12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 22: Carnaval, Op. 9

by Robert Schumann

Performer: Paul Pitman

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

The next tremendous composer for study is the German Robert Schumann, and the title of his story is 'The Story of the Boy Who Made Pictures in Music' by Thomas Tapper. Schumann's composition, 'Carnaval, Op. 9 (Little Scenes on Four Notes),' symbolizes the masked merrymakers celebrating Carnival. Carnival is the season just before the beginning of Lent. During Lent, some Christians abstain from foods and pleasures in preparation for paying tribute to the resurrection of Christ during Easter.

Vocabulary

Carnival: A Western Christian celebration often involving parades, wearing masks, and feasting, undertaken during February/March, prior to beginning the temporary abstention of Lent.
Lent: A Christian practice preceding Easter, traditionally involving temporary abstention from certain foods and pleasures.
Easter: A Christian feast commemorating the resurrection of Christ.
The Resurrection: In Christianity, the act of Jesus Christ arising from the dead and becoming alive again.

Composer

1. When Robert Schumann was a boy, he used to amuse his friends by playing their pictures on the piano. He could make the music imitate the person. This is Robert Schumann.

2. One day Schumann said to his friends: This is the way the farmer walks when he comes home singing from his work. He then played a tune called 'The Happy Farmer.'

3. Someday, if you learn to play an instrument, you will be able to play a lot of pieces by Schumann that picture the pleasantest things so clearly that you can see them very plainly indeed. In one of his books there is a music picture of a boy riding a rocking horse. Another of a little girl falling asleep. 'A March for Little Soldiers.' (That is, make-believes.)
4. And then there are 'Sitting by the Fireside,' 'What they Sing in Church,' and a piece the first four notes of which spell the name of a composer who was a good friend of Schumann's.

5. This composer, Niels Gade (Notes G-A-D-E), came from Denmark.

6. This is a picture of the house in Zwickau, Germany, where Robert Schumann was born.

7. Schumann was a strong healthy young man who had many friends and loved life. Here he is as a youth.

8. What do you think the father and mother of Robert Schumann wanted him to be when he was grown up? A lawyer!
9. Robert was the youngest of five children, full of fun and up to all kinds of games. He went to school and became especially fond of reading plays.
10. He also loved to write little plays and to act them out on the stage that his Father had built for him in his room. So he and his companions could give their plays in their own theater. All the while Robert was taking piano lessons.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Robert Schumann was born in Germany.
• Find Germany on the map of Europe.

Activity 4: Study Facts About Robert Schumann

• Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810.
• Robert Schumann was born at Zwickau, in Saxony, Germany.
• When Schumann was nine years old, he heard the great pianist Ignaz Moscheles play and resolved to become a great pianist.
• When Schumann was a youth, he showed a gift for writing poetry.
• Schumann's father was a successful bookseller.
• All through his life Schumann was a great lover of the writings of the German author, Jean Paul (whose full name was Jean Paul Richter). Much of his music shows his high regard for that writer of fairy stories.
• Schumann was twenty-one years old when he injured his hand and learned that therefore he could not hope to be a pianist. It was then that he made up his mind to be a composer.
• Schumann had enough means to live in comfort. He was not poor, as were Mozart, Schubert, and some others.
• Robert and Clara Schumann had eight children, and some of Schumann's best music was written to interest his children.
• Schumann died July 29, 1856, at the age of 46.

Review

Question 1

In which year was Robert Schumann born?

1 / 5

Answer 1

Schumann was born on June 8, 1810.

1 / 5

Question 2

In which country was Robert Schumann born?

2 / 5

Answer 2

Schumann was born at Zwickau, in Saxony, Germany.

2 / 5

Question 3

What does Robert Schumann picture for us in the 'Happy Farmer?'

3 / 5

Answer 3

Robert Schumann pictures a farmer singing on his way home from work.

3 / 5

Question 4

What did Robert Schumann write when he was a little boy?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Schumann wrote many pieces picturing pleasant things including a boy riding a rocking horse, a little girl falling asleep, and sitting by a fireside.

4 / 5

Question 5

Which composer's last name can be spelled by musical notes?

5 / 5

Answer 5

The last name of composer Niels Gade can be spelled by the musical notes G-A-D-E.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. In which year was Robert Schumann born? Schumann was born on June 8, 1810.
2. In which country was Robert Schumann born? Schumann was born at Zwickau, in Saxony, Germany.
3. What does Robert Schumann picture for us in the 'Happy Farmer?' Robert Schumann pictures a farmer singing on his way home from work.
4. What did Robert Schumann write when he was a little boy? Schumann wrote many pieces picturing pleasant things including a boy riding a rocking horse, a little girl falling asleep, and sitting by a fireside.
5. Which composer's last name can be spelled by musical notes? The last name of composer Niels Gade can be spelled by the musical notes G-A-D-E.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Robert Schumann - The Story of the Boy Who Made Pictures in Music. Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1916.

'Carnaval (Schumann).' Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnaval_(Schumann). n.p.