Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6, is a group of eighteen pieces for solo piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 composed by Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

 in 1837. Schumann named them after the imaginary Davidsbündler

Davidsbündler

The Davidsbündler was an imaginary music society created by Robert Schumann in his writings. The group was created to defend the cause of contemporary music against its detractors...

. The pieces are not true dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

s, but are characteristic pieces, musical dialogue

Dialogue

Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....

s about contemporary music between Schumann's characters Florestan and Eusebius. These respectively represent the impetuous and the lyrical, poetic sides of Schumann's nature.

Each piece is ascribed to one or both of them. Their names follow the first piece and the appropriate initial or initials follow each of the others except the sixteenth (which leads directly into the seventeenth, the ascription for which applies to both) and the ninth and eighteenth, which are respectively preceded by the following remarks:

"Here Florestan made an end, and his lips quivered painfully"

and

"Quite superfluously Eusebius remarked as follows: but all the time great bliss spoke from his eyes."

In the second edition of the work, Schumann removed these ascriptions and remarks and the "tänze" from the title, as well as making various alterations, including the addition of some repeats. The first edition is generally favored, though some readings from the second are often used. The suite ends with the striking of twelve low C's to signify the coming of midnight

Midnight

Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....

 and the end of festivities.

Peter Kaminsky has analysed the structure of the work in detail.

The first edition is preceded by the following epigraph

Epigraph (literature)

In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...

:


Alter Spruch:


In all und jeder Zeit
Verknüpft sich Lust und Leid:
Bleibt fromm in Lust und seid
Dem Leid mit Mut bereit


(Old saying:


In each and every age
joy and sorrow are mingled:
Remain pious in joy,
and be ready for sorrow with courage.)

The individual pieces, unnamed, have the following tempo markings, keys and ascriptions:

1. Lebhaft (Vivace), G major, Florestan and Eusebius;
2. Innig (Con intimo sentimento), B minor, Eusebius;
3. Etwas hahnbüchen (Un poco impetuoso) (1st edition), Mit Humor (Con umore) (2nd edition), G major, Florestan (Hahnbüchen, now usually hahnebüchen (also hanebüchen or hagebüchen), is an untranslatable colloquialism roughly meaning "coarse" or "clumsy." Apparently, it originally meant "made of hornbeam wood." (See the article "Hanebüchen" in the German version of Wikipedia.) Ernest Hutcheson
   Ernest Hutcheson
   Ernest Hutcheson was an Australian pianist, composer and teacher.Hutcheson was born in Melbourne, and toured there as a child prodigy. He later travelled to Leipzig and entered the Leipzig Conservatorium at the age of fourteen to study with Carl Reinecke and Bernhard Stavenhagen, a pupil of Franz...
   
   translated it as "cockeyed" in his book The Literature of the Piano.);
4. Ungeduldig (Con impazienza), B minor, Florestan;
5. Einfach (Semplice), D major, Eusebius;
6. Sehr rasch und in sich hinein (Molto vivo, con intimo fervore) (1st edition), Sehr rasch (Molto vivo) (2nd edition), D minor, Florestan;
7. Nicht schnell mit äußerst starker Empfindung (Non presto profondamente espressivo) (1st edition), Nicht schnell (Non presto) (2nd edition), G minor, Eusebius;
8. Frisch (Con freschezza), C minor, Florestan;
9. No tempo indication (metronome mark of 1 crotchet = 126) (1st edition), Lebhaft (Vivace) (2nd edition), C major, Florestan;
10. Balladenmäßig sehr rasch (Alla ballata molto vivo) (1st edition), ("Sehr" and "Molto" capitalized in 2nd edition), D minor (ends major), Florestan;
11. Einfach (Semplice), B minor-D major, Eusebius;
12. Mit Humor (Con umore), B minor-E minor and major, Florestan;
13. Wild und lustig (Selvaggio e gaio), B minor and major, Florestan and Eusebius;
14. Zart und singend (Dolce e cantando), E major, Eusebius;
15. Frisch (Con freschezza), B major - Etwas bewegter (poco piu mosso), E major (return to opening section is optional), Florestan and Eusebius;
16. Mit gutem Humor (Con buon umore) (in 2nd edition, "Con umore"), G major - Etwas langsamer (Un poco più lento), B minor; leading without a break into
17. Wie aus der Ferne (Come da lontano), B major and minor (including a full reprise of No. 2), Florestan and Eusebius; and
18. Nicht schnell (Non presto), C major, Eusebius.

Sources

• David Ewen, Encyclopedia of Concert Music. New York; Hill and Wang, 1959.
• Robert Schumann, Complete Piano Works, Volume I, edited by Clara Schumann, originally published by Breitkopf & Härtel.