introduction: the social order and music - summary + reaction

The nineteenth century saw an expansion of society (political, social, and industrial advances) that had significant impact on the lives of musicians and the music that they wrote. Mechanical inventions of the eighteenth century were expanded upon, such as those of transportation and communication, both of which aided in furthering the music industry. As music became more widespread and readily available, the public concert genre soared to new heights. Audience sizes grew, and performance halls and theaters instituted promotional procedures such as memberships and subscription concerts. The increase in recitals stimulated music sales, which in turn helped to improve publishing. This expanding market gave rise to new developments in instrument manufacturing and distribution, which led to more demand for teachers and performers. As a result, conservatories were founded in every important city in the nineteenth century.

These developments were accompanied by rapid change that created problems and tension for some. Composers turned to folk idioms as a means to escape from the ever-changing reality in which they now lived. This was a way for composers to promote music and melodies that were characteristic to their own countries - evidence of the beginnings of nationalism.

Patronage served a different role than it had in the previous century. With the rise of the solo virtuoso as well as a larger, more educated audience, patrons no longer had the same control over the types of music that were written, as they did in the Baroque and Classical eras. The growing concert attendance gave composers the freedom to compose whatever they pleased.

With the Revolution period of the nineteenth century came the rise of the individual and increased political and social freedom. It was at this time that music began to be composed as independent art works just for the sake of being art.

If you think about it, at the structure of our present society, not a whole lot has changed since the nineteenth century. Advances in technology continue to be made, but now at a rate so rapid that we have become obsessed with it. Machines have become so precise that they are beginning to destroy the work force (grocery store self-check outs ring a bell?). Never mind cell phones - they are slowly starting to control our lives. How many people do you think cannot go a day without their phones? I feel bad for that person in the restaurant whose date is talking on his bluetooth during dinner!
I imagine that factory work in the nineteenth century must have been pretty wretched. Difficult labor, tiring, long hours.... But someone had to do it, and it was for the benefit of the rest of society that these people labored. Think about the war that we are experiencing right now. I haven't the words to try to describe what our soldiers are dealing with for the benefit of the rest of society, but someone has to do it. I can't think of anything else more noble.

Kreisleriana + Carnaval

Audiences always love Carnaval, but Kreisleriana is a lesser known work and, in my opinion, is widely underplayed. But I guess I can see the reasons for this. One has to decide if he/she performs for the audience or for himself. I have played Carnaval but never Kreisleriana, and I can imagine that it could be one of those pieces that is more enjoyable for the performer than for the audience. Not to discredit the aural effect of the piece though! It has moments of beauty that Carnaval never even touches, but it does lack Carnaval's extroverted character that pleases so many.
Both pieces are a journey, and each has its individual story. Carnaval is a journey through scenes and characters, sometimes highlighting only vague images (such as the sad + happy clowns or an evening at the ball), and other times it makes specific reference to actual people (Chopin, Paganini, and the two women whom Schumann loved). Kreisleriana, on the contrary, is much more abstract. It is a life journey permeated with contradiction and emotion. Simple forms such as binary or ternary prevail in these short pieces, symbolizing this journey. Schumann loses himself in each of the eight fantasies, yet he always manages to find his way home.
Carnaval is evidence enough of Schumann's contradictory nature, but Kreisleriana is a true display of such. Perhaps it is just because the piece is less familiar to me than Carnaval, but the brutal contrasts and adjustments in character (with no attempt on Schumann's part to reconcile this!) in Kreisleriana strike me more heavily than those in Carnaval. Kreisleriana contains a lifetime of emotions, from frenzy to bliss, demonic and haunted to ecclesiastical, even suspicious at times. In each of the eight pieces, neither beauty nor conflict can exist without the other. They are always intertwined; neither lasts long before it is interrupted by the other.