balladenmäßig. Sehr rasch 1:41Einfach 2:14Mit Humor 0:50Wild und lustig 3:37Zart und singend 2:39Frisch 2:17Mit gutem Humor 1:17Wie aus der Ferne 4:05Nicht schnell 2:28

SCHUMANN: Arabeske, Opus 18 Leicht und zart - Minore I. Etwas langsamer - Minore II. 7:40Etwas langsamer - Zum Schluß (Coda). Langsamer

SCHUMANN: Humoreske, Opus 20 27:32Einfach - Sehr rasch und leicht - Noch rascher - Erstes Tempo - Wie im Anfang 5:35Hastig - Nach und nach immer lebhafter und stärker - Wie vorher - Adagio 5:00Einfach und zart - Intermezzo - (Wie vorher-) Innig 7:15Sehr lebhaft - Mit einigem Pomp - Zum Beschluß - Allegro 9:41

Total Playing Time: 73:18

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other, or both, as the signed authors of eachdance. On the title page, an inscription hasbeen placed above the opening measures, ashort poem taken from an old German say-ing, a gesture typical of Schumann in hisblending of the literary, philosophical, andmusical:

In all’ und jeder ZeitVerknüpft sich Lust und LeidBleibt fromm in Lust und seydDem Leid mit Muth bereit.

(Grief and joy are forever entwined. Bedevout in joy and meet grief with courage.)

This saying serves as a kind of overallomen, with an aura of foreboding hoveringover the unfolding landscape of this work.The next Schumannesque gesture we noticein a bracket over the first measures of Opus6 are the words, “Motto by C.W.” whichappear only in the first edition.

In his article on Clara Wieck of September 12, 1837, in the Neue Zeitschrift fürMusik, he reviewed her Soirées Musicales, Opus 6: “There should also be a female head toadorn our museum... What do we have then, in these Soirées?... For one thing, they tell usmuch about music, and how it surpasses the effusions of poetry, how one can be happy inpain and sad when happy. They belong to those... whose hearts swell to the bursting pointat the sound of intimate yearning and inner song...”

Clara was an inseparable part of his artistic soul, and in this article, he openly expressedhis estimation of her, giving her the praise reserved only for those he considered highestamong practitioners of the art of music. He began his own Opus 6 with the first two

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Clara Wieck, in her seventeenth year

Short-lived, it returns once again to Dminor carrying us headlong into a Codaending with utter finality on a “D” octave.

In Number Seven, the music shifts intoa thoughtful G minor dialogue by Eusebiuswith the next instruction to the performer:Nicht schnell (mit äusserst starkerEmpfindung) or Not fast (with extremelystrong emotion).

Number Eight is a lively March in Cminor, marked Frisch (Fresh). Florestan, theenergetic Wanderer, leads the way.

In Number Nine another March isintroduced with a subtle turn from C minorto C major marked Lebhaft, as in NumberOne. Here we find an unusual note for theperformer: (Hierauf schloss Florestan und eszuckte ihm schmerzlich um die Lippen):(Here Florestan concluded and his lipstwitched painfully). A startlingly beautifulCoda interrupts the March and, like anafterthought, the music fades away with twochords disappearing into mists of uncer-

tainty. These chords only appear in the first edition and are included here.Book Two, Number Ten, opens with renewed force in D minor with a magnificent

show of noble strength and cross-rhythmic conflict in an extended structure marked,Balladenmässig. Sehr rasch. (In the style of a Ballade. Very fast.) Of course this is signed byFlorestan, his spirit restored.

Number Eleven in B minor is a poetic and melancholy Semplice, a sad song fromEusebius alternating between B minor and reassuring in D major, but the minor prevails,and has the last sad word.

Number Twelve, another Mit Humor in B minor is a capricious and brilliant Polka– 6 –

Ann Schein with Sir Malcolm Sargent

(Totally superfluously, Eusebius added thefollowing remarks, but much bliss spokethrough his eyes). A Waltz tune noncha-lantly floats in the air. Eusebius is lost inpoetic reverie. Twelve low “C’s” strike mid-night as the lilting song carries us down tothe bottom of the piano. Three last bellsring out, their vibrating sonority penetrat-ing to the very depths of the soul.

Humoreske, Opus 20In Schumann’s own estimation, he had

embarked on a great work with theHumoreske, Opus 20 – his “GrosseHumoreske” as he described it to Clara in aletter written to her from Vienna in thewinter months of 1839.

At this point, his travails in the ongoingbattle with her father were at a criticalpoint, and he was going all out to establishhimself as a major force with his music. Inthe Humoreske, the signatures and directquotations from Florestan and Eusebius

with which we have become familiar in the Davidsbündlertänze are absent, but perhapsthe pure essence of the finest and noblest in Schumann himself is most clearly representedin this work. The concept of “laughter containing pain and greatness” expressed in theGerman word, “Humor,” was permeating his spirit and tearing at his emotions during hisenforced separation from Clara, and it had brought him to a fevered pitch of creativity.“All week,” he wrote to Clara, “I have been at the piano and I composed, laughed, andcried all at once. You will find this state of things nicely described in my Opus 20... twelvesheets composed in a week.”

By this time, Schumann and Clara are, as a matter of historic record, only a little more– 8 –

Ann Schein with Mrs. Lyndon Johnson andCharles Treger, White House, 1963

Six pages later, after animposing FlorestinianMarch in D minor marked“Nach und nach immer leb-hafter und stärker,” or“increasingly more livelyand forceful,” the “InnerVoice” returns in a totallynew form. This time, singlechords move in harmonicprogression across Clara’svocal line appearing one-by-one in extended lengths of 4measures apiece in continu-ously tied half-notes, leav-ing each one suspended fora moment in the air. Wefeel as if Schumann wantsus to pause and contemplatethem singly in all their starkbeauty while breathing indraughts of pure harmony.The Adagio Coda of this

section seems to pick up where the opening melody of the Humoreske has left us earlier,bringing it only now to a final close.

In the following “Einfach und zart,” “simple and tender,” a new G minor lament poursfrom his pen with a breathtaking vocal lift to a high B-flat in the soprano line reminiscentof the last measures of the Arabeske. An Intermezzo interrupts this heartbreaking songwith a brilliant burst of cheerful affirmation, and we can imagine that the exuberant herohas arrived on the scene, and come to the rescue! Softly at first and then increasing in vol-ume, the rolling lines in tandem thirds come closer and closer. Above this moving paradein jaunty rhythmic step, blaring B-flat major trumpets ring out repeatedly, announcing

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Contestants at the Merriweather Post Competetion. Ann Schein,age 16, is seated on the bench with 12 year old James Levine.Howard Mitchell, Conductor of the National Symphony, isstanding at right.

wrote from Vienna that his writing styleduring his stay in that city had been “get-ting lighter and more feminine.” TheArabeske could almost be considered a por-trait of Clara in all its variety of moods.Indeed, the coda completely succumbs to adeeply affecting sustained cry for her withher name clearly on his lips.

Ann Schein’s RecollectionsIt was, perhaps, the common bond with

Schumann’s poetic voice that brought intomy life the enduring relationships with twoPolish giants of the piano, MieczyslawMunz and Arthur Rubinstein.

I came to study with Munz at PeabodyConservatory at the age of thirteen. A yearlater, he gave me my first major Schumannwork and chose the Humoreske. I first per-formed it in a recital at the Phillips Galleryin Washington, D.C. the following year. Hegave me the Davidsbündlertänze right afterthis and I played it several times during myPeabody years. One or the other of theseworks was on all my debut recitals inMexico City and Europe between 1957 and1961. It was Munz who suggested the

Davidsbündlertänze for my debut recital in Carnegie Hall in 1962. The Humoreske was the first piece I played for Arthur Rubinstein when I went to

Paris to study with him in 1961. It was Rubinstein who chose the Humoreske for my sec-ond Carnegie Hall recital in 1963. He was present at both recitals, and his enthusiasm andsupport seemed boundless, I always felt, as a result of his positive reaction to the

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Ann Schein, 15, with Mieczyslaw Munz,Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore

including the New York Philharmonic, theCleveland Orchestra, the PhiladelphiaOrchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic,the Baltimore Symphony, the NationalSymphony, the London Philharmonic, andthe BBC Symphony Orchestra.

In 1980, in an inspiring artistic triumph,Ann Schein extended the legacy of her teach-ers, Mieczyslaw Münz, Artur Rubinstein,and Dame Myra Hess, presenting the com-plete major Chopin repertoire to six sold-outhouses in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hallthroughout an entire season, the first Chopincycle heard in New York in 35 years.

In addition to her solo and concertoappearances, she performs chamber musicwith leading ensembles such as the Americanand Cleveland String Quartets and theAmerican Brass Quintet. She has collaborat-ed with artists including Joel Krosnik, ElmarOliveira, Ralph Kirshbaum Philip Setzer,

Larry Dutton, Mihaly Virizlay, Jan de Gaetani, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, and Paul Sperry. Sheand her husband, violinist Earl Carlyss – for 20 years a member of the Juilliard StringQuartet – perform frequently as a duo. Ms. Schein recently toured with the soprano, JessyeNorman, in major cities of the United States adding a triumphant tour of Brazil in 1995.The pair can be heard on a release from Sony Classical in early songs of Alban Berg.

She gives yearly lectures and master classes across the United States and frequentlyserves as an adjudicator in major music competitions. For nearly 20 years, she served asPresident of the People to People Music Committee presenting instruments and musicto schools and orchestras in many countries of the world. She is on the piano faculty ofthe Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and is an Artist-Faculty member of the AspenMusic Festival.

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Ann Schein, 1980

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- Davidsbündlertänze(18 Characteristic Pieces), Opus 6 37:51

Arabeske, Opus 18 7:40- Humoreske, Opus 20 27:32

Total Playing Time: 73:18

Producer: Ann Schein

Executive Producer: Michael Rolland Davis

Engineer: Ed Kelly • Rebalance Engineer: Ed Thompson

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Ann ScheinQ S C H U M A N N Q

Ann ScheinQ S C H U M A N N Q