Schumann

Why is this so familiar?

Posted on May 16, 2010

I just googled for way too long .. trying to tie this piece into a movie theme, because it sounds SO familiar I assumed it must be a movie or TV theme. Couldn’t find anything. Perhaps someone took the main theme and ‘popularised’ it?

Schumann’s Marchenbilder op. 113 no. IV

If you can help send me an email jimji@internode.on.net

Marchenbilder (Fairy Tales), Op. 113 IV. Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck

  • Muriel Wells
    May 26, 2010 at 5:14 am

    Sorry Jim, I can’t help you identify a
    reason why it seems familiar—but then I am not an avid filmgoer or TV watcher!
    Several times it seemed to be becoming part of a piece that I know, but then it shied away.
    It is a lovely piece and so restful and de-stressing to listen to.
    Regards,
    Muriel.

  • Frank Strauss
    May 16, 2010 at 3:00 am

    What a beautiful piece of music! I also blew some time trying to connect the piece with something more familiar. I must confess that I do not recognize it. I did find the following note about the piece, written by Phillip Buttall:
    The music of Robert Schumann is sometimes like riding an emotional roller coaster, with its sudden juxtapositions of highs
    and lows, and Märchenbilder (Fairy Tale Pictures) is certainly no exception.
    Indeed, the markings of the individual movements would bear this out (Not fast – Lively – Quick – Slow, with melancholy expression). However, the qualities that make Schumann one of the truly great
    representatives of the Romantic spirit are very much in evidence, too, especially his ability to evoke atmospheres and impressions which can transcend musical boundaries.
    The characteristic Schumannesque dotted-rhythms of the third movement transport the listener to a magical, childlike realm, whilst the final movement vividly invokes the dreamlike world of
    the tortured artist, a disorientation that might very well be autobiographical, since the ‘nervous disorder’ which Schumann inherited from his father, and most likely schizophrenia or manicdepression, would lead, eventually, to madness and an early death.