12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 23: Three Fantasy Pieces, or Drei Fantasiestücke, Op. 73

by Robert Schumann

Performer: Paul Pitman, Michael Arnold, and Bang-Eun Lee

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 wrote 'Three Fantasy Pieces,' or 'Drei Fantasiestücke, Op. 73,' in 1849. Although written for piano and clarinet, the featured recording includes piano and cello. The titles of the three fantasy pieces are as follows: 1) Tender and with expression, 2) Lively, light, and 3) Quick and with fire.

Vocabulary

Fantasy: That which comes from one's imagination or a genre dealing with themes of magic and the supernatural, imaginary worlds and creatures, etc.
Tender: Fond, loving, gentle, sweet.
Lively: Full of life and energetic.

Composer

1. Just before he entered high school, Robert Schumann heard a pianist who played so beautifully that he made up his mind that he would become a musician.
2. The pianist whose playing gave him this thought was named Ignace Moscheles.

3. There was lots of music making in the Schumann home, for Robert and all his companions played and sang. And besides that, he composed music for them.
4. It must have been a pleasant picture to see all these German boys coming together to make music. If we could gather together some American boys who were alive at that same time, here are some we could have found.
5. This is Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote for children, 'A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys' and 'Tanglewood Tales.'

6. Then there was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was born in Portland, Maine. Do you know his poem 'Hiawatha?'

7. And then we must not forget John Greenleaf Whittier, who wrote many lovely poems and spoke out against slavery. One was about a little girl who spelled the word that her companion missed in school and so she went above him in the class.

8. And still there was another little boy only a year older than Robert Schumann. He was born in a cabin.

9. This boy's name was Abraham Lincoln. He grew up to become the 16th president of the United States.

10. So when you think of Robert Schumann, let us also think of Hawthorne, Longfellow, Whittier, and Lincoln. They were all doing their best, even as boys, to be useful.

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.
• What is the name of the capital city of Germany?

Activity 4: Write a One-Page Paper About Robert Schumann

Read these facts about Robert Schumann and write a one-page story out of them, using your own words.

• 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

Which great pianist did Robert Schumann hear as a boy?

1 / 2

Answer 1

Robert Schumann heard pianist Ignace Moscheles as a boy.

1 / 2

Question 2

Which American President was a boy while Robert Schuman attended school?

2 / 2

Answer 2

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th American President, was a boy while Robert Schuman attended school.

2 / 2

❮ ❯

1. Which great pianist did Robert Schumann hear as a boy? Robert Schumann heard pianist Ignace Moscheles as a boy.
2. Which American President was a boy while Robert Schuman attended school? Abraham Lincoln, the 16th American President, was a boy while Robert Schuman attended school.

References

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

'Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano (Schumann).' Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_Pieces_for_Clarinet_and_Piano_(Schumann). n.p.