With the “Introduction and Concert Allegro”, composed in 1853 and dedicated to Johannes Brahms, we have completed our editions of Schumann’s works for piano and orchestra. The famous Piano Concerto in a minor (HN 660) and the exquisite Concert Piece op. 92 (HN 1141) are also available in top Urtext quality. Schumann’s original formal design is a particular feature: In opus 134 he streamlines the classical three movement form of the solo concerto – as he had already done in the Concert Piece op. 92 – into one single through-composed movement, and in so doing creates an atmospherically intense dialogue between the piano and orchestra.
Content/Details
- Level of difficulty (Explanation)
- Other titles with this level of difficulty
Youtube
Preface
The Konzert-Allegro mit Introduktion op. 134, composed in 1853, was one of the last works completed by Robert Schumann (1810–56). In his review in 1836 of the Piano Concertos nos. 5 and 6 by Ignaz Moscheles he had already remarked on the lack “of smaller concert pieces in which the virtuoso might perform an allegro, adagio and rondo all at once [i. e. in a single … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer
Robert Schumann
Connected with his oeuvre is the term he coined, Poetic Music, with which he strove for a fusion of literature and music, a paradigm particularly seen in his lyric piano pieces prior to 1839. Thereafter he devoted himself to other genres (song, symphony, chamber music, among others).
| 1810 | Born in Zwickau on June 8, the son of a bookdealer. |
| from 1828 | Studies law in Leipzig, piano with Friedrich Wieck. Decision to pursue a career in music. |
| 1830–39 | He exclusively composes piano works, mostly cycles, including “Papillons,” Op. 2 (1829–32); “Carnaval,” Op 9 (1834/35); “Davidsbündlertänze,” Op. 6 (1837); “Kinderszenen” (“Scenes from Childhood”), Op. 15 (1837/38); “Kreisleriana,” Op. 16 (1838); “Noveletten,” Op. 21 (1838). |
| 1832 | A paralysis of a finger in his right hand makes a career as a pianist impossible. Founding in 1833 of the fantasy brotherhood the “Davidsbund” (“League of David”). |
| 1835–44 | Editor of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal of Music). |
| 1840 | Marriage to Clara Wieck; 138 songs, including the Eichendorff Liederkreis, Op. 39; the song cycle “Dichterliebe,” Op. 48 |
| 1841 | Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major (“Spring” Symphony), Op. 38, and Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120. |
| 1842 | Three string quartets, Op. 41; further chamber music. |
| 1843 | Teacher of composition at the Leipzig Conservatory. Oratorio “Paradise and the Peri,” Op. 50. |
| 1845 | He settles in Dresden. Journey to Russia. |
| 1845 | Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61. |
| 1850 | City music director in Düsseldorf. Premiere in Leipzig of his opera “Genoveva,” Op. 81. Symphony in E-flat major (“Rhenish”), Op. 97; Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129. |
| 1853 | Beginning of his friendship with Brahms. Completion of the Scenes from Faust. Violin Concerto in D minor for Joseph Joachim. |
| 1854 | Suicide attempt and admission to the psychiatric institution in Endenich, near Bonn. |
| 1856 | Death in Endenich on July 29. |
About the authors
Ernst Herttrich (Editor)
Dr. Ernst Herttrich, born in 1942 in Würzburg, read musicology, history, German and theology at the universities in Würzburg and Cologne. In 1970 he earned his doctorate in Würzburg with a study of the expression of melancholy in the music of Mozart.
From 1970 to 1990 he was an editor at G. Henle Publishers in Munich, after which he was Head of the Beethoven Complete Edition for over 15 years. In 1999 he took over as Head of the Beethoven-Haus Publishers, and from 2001 was made Head of the Beethoven-Archiv, the research centre at the Beethoven-Haus.
He has been a visiting professor at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo and has undertaken several lecture tours both there and to Kyoto. His research interests include source studies, editorial techniques and music history. Herttrich’s publications include “Beethoven. Liederkreis an die ferne Geliebte” (Bonn 1999) and “Ludwig van Beethoven. Biographie in Bildern” (Bonn, 2000). Herttrich has edited over 100 Urtext editions for G. Henle Publishers.
Johannes Umbreit (Piano reduction)
Prof. Johannes Umbreit studied the piano at the Musikhochschule in Munich. From 1987 onwards he was a regular accompanist at courses given by Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Thomas Brandis, Ljerko Spiller, Igor Ozim, Olga Woitowa, Ernő Sebestyén, Walter Nothas, F. Andrejevsky, Denis Zsigmondy and Zakhar Bron amongst others. He has appeared in numerous radio and TV broadcasts and plays chamber music with members of the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He is on the jury of different international competitions and has been invited to several international music festivals. Umbreit was a teacher for almost ten years at the Musikhochschule in Munich and at the same time a lecturer for chamber music and piano accompaniment at the Richard Strauss Conservatory. Since 2008 he has been a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. As the long-serving managing director of the Richard-Strauss-Gesellschaft, he was made an honorary member of the board in 2009. In May 2011, the Bavarian Minister of Culture appointed Johannes Umbreit an honorary professor of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München on the suggestion of its academic senate.
Andreas Groethuysen (Fingering)
Prof. Andreas Groethuysen, born in 1956 in Munich, studied music with Ludwig Hoffmann in Munich and, on a scholarship from the “Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”, with Peter Feuchtwanger in London.
After several years as a soloist, Groethuysen formed a piano duo with Yaara Tal, which has now become the focus of his artistic work. The duo regularly performs in many European countries, in Israel, China, North and South America. In exclusive cooperation with SONY CLASSICAL the internationally acclaimed piano duo has released a great many CDs – 28 to date – almost all of which have been awarded prizes.