Schumann "Kinderszenen" Opus 15 - complete

Carey

First Fiano Tell post. Recorded July, 2024 on Mason & Hamlin BB. A bucket list project now completed. Started working on these 62 years ago when I was in high school. Thought it might be a good idea to finish them up. 😆

About Strange Lands and People - 00:00
Curious Story - 1:58
Blindman's buff - 3:04
Pleading Child - 3:44
Perfectly Contented - 4:56
Important Event - 6:29
Dreaming - 7:21
At the Fireside - 10:14
The Kinght of the Rocking-horse - 11:10
Almost too Serious - 12:00
Frightening - 14:03
Child Falling Asleep - 15:51
The Poet Speaks - 18:00

Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) Opus 15 by Robert Schumann is a set of thirteen miniature pieces for piano Composed in 1838. In this work, Schumann expresses his adult reminiscences of childhood. Schumann claimed that the picturesque titles attached to the pieces were added as an afterthought and were "nothing more than delicate hints for execution and interpretation."
While relatively easy compared to Schumann's other works for piano, this is not music for children to play or intended for an audience of children. It is music of maturity and sophistication evoking the emotional world of children. The work has been popular ever since it was first published and remains as an audience favorite today.

rogerch

Carey What a great project! Congratulations on finishing!

Thanks for sharing your recording! It has been a while since I've listened to the full set, and I'm reminded how much I like it! I hear "About Strange Lands and People" and "Dreaming" from time to time, but my favorite is "Perfectly Contented". Such joy!

Your playing is lovely. I really like the way you bring out details, especially your balancing of the inner voices. Your impeccable playing reveals the richness of these compositions!

Great job bringing out the contrast between pieces! Your skillful articulation contributes nicely to the contrasts!

I was able to listen to the full set in a single sitting and I'm glad I did. I greatly enjoyed listening to your playing!

keff

Carey Bravo. I found it compelling to listen to.

navindra

Carey Bravo! That was thoroughly entertaining! 👏

I listened to your entire performance in one sitting, something that's rare for me, and I feel thoroughly enriched by it. Thank you!

Some of the highlights for me were "About Strange Lands and People", "Dreaming", "Frightening", and "Child Falling Asleep", but really, I enjoyed every single piece even though I was hearing several of them for the first time.

Thanks a lot for sharing this tremendous accomplishment of yours. 👏

PianoMonk

Carey I put this on, then sat back, could easily have been the PBS classical radio station. First rate performance, excellent sound and recording.

Carey

rogerch - Thank you so much for your kind comments - and for listening to the entire set in one sitting. As you state, we are so accustomed to hearing some of the pieces indpendently that we forget that (I believe) Schumann intended them to be performed as a complete set. Indeed, the sequential flow and contrasts seem to make sense. After dabbling with some of the individual pieces over the years (Strange Lands, Dreamng and Poet Speaks), I realized it was time to buckle down and learn ALL of them. Even though they aren't as technically demanding as most of Schumann's other works for piano, there are still inherent musical and technical challenges that need to be addressed. Overall it was a wonderful learning experience for me. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment. I'm very pleased that you enjoyed it. Best - Phil (Carey)

Carey

Keff - Thank you so much for listening and commenting. I appreciate it, and am glad you enjoyed my efforts. I had previously posted the video on PIano World and while my written post received over 400 "views" no one actually commented on the recording itself. The feedback here has been very helpful. Cheers!!

Rubens

Welcome home, Carey. I mean your new home, if you're ok with that 😉. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave 🤣.

Jokes and song quotations aside, fantastic playing as usual!

Carey

Thanks Rubens !!! For the time being I plan to visit both forums on a regular basis. After all, I invested 16 years of my life on PW (with over 14,000 posts). I have friends on each forum and want to stay in contact with all. The intrusive ads on PW were not an issue for me. CHEERS !!!!!!!

MarcPlaysPiano

I finally listened to the whole thing. Nice work! I especially liked Child Falling Asleep--very poignant performance.

Carey

MarcPlaysPiano Thanks Marc. I appreciate you listening to the entire set. I think "Child Falling Asleep" is the strongest piece in the opus along with the ever popular Traumerie." Hope all is well with you and your famliy.

Carey

navindra Wow - thank you, Navindra. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I tried to be as true to the score as I could, and it was a great learning experience for me. I can understand why so many "great" pianists include this set in their recital programs. While technically easier than the majority of Schumann's output,for solo piano these are still "mini" masterpieces. Cheers !!!!!

Carey

PianoMonk Thank you so much, Clarence. I truly appreciate the positive feedback - particularly from someone as multi-talented as you. I started working on this set 62 years when I was in high school.. Figured it was time to revisit it, learn the remaining pieces, and record the entire thing. It was definitely worth the effort.

Sophia

Well, I listened to the whole recording. I planned to listen to each piece individually, and then ended up breathlessly listening for the full 20 minutes. I knew some of those pieces individually but I never heard them in sequence like that.

Once upon a time we purchased a CD full of classical sheet music, so I looked up the Kinderszenen and read along with you. Some are famous, such as Dreaming (called Reverie on my sheet) - probably my personal favourite. I will do my own dreaming of playing some of those one day - maybe when I'm 99 like your mother 🙂 Thank you for recording these!

Carey

Sophia Sophia - I'm flattered that you llistened to the entire recording. Thank you. I'm also impressed that you've been taking lessons since January 2024. I listened to your recent video, and you are progressing quite well. It won't be long before you should be able to tackle the first piece in Kinderszenen, "Of Strange Lands and People." It's probably the easiest one in the set. - followed by the last piece, "The Poet Speaks." Keep up the good work - and thanks again for your nice comments.

Sophia

Carey It won't be long before you should be able to tackle the first piece in Kinderszenen

Oh I can't wait 🙂 That one is very famous too and ever so gentle... I'd love to be able to play that. I look forward to listening to more of your work 🙂

Carey

Sophia I have no doubt that you will get there - even sooner than you think. Keep up the good work !!!!!

Simonb

Hi Carey

Thanks for sharing, that's lovely playing. It's a long term ambition of mine to learn the whole set. I played Child Falling Asleep for my ABRSM grade 7 last year. As you say these are not as difficult as a lot of Schumann, but they are not easy. My grade performance (for which I got 26/30) was certainly not as good as yours.

Cheers

Carey

Simonb Thank you, Simon. Learning the entire set was a long term ambition of mine as well, however it took me over 60 years to get around to finally do it. Each piece has it's challenges, however, the most difficult one for me was No. 10, "Almost too Serius." Nasty key signature and difficult to maintain the flow and balance between the hands. Best of luck to you. Keep up the good work !!

Sgisela

Carey beautifully done! I’m not sure I’ve listened to the complete set before. It’s really enjoyable to hear the contrasting ideas between the different pieces, but all having a somewhat nostalgic and reminiscent mood.

I think I particularly liked the latter part of the set (especially starting with Almost too serious, and I agree with you and others that Child Falling Asleep is the most impactful of the set).

Anyways, I enjoyed it very much and applaud you for sticking to it! I’ve played pieces from sets with the aspiration of one day being able to do the whole thing, but I do wonder if I’ll ever get around to those projects.

Carey

Sgisela Thanks so much for listening and commenting. I truly appreciate it. While the Opus 15 was doable as a set, I've decided that it's OK to pick and choose individual pieces from a set that are both appealing and playable. I simply don't have the time, energy or ability at this stage of my life to learn the entire Davidsbundlertanze or Kreisleriana }(that ship has sailed) so I've been working on individual pieces in those sets that resonate with me. Then, of course, there's the music of other composers to learn as well .......ha ha. Cheers !!!!!