C Schumann • R Schumann
R Schumann: Three Romances, Op. 94; Fantasiestücke, Op. 73; Three Pieces from ‘Fünf Stücke im Volkston’, Op. 102; Liederkris – Mondnact, Op. 39 No. 5; Three Duos; Adagio und Allegro, Op. 70; C Schumann: Three Romances, Op. 22
Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Julius Drake (piano)
Chandos CHAN20295 75:41 mins
Clip: R Schumann – Mondnacht, Op. 39 No. 5
Robert Schumann only wrote one work for oboe – but that hasn’t stopped oboist Nicholas Daniel drawing together a gorgeous album of his music.
Played with such warmth and eloquence, the arrangements chosen here often feel as if they were tailor-made for the instrument, while the sensitive programming paints a loving portrait of the Schumann household.
Through the prism of the oboe, we hear pieces written for an array of other instruments – violin, clarinet, horn and the rare pedal piano – arranged and edited by various names including Daniel himself and the late Howard Ferguson.
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Some numbers simply see the oboe taking the melodic line from violin and voice. Schumann often suggested alternative instruments in his chamber music so, as the booklet note’s author Stephen Johnson points out, the composer is likely to have been delighted at seeing his music take on fresh life.
The original work is the first one we hear, the Three Romances, which set a mood of intimate introspection – and also set up the hand-in-glove partnership between Daniel and his pianist Julius Drake.
The recording beautifully captures the balance and trust between them, with Daniel’s lyrical lines sailing across Drake’s velvety accompaniments, though often the two are in sympathetic dialogue.
Three short pieces in ternary form, the Romances were written in 1849, a year characterised by both a decline in Robert’s mental health and an outpouring of creativity.
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He gave them as a Christmas present for Clara – and we hear from her next, with three more Romances, written in 1853. Robert’s set was both premiered by a violinist and also published for the violin, so it makes sense that Clara’s heartfelt and elegant violin pieces would work well for oboe too. The third with its cascading piano accompaniment, is a joy.
There’s even more vocal lyricism on display in Mondnacht, a moonlit love song from 1840, which saw Robert and Clara finally marry, a milestone in their tumultuous romance.
Yet it’s a song whose atmosphere, marked ‘delicately, secretive’ (zart, heimlich) rests almost entirely on the crystalline piano part – and Drake approaches it with moving tenderness.
The three Duos turn a spotlight on one of the more niche areas of Schumann’s repertoire, drawing on the Six Studies in Canonic Form and Skizzen.
These were originally written for the pedal piano, essentially a piano with a pedal board like an organ’s.
Although the instrument never captured the public imagination, Robert became interested in it in the 1840s – and these Bachian pieces from 1845 were written with the encouragement of Clara as part of his recovery from a breakdown. Daniel and Drake find within them profound emotion.
During his productive 1849, Robert wrote four other pieces programmed here. A storytelling quality comes to the fore in the five Fantasiestücke, while Daniel relishes the expansive lines in the Pieces in Folk Character.
The Abendlied, which seems to bottle up the serenity of a peaceful summer’s evening, sets the seal on a recording you’ll want to sit down and savour. Rebecca Franks
