Toccata (Schumann)
The Toccata in C major is an early, highly virtuosic piano works of Robert Schumann, whose first version was created in the winter of 1829/30 in Heidelberg. After a thorough review, he published a piece in 1834 as Opus 7 in Leipzig and dedicated it to his childhood friend Ludwig Schunke who could play it to his surprise from the leaf.
Content
As the Feux follets from the Etudes d' exécution transcendante of Franz Liszt Schumann's piece is a double handle study, with which he was based less on the toccatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, but rather the then popular Toccata Carl Czerny took as a model. In addition to the three-part chord and fast Oktavfolgen provide rhythmic problems for the difficulty of the piece. They result from the intricate syncopations on the first and fifth clock sixteenths during the same continuous movement that must be played with the same hand.
The piece is designed as a sonata with exposition, development and recapitulation. The first theme is formed by the obligate semiquavers in the three upper voices. The sweeping curve is this syncopated supported by a voice in the bass, which drives the development. A cantabile second subject with simple, folk- like character leads to a short calm the swirling river. In the implementation appears a wild - hammering, consisting of Oktavrepetitionen theme that is reminiscent of the first piece of Papillons.
Background
Schumann composed the work during his law studies in Heidelberg and played it, as testified several times in the early version. There are indications that he wanted to solve the lack of independence of the fingers of one hand with this etude and thereby availed of mechanical aids, which ultimately led to the weakening of his hand, and thus the end of the career as a pianist.
Probably the Toccata is identical to the Exercice fantastique en double sons, who often mentioned Schumann at that time in letters and diaries.
Reception and interpretation
Many pianists as Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, Gyorgy Cziffra, Ivo Pogorelich and Nikolai Lugansky Lvovitch have interpreted and recorded this feat. Judge made sense of momentum and ecstatic joy, as Joachim Kaiser puts it, a ravishing young storm from the Toccata, which he still knew how to interpret clearly and without fluctuations. Compared to other performers who know how to present the finale of the work terrific, let a judge at the end shadows fall on the piece, reminiscent of the words " And me shudders 's in the bottom of my heart " by Eichendorff, whose poems Schumann set a few years later.