Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 5, Petite pièce

History

In an early manuscript, the piece later published simply as “Stückchen” was labelled “To be played after completing homework.” That gives this small teaching piece a wonderfully concrete place in a child’s day.

Sources

• henle.de

What to listen for

1. 1

   A contrasting gesture crosses the boundary

   The B-C contrast begins across the double-bar boundary and leads to its own answer. Hear the change of gesture without assuming the line stops at the visual boundary.

2. 2

   The opening-related phrase returns

   The E-F-led phrase comes back before the next contrast. Compare its familiar start with the surrounding changes of melody.

3. 3

   A shorter final response closes

   The last opening-related phrase has a shortened close. Listen for the compact ending rather than automatically extending it to match the earlier statements.

How to practise it

Keep the quarter melody calm above the flowing eighths.

1. Connect E-F into the first continuation and listen to the F half note.
2. Play the first lower pattern quietly, then overlay the slower upper line.

How hard is it

About this piece

Collection

Small scenes, big imagination

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5

Source

mutopiaproject.org

Credit

“Album pour la jeunesse - 5.Petite pièce” by R. Schumann (1810 to 1856). Mutopia edition maintained by Philippe Hézaine. Source: https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=653. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/. Changes to the supplied file: none; any later conversion or edit must be disclosed separately.

More by Robert Schumann

1. 1Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 1, MélodieLevel 2, estimatedOpen to everyone
2. 2Träumerei, Kinderszenen Op. 15 No. 7Level 6, estimatedWith Maestro
3. 3Toccata in C major, Op. 7Level 10, estimatedWith Maestro