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JEAN-PHILIPPE COLLARD
Kreisleriana
op.16
The title of
Kreisleriana
is taken from a collection of stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann
published in 1814; the story in question centres on the character of Johannes
Kreisler, a Kapellmeister haunted by madness, of whom Hoffmann later wrote an
imaginary biography in thenovel
KaterMurr
(
The Life andOpinions of theTomcatMurr
).
Schumann’s identification with Kreisler and the correspondence between the two
works form a fascinating topic, for the novel struck a very profound chord in the
composer. In that year, 1838, he was a prey to the agonies of his frustrated passion.
Despite the jealous surveillance of Wieck, Robert and Clara were sometimes
able to meet with the connivance of friends. Moreover, Clara the virtuoso pianist
garnered acclaim for Robert’s
Carnaval
in Prague and Vienna.
Kreisleriana
depicts
the Romantic duality of Schumann’s genius, constantly torn between Florestan
(the five lively pieces) and Eusebius (the remaining three, more melancholic in
character). Tension, tenderness, poetry, imagination and heightened passion
run through the whole work. Unlike the straightforward rejoicing that brought
Carnaval
op.9 to an end, here nothing comes to dissipate the unease generated by
the obsessional rhythm. The closing bars sink into the depths of the instrument, in
a final Hoffmannesque pirouette. The gnome – like the Scarbo of Ravel’smuch later
Gaspard de la nuit
– evaporates but does not disappear.