Interpretation of Schumann's 'Humoreske' in B flat major, op. 20, within the context of Jean Paul Richter's romantic concept of 'humor'

Elisha Kravits

This research began with the realization that Schumann's idea of "humor" (which the title of his work implies) might be very different from our own, and should be understood within the cultural and philosophical context of his time. To this end, I decided to base my research on the writings of celebrated author Jean Paul Richter, whom Schumann idolized, and who devoted a large section of his "Introduction to Aesthetics" to the subject of humor; the profound psychological connections between Schumann and Jean Paul, which I point out, are also very revealing. I went on to summarize some concepts within Jean Paul's definition of humor which seemed the most naturally analogous with the act of musical interpretation, such as romantic irony, "the Absurd" and "humorous sensuousness". In the final part of the research I put these ideas to use by experimenting with the interpretation of different sections of the "Humoreske"; in the written exposition I provided recordings to demonstrate the different possibilities which arise from this analogy, as well as a written explanation of the thought process behind each one. For the presentation I will demonstrate this at the piano. These recordings are the "final" result of my research in the sense that they represent a clear answer to the research question. However, while the process of conscious experimentation was illuminating- and can be repeated with any other work by the composer!- I believe that the most important result of this research would be impossible to document or present here: that is, the more subtle, subconscious way in which understanding Schumann's connection with the spirit of his time will continue to influence my playing.

Introduction- on my motivation, methodology and the structure of the research

From the very first notes of Schumann's Humoreske for piano in B flat Major, op. 20, it becomes apparent that the composer's idea of "humor" is quite different from our own modern associations of lighthearted comedy: this is an ambiguous work, full of contrast - at times whimsical, at times very serious, grand in scale and in emotional scope; in Schumann's own words, it "might be one of (his) most melancholy compositions".

Upon beginning to study the score, the apparent contradiction between title and content was immediately striking to me. I was further intrigued to discover that this is the first appearance of the term "humoreske" as the title of a musical composition (it appeared before in literature). This fact attaches a stronger significance to Schumann's choice and begs for a further investigation of the concept of "romantic humor".

I decided that the best place to begin was with the writings of celebrated author Jean Paul Richter, whom Schumann idolized, and who devoted a large section of his "Introduction to Aesthetics" to the subject of humor. It is commonly known that Schumann's Papillons, op. 2, were inspired by the writer; however, I learned that there exists a more profound psychological connection between Schumann and Jean Paul, which is extremely revealing and pertinent to this study- therefore, I chose to devote the first part of the research to the Schumann-Jean Paul connection.

In the second part of the research I try to clarify some of the key aspects within Jean Paul's complex definition of romantic humor, as explained by the author himself in Introduction to Aesthetics. While it was impossible to include everything, I selected those ideas which seemed the most analogous with the act of musical interpretation, such as romantic irony, "the Absurd" and "humorous sensuousness". With every concept I explain, I try to point out the possible connections to Schumann's music.

This research was conceived as an accompanying process to the study and interpretation of the Humoreske at the piano- an attempt to view the music within it's intellectual context, the spirit of the world in which it was composed. My idea was that the subjective process of translating theoretical and literary concepts into musical ideas will effect my actual performance of the work. For that reason, in the third part of the research I present recordings in which I experiment with the interpretation of different parts of the Humoreske; these interpretations are all inspired by the ideas which I previously discuss in section two, and I explain the thought process behind each one.

I believe that this study may also have implications on the interpretation of other works by Schumann; also I hope that it can be of some help to other pianists in achieving their own personal interpretation of the Humoreske.

to table of content to part I

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