Character Pieces

Character Pieces

1. Schumann used ciphers

   • In the character pieces, Robert Schumann used Ciphers, They came from a serious love affair with 'Estrella' from Carnaval and because these letters were also in his name, he couldnt help but turn them into musical notes and play around with them.

2. Pappillons

   • The name 'Pappillons' can be misleading as the piece does not reflect the butterfly meaning of the title. But metaphorically it is of a light and fanicful tune. Pasppillons are a set of 21 short dance like pieces and are meant to be played after one another.

3. Carnaval

   • Set of 12 dance like pieces, structure is short and they are named after the friends and colleagues of Robert Schumann.

4. Characters

   • Imaginary characters appeared in Schumann's character pieces such as Florestan (The brash one), Euseibius (The introspective one) and Raro (The balance between the two)

5. Schumann

   • Robert Schumann was one of the most origional, inspried and eccentric compoers and music critic of the romantic period but because he lived during the same time as famous Polish composer Frederic Chopin, it was easy for Schumann to be sometimes overlooked.

6. Character pieces

   • Schumann's character pieces are probably the most important pieces and they formed an important part of his outlook which consisted of songs, symphonies etc.