Robert Schumann: piano pieces, easiest first
Robert Schumann (1810–1856) was born in Zwickau, in Germany. He meant to be a concert pianist, but an injury to his hand ended that hope, and he turned to composing and to writing about music: he founded a music journal and championed young composers, among them Chopin and Brahms. In 1840 he married Clara Wieck, one of the great pianists of the century. He wrote symphonies, chamber music and hundreds of songs, but piano music was his first love. His last years were clouded by illness.
Schumann understood childhood better than most composers. Scenes from Childhood (Kinderszenen, 1838) is music about childhood for grown-ups to play; the Album for the Young (1848) is music for his own children to play, and it is still one of the best books of first pieces there is.
Schumann in Octotune
- Pieces from the Album for the Young, Op. 68, from Melody and Soldiers' March to The Wild Horseman. See the Album for the Young collection.
- Three Scenes from Childhood, including Träumerei.
- The Romance in F-sharp, Op. 28 No. 2.
They are listed below, easiest first.
The pieces, easiest first
- A Little Piece (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 5
- Chorale (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 4
- Humming Song (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 3
- Melody (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 1
- Poor Orphan Child (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 6
- Folk Song (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 9
- Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Kinderszenen), Op. 15 No. 1
- Soldiers' March (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 2
- The Happy Farmer, Op. 68 No. 10
- Träumerei
- A Curious Story (Kinderszenen), Op. 15 No. 2
- First Loss (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 16
- Hunting Song (Album for the Young), Op. 68 No. 7
- The Wild Horseman, Op. 68 No. 8
- Romance in F-sharp, Op. 28 No. 2