The Robert Schumann's Concerto for cello and orchestra in A minor, Op.129 will be featured on the cover for the month of July. This is a piece that, in my opinion, perfectly captures the onset of summer. It is joyful, emotive, and filled with enthusiasm. I have heard this concert countless times, both with and without an orchestra. Undoubtedly, it is a fascinating piece of work. When a search is done for a certain piece, information about the author is readily evident; in the instance of Robert Schumann, these details include the fact that in addition to being a pianist and composer, he has also been referred to as a poet, a storyteller, and most recently as a cryptographer. The beauty of his works had to have inspired a variety of studies or hypotheses, as was to be expected. The concert's musical structure and the work's encrypted messaging will only be briefly discussed in this post.
Cover July 2023
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| Images: Robert Schumann by Josef Kriehuber, Clara Schumann Lithograph, C1838, by Andreas Staub. Animation by PhotoFunia. |
July 2023
It could be argued that the Schumann's cello concerto is smaller than Dvořák's cello concerto in terms of "size," -number of bars- and "duration", but it also differs from that work in that it is played continuously and that it flows in a circular fashion, with "a later movement or section reintroduces thematic material from an earlier section" (Ka-Wai Yu, 2011). While it may appear to be a petite piece, it is important to recognise the creativity of the orchestral colour touches that are used, as they "would have done Mendelssohn proud" (Nicholas, 2020).
Some claim that Casals popularized the Schumann concerto by performing it in concert halls during the 20th century, but at different tempos than those proposed by the composer. When the soloists vary from the tempo patterns advised by Schumann, the original composition may be partially corrupted. When performing as Gregor Piatigorsky once did, switching out the cadenza backed by the orchestra for his own cadenza, the alterations become noticeably more obvious. Even though there is a chance of getting remarkable outcomes, the concerto's uniqueness and the anticipated cyclical pattern are far from what these alterations are.
Image 1. Schumann's Concerto for cello and orchestra in A minor, Op.129 Tempos
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| Note: Image from When Concerto Meets Song Cycle: A Study of Vocal Influences In Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 by Ka-Wai Yu (p.114), 2011, [Doctoral thesis, University of Illinois]. |
Robert Schumann: The Cryptographer
Cellist Carmine Miranda wrote the study Decoding the Schumann Cello Concerto, in which he dissected the concerto to find the hidden code that Schumann entered using the Clef Anglaise or English Key method and decoded the words Clara, Josephine, Wieck, (Veek), Robert, Florestan, Eusebius, and Schumann. This message also aims to silence anyone who question the composer's sanity and the validity of this work. Three notes and their corresponding changes are the core of this analysis.
Image 2. Encryption method
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| Note: Images from "Decoding the Schumann Cello Concerto" by Carmine Miranda (pp.51-52), 2016, The Musical Times, 157(1934). |
Reflexion
James Nicholas invites the reader in his article Schumann Concerto: Hear it again for the first time to consider a piece's meaning for themselves, to put aside what has been previously written, to discover and enjoy the beauty and content. The author emphasizes how challenging it is to approach a piece of music as if it were the first time. It's worth the effort, and at this point, the audience could be of great help.
For example, consider inflation as a hypothetical work of art for the purposes of this analogy exercise. Let's try to recall the moment we received our first independent source of income and the moment we felt grateful for the wonderful price stabilisation because it affects period planning and we would undoubtedly feel happier the closer to zero is found (yes, moderate inflation can also be accepted as long as it is less than the growth rate). Most of us are uninformed of the methods or instruments used by the Central Bank to control inflation, but we are aware that its stabilisation affects our financial status, which in turn influences our decisions and happiness. As a result, we may miss monetary policymakers' day-to-day actions but not the consequences. We might experience something similar when hearing a work for the first time, forgetting the creation process or the composers' everyday job yet appreciating the effect. Having clarified this point, let's go on.
It is frequently stated that Schumann composed the cello concerto in two weeks and revised it for two years before publishing it in 1854. But, let's be honest, a work of this magnitude takes years of apprenticeship and experience; it's like that research we always have in our heads and that gets developed over time until we have enough elements to carry it out; it doesn't materialise overnight or in a few days.
On the other hand, much has been written about Schumann's mental state, which seems to have been influenced by a mental illness, but this did not prevent him from making important musical contributions, as John Nash did in mathematics and economics. Currently, the most striking research on his compositions seems to focus on his cryptographic messages, which he presumably used to express his love for Clara.
However, we could let our imaginations run wild and consider this: if the cello concerto truly contains an encrypted message that is not the result of chance, then, we could accept this decoded message as true. We could also accept the love theory as true. Although it was evident that Robert loved Clara, which is why he married her, unless it was a planned marriage and a one-sided love for her. Whether or not the true love hypothesis fails, we could propose a new hypothesis. Every piece of art is meticulously signed by its creator, therefore the requirement to enter Clara's names into the code might also imply that it is a signature of authorship -in this case-, it would be the signature of the co-author.
Perhaps, there are too many hypotheses to test on a summer night; the simplest way to test them, with no margin of error, would be to contact Herbert George Wells (and somewhat time travel), but he does not appear to be available at the moment. However, we can always rely on the lauded "assumptions" that economists frequently offer when presented with hilarious scenarios.
Last but not least, it is understandable that orchestras and soloists deviate from Schumann's tempos for various reasons, but it would be fascinating to hear the work as he (or they) published it.
Note: The calendar is updated practically every day at 7 a.m., London time. Why am I set to London time for YouTube live streams? Because London is located in the geographic centre of the world (IERS reference meridian), I believe that giving preference to my time zone would be a bit selfish; thus, you and I calculate the difference in hours.
I want to wish everyone in the northern hemisphere a great summer!
Sending lots of love to everyone!! 💗💗💓💗💗
References
- Ka-Wai Yu (2011). When Concerto Meets Song Cycle: A Study of Vocal Influences In Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129, with reference to his Dichterliebe, Op. 48 [Doctoral thesis, University of Illinois]. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/29152485.pdf
- Miranda, C. (2016). Decoding the Schumann Cello Concerto. The Musical Times, 157(1934), 45–66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44862487
- Nicholas, J. (2020, July 22). Schumann Concerto: Hear it again for the first time. The Internet Cello Society. Available on http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/schumconc.htm
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