DW Classical Music (January 7, 2024) – A furious piano piece of the Romantic period. Tiffany Poon plays Robert Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6 at the Dresden Music Festival 2023. The concert took place in the Palais im Grossen Garten.

Video timeline: (00:00) Coming on stage (00:27) 1. Lebhaft (02:03) 2. Innig (03:36) 3. Etwas hahnbüchen (05:10) 4. Ungeduldig (06:30) 5. Einfach (08:21) 6. Sehr rasch und in sich hinein (10:05) 7. Nicht schnell mit äußerst starker Empfindung (14:07) 8. Frisch (15:14) 9. No tempo indication (16:46) 10. Balladenmäßig sehr rasch (18:15) 11. Einfach (19:51) 12. Mit Humor (20:36) 13. Wild und lustig (23:44) 14. Zart und singend (25:50) 15. Frisch (27:58) 16. Mit gutem Humor (29:22) 17. Wie aus der Ferne (32:56) 18. Nicht schnell

The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, are a two-part piano cycle by Robert Schumann, each consisting of nine character pieces. Schumann wrote 19 pieces, the last of which remains incomplete. The work was composed in the two months following his engagement to Clara Wieck on August 14, 1837. In the first piece, he quotes a motif from the Mazurka No. 5 from her Soirées musicales Op. 6 in the Motto of C. W. He speaks to her of wedding thoughts, which he has incorporated into the pieces. To his friend Carl Montag, however, he spoke of “death dances, St. Vitus’ dances, dances of graces and goblins”.

Schumann’s pseudonyms Florestan and Eusebius also play an important role here. The two characters symbolize his dual role in the fictitious Davidsbund, which also gives this cycle its name. Florestan is the “roaring, exuberant stormtrooper”. Eusebius represents the opposite pole as “the gentle youth who always remains modestly in the background”. In the first edition, the plays are either titled “Florestan and Eusebius” or just one of the two names.