12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 24: Scenes from Childhood

by Robert Schumann

Performer: Vadim Chaimovich

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

Robert Schumann's 'Scenes from Childhood (Kinderszenen)' includes thirteen piano pieces. The pieces are named as follows: 1) Of Foreign Lands and People, 2) A Curious Story, 3) Blind Man's Bluff, 4) Pleading Child, 5) Happiness, 6) An Important Event, 7) Dreaming / Reverie, 8) At the Fireside, 9) Knight of the Hobby Horse, 10) Almost Too Serious, 11) Frightening, 12) Child Falling Asleep, and 13) The Poet Speaks.

Vocabulary

Foreign: Located outside a country or place, especially one's own.
Bluff: An attempt to represent oneself as stronger than in actuality.
Reverie: A daydream.
Hobby Horse: A child's toy consisting of a (usually wooden or cloth) horse's head mounted on a stick.

Composer

1. Despite his parents' wishes, Robert Schumann did not become a lawyer. He studied music very hard. His teacher was Frederick Wieck. His teacher's daughter, Clara Wieck, played the piano very beautifully. This is Clara Wieck.

2. Frederick Wieck was not very kind when a young Robert Schumann confessed that he and Clara loved one another and wished to marry. Here is Papa Wieck, as he was called.

3. But after a while, it all turned out happily and Robert and Clara were married. So Clara Wieck became Clara Schumann. Here is a picture of them seated together.

4. In the sixteen years Robert Schumann lived after he and Clara Wieck were married, he composed lots of music for the piano including songs, symphonies, and other kinds of compositions.
5. Robert Schumann was a teacher in the Leipzig Conservatory. Among his friends were Mendelssohn, Chopin, Brahms, and many others. This is the Leipzig Conservatory in Leipzig, Germany.

6. Robert Schumann is best known as a composer of music, although he was also a teacher, a conductor, and a writer upon musical subjects. For many years he was the head of a musical newspaper, which is remembered to this day because of the great work he did in helping people to understand new music and find out new composers.
7. When Robert Schumann was a very young man, he wanted to become a pianist. He unfortunately used a machine that he thought was going to help him play better. It hurt his hand so that he was never able to play well again. Poor Schumann suffered from mental illness in his last years, and died insane, July 29, 1856.
8. Clara Schumann lived forty years after Robert Schumann died. She was the teacher of many students, some of whom traveled from America to study with her. She, too, was a composer and a concert pianist who played in public from the time she was ten years of age.

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.
• Which countries border Germany?

Activity 4: Read Aloud Your Paper About Robert Schumann

• Read your one-page story about Robert Schumann to your family.
• Make any corrections, as needed, after reading the paper aloud.

Review

Question 1

Who was Robert Schumann's piano teacher?

1 / 7

Answer 1

Schumann's teacher was Frederick Wieck.

1 / 7

Question 2

Who did Robert Schumann marry?

2 / 7

Answer 2

Schumann married his teacher's daughter, Clara Wieck.

2 / 7

Question 3

Tell what you know about Robert Schumann's wife.

3 / 7

Answer 3

Clara Wieck, daughter of Schumann's piano teacher, played the piano very beautifully.

3 / 7

Question 4

Where did Robert Schumann teach?

4 / 7

Answer 4

Robert Schumann was a teacher in the Leipzig Conservatory.

4 / 7

Question 5

For what is Robert Schumann best known?

5 / 7

Answer 5

Schumann is best known as a composer of music.

5 / 7

Question 6

What misfortunes came to Robert Schumann late in life?

6 / 7

Answer 6

Poor Schumann used a machine that injured his hand and prevented him from playing. He also suffered from mental illness in his last years.

6 / 7

Question 7

Name some pieces for the piano composed by Robert Schumann.

7 / 7

Answer 7

Pieces you've heard include 'Carnaval,' 'Three Fantasy Pieces,' and 'Scenes from Childhood.'

7 / 7

❮ ❯

1. Who was Robert Schumann's piano teacher? Schumann's teacher was Frederick Wieck.
2. Who did Robert Schumann marry? Schumann married his teacher's daughter, Clara Wieck.
3. Tell what you know about Robert Schumann's wife. Clara Wieck, daughter of Schumann's piano teacher, played the piano very beautifully.
4. Where did Robert Schumann teach? Robert Schumann was a teacher in the Leipzig Conservatory.
5. For what is Robert Schumann best known? Schumann is best known as a composer of music.
6. What misfortunes came to Robert Schumann late in life? Poor Schumann used a machine that injured his hand and prevented him from playing. He also suffered from mental illness in his last years.
7. Name some pieces for the piano composed by Robert Schumann. Pieces you've heard include 'Carnaval,' 'Three Fantasy Pieces,' and 'Scenes from Childhood.'

References

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

'Kinderszenen.' Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinderszenen. n.p.