Robert Schumann’s “Marchenbilder” is a group of four “Fairytale Pictures” for viola and piano forms a tonally coherent suite of character pieces in the style of Schumann’s earlier piano pieces. There is no indication in the score which specific fairytales – if any – Robert had in mind.
Musically, the first of the pictures is a moody prelude, playing with the upwardly yearning elements of the initial theme.
The second is a rondo of leaping joy, vigorously double-stopped in the viola, with two contrasting episodes.
The intense energy and explosive accents of the third movement do support the idea that it might be a fairy dance of the darker, Berlioz kind.
The tender reverie – more nostalgic than melancholic, as Robert marked it – of the last piece makes it an unusual finale, but its glowing warmth suggests something of an “all lived happily ever after” ending.
Here is violist Yuri Bashmet to play this music for you:
