Märchenbilder op. 113 for piano and viola

"The piano is getting too narrow for me, in my current compositions I often hear a lot of things that I can barely touch", complained Schumann in 1838. This is why in 1840, he devoted himself primarily to the lied. In the following years, symphonic works and chamber music followed. The "Märchenbilder" (Storytelling images) for viola (or violin) and piano op. 113 were composed in March 1851. These four short pieces of character are dominated by an elegiac atmosphere. Their titles are not borrowed from the tales, but are sober indications of tempo: "Nicht schnell", "Lebhaft", "Rasch" and finally "Langsam, mit einem melancholischen Ausdruck". Hitherto inaccessible, the autograph manuscript was used for the first time for the preparation of this urtext edition. Certain doubtful passages of the musical text could thus be clarified.