Humoresque

The Humoresque is in the literature, the generic name of a humorous story or short story and music the name for a short, cheerful, funny or weird instrumental piece.

The Humoresque in the literature

The term originated in the first Humoresque decade of the 19th century and was formed in accordance with the terms grotesque, burlesque and arabesque. The Humoresque was initially a short, light-hearted, harmless, amiable, conciliatory and humorous story that often incidents from the civil and established everyday took up, and therefore plays in civil relations. Since the 1820s also humorous and satirical novels increasingly ( a humorous novels ) are referred to as Humoresken.

Classical representatives of but humorous novel by Jean Paul, Adolf Stern, Henry Fielding and Charles Dickens.

The Humoresque in music

Joseph Küffner introduced in 1837 the term with his Humoresque in D major op 276, a rolling success with Introduction and Finale, for the first time into the music. Robert Schumann's Humoresque Op 20 of 1839 showed, however, based on Jean Paul directly related to the literature. Schumann could permit under the name of the humorous compositional freedom and liberate his work from traditional form rules.

Another main characteristics of the genus Humoresque its profundity and richness of contrast apply in addition to the brevity and the cheerful character of the piece. The Humoresque was cultivated especially in music of the 19th century and mostly composed for piano. Preforming the Humoresque are the Scherzino and the burlesque.

The term was adopted by other composers, such as:

• Edvard Grieg, humorous sketches, Op. 6
• Engelbert Humperdinck, Humoresque in E major for orchestra
• Georg Schumann, including Humoresque in variation form, Last night was cousin Michel here Op. 74 ( Orchestra Humoresque )