7/30/2019 Schumann Manferd

1/2

7/30/2019 Schumann Manferd

2/2

three strong recordings.

this piece has had a lot of musicological analyses done on it which try to tie it to robertschumann's mental/creative decline. for example: the tempo is marked "rasch" (rushed),

and this can be seen programmatically - the insistent and pervasive syncopation from

the very beginning (you might not know it from listening, but the three initial chords are

syncopated) destabilize it. this of course can be related to the plot of the piece - those

opening chords are representative of manfred's crime, his spiritual struggle, or his guilt -

but historians have pointed to the prevalence of aggressive syncopation, triplets, and

three against two as indicators of schumann's tumultuous mental state. at any rate, this

isn't a concert overture like the hebrides, but more of a character piece for what's to

come, so i think it's alright to take a more programmatic view.

the overture begins with a slow introduction, then speeds up to a sonata-form allegro. innature it's been compared with some wagner, berlioz, and liszt (and i happen to think the

motif at 4:00 sounds really wagnerian), but thematically it has been called the older

relative of lots of brahms (check out the syncopation around 3:20).

three wind/brass chords propel the piece into a development at 4:26. there is a recap that

is more or less normal, but then the ending is subdued, and doesn't provide a conclusion

but leads elsewhere. if you take it as a part of the whole, then maybe it leads to manfred

sitting in his study, the opening of the play. but if you take it as a sort of microcosm of

the entire work/story, it's a darker-toned implication about the ending of the actual story

(the actual incidental music ends in e major requiem, implying a redeemed manfred -

this overture, if you read it this way, doesn't whitewash his death).

there's a little cell of material which comes around every once in a while, starting with

D-C#-G# (falling, quarter notes) around 2:39. clara schumann called this "astarte's

theme," noting how it resurfaces every once in a while as a sort of second theme, then is

quickly lost, dissipating almost immediately. you might see this as part of the story

itself, and manfred's quest after her, in his guilt.

ok, dark work today. stay tuned for something happier tomorrow!

http://moosicblob.blogspot.com/2011/01/mendelssohn-hebrides-overture-fingals.htmlhttp://moosicblob.blogspot.com/2011/01/mendelssohn-hebrides-overture-fingals.html