Chapter 22

DES ABENDS.

TheFantasiestücke[191], op. 12, of which this piece is the first,
amply justify their title, for they abound in soaring thoughts,
in fantastic, whimsical imaginings and in novel modes of ut-
terance and structure. Every number of the set is a gem,In
der Nachtbeing perhaps the most poetic of Schumann’s short
pieces for the pianoforte. They are thoroughly pianistic and
evoke from the instrument all its possibilities of sonority and
color. In point of texture they illustrate that happy combina-
tion, which Schumann worked out, of lyric melodies on a firmly
knit polyphonic basis. They are also programmistic in so far
as Schumann believed in music of that type. There is no at-
tempt to tell a detailed story or to have the music correspond
literally to definite incidents. The titles merely afford a verbal
clue to the general import and atmosphere of the music. Thus
in regard to the piece under consideration, the mere mention of
eventide is supposed to be enough to stimulate thought in any
one with a sensitive imagination, and the music is a suggestive
expression of Schumann’s own intimate reveries. The piece is in
extended two-part form—each part repeated—and rounded out
with an eloquent Coda. The rhythmic scheme is of particular
significance for it illustrates not only the composer’s fondness
for inventing new combinations, but, as well, suggests most del-
icately the mood of the piece. It would evidently be false art to
write a piece, entitled Evening, in a vigorous, arousing rhythm,
such as might be associated with a noon-day sun, when we of-
ten see the heat-waves dancing over the fields. On the other