Schumann: Two Violin Sonatas - Roman Totenberg, Artur Balsam

totenberg SCHUMANN liner notes

The Schumann of 1851 was a different man from the exuberant symphonist of ten years before. And this natural process of maturation reflects itself in his music. Where so much of his early work depends on some extra-musical stimulus -- poetry, literature in general, personal events, even politics, if we are to take the composer at his word -- the later output relies rather consistently on purely musical, that is, abstract motivation. Thus, the programmatic, relatively small-scale forms of the character piece give way to more classical, highly developed sonata structures. Fanciful titles, some of which Schumann actually suppressed in later editions of his early works (the E. and F. signatures of the Davidbundler Dances come immediately to mind), dis­appear for the most part, to be replaced by sober tempo markings. But this is not to suggest that Schumann became dull or that he lost his inspiration. On the contrary, with very few exceptions the works of the last period (after his move to Dusseldorf in 1850) reveal a happy balance of typically spontaneous Schumannesque ideas and carefully controlled compositional technique. And if one finds points to criticize -- for example, an occasional overworking of a favorite rhythmic figure -- then it must also be admitted that such weaknesses exist in the early works too; only there they are perhaps less readily apparent because of the generally more excited, impassioned style of the youthful composer, which tends to sweep everything along in one remarkable romantic gesture.