SCHUMANN AND BRAHMS: PIANO QUARTETS

In 1853, Johannes Brahms went to Clara and Robert Schumann’s house to teach them some of his earliest compositions. From then on, all three maintained an intense relationship, both personally and artistically, which is fundamental to understanding German musical Romanticism. That same year, Clara Schumann composed Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22, which she dedicated to the Austro-Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim. Clara had a special affinity for the romantic genre, which enabled her to develop melodies with a strong sentimental character. In the first romance, she incorporates some elements, which are typical to gypsy music, just as Brahms does in the last movement of Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25. Brahms’ Quartet and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op.47, are structured in four movements and combine melodies of great lyricism along with rhythmically energetic passages.