Playing Schumann Again for the First Time

Bobby Mitchell

How can one learn to improvise convincingly within the context of the nineteenth-century piano repertoire? And why is it important to improvise on this repertoire in the twenty-first century? Taking the music of Robert Schumann (1810−56) as a departure point, Playing Schumann Again for the First Time proposes an answer to these questions through methods towards a pianistic practice that is driven by experimentation and strives to continually find more layers where improvisation can take place, both in sounding musical practice and in notation. These practice-based methods are contextualized by a discussion of the presence of improvisation in Western classical musical practice in the nineteenth century. They are then substantiated by an argument to use improvisation as a tool for rethinking the current performance practice of nineteenth-century music. Improvisation itself and the concepts driving this term will also be addressed: improvisation in musical performance will be described as a process guided by a feedback loop between mimesis and morphosis with which the practitioner engages using his or her individual cognitive and embodied approach to listening, forgetting, and conceptualizing; the results of which bear his or her own sonic signature. The knowledge gained in this project lies within the realm of what will be described as improvisation as practice, a category of improvisational behavior that circumvents the need to be presented as art and is rather intended for the development of one’s own music-making.

MELANCHOLIC FLOWERS exhibits Phase B activity

An attempt to superimpose the melodic content from Einsame Blumen with the harmonic content of Vogel als Prophet, both from Waldszenen, Op. 82 was also made and recorded on June 3rd, 2014:

Melancholic Flowers is an attempt to superimpose the melodic content from Einsame Blumen with the harmonic content of Abschied, both from Schumann's Waldszenen, Op. 82. This recording was made on May 27th, 2014:

A number of mistakes can be heard:

[0:15–0:17] After the one missing bass note, the left hand does not seem to know what the right hand is thinking.

circa [0:36] The right hand sounds like it is waiting for the left hand to figure out which bass note to play, which it does indeed finally accomplish but a little later than expected.

[0:46–0:48] This series of four chromatic pitches in a row in the upper voice does not sound effective or stylistically appropriate.

[1:08–1:10] A cadence into the dominant key of F Major really should happen here, but it doesn’t happen.

The harmonic elements from Abschied combined with the surface characteristics of Einsame Blumen does not produce really compelling music, in my opinion. This may partly be due to the combination of the Abschied’s relatively stable and slow harmonic progression and the continuously intertwining melodic gestures of Einsame Blumen.

This music provides for more satisfying listening. There are no explicit mistakes here to speak of, and the music seems to flow at a more practical pace. This may be the result of many different factors: the development of my skills at super-imposing different pieces during the course of performance, as well as the inherent symbiotic nature of certain pieces that allow them to infuse with each other in a more aesthetically pleasing way.

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