PlayPiano

Romantic · character piece

Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 6, Pauvre orpheline

Robert Schumann · Level 3, estimated · With Maestro

Practise it in PlayPiano

The short answer

A title that changed as Schumann wrote. Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 6, Pauvre orpheline is a character piece by Robert Schumann from the Romantic era. PlayPiano puts it at Level 3, an estimate.

On this page
  • character piece
  • Romantic
  • melancholic

Also known as Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 6: Pauvre orpheline; Album pour la jeunesse - 6.Pauvre orpheline.

History

The title of Schumann’s “Armes Waisenkind” changed during drafting: an early notebook called it a “little song of a poor child,” and the autograph called it “poor beggar child.”

Sources

What to listen for

  1. A short pickup leads to contrasting lengths

    The pickup leads into clipped chordal responses and a more sustained rising answer. Hear the difference between short attacks and the longer gesture.

  2. A new paired-note pickup changes the phrase

    The repeated region begins with a new paired-note pickup and clipped figures. Compare that entry with the opening rather than treating every pickup the same.

  3. A slower answer prepares the return

    The source asks for a slower response before a return to the earlier pace. Listen for the contrast; separate that wording from the file playback settings.

  4. The opening returns inside the repeat

    Opening material comes back within the repeated region and reaches an altered closing response. Hear the return without inventing another whole-piece repeat.

How to practise it

Separate the little approaches from the main paired notes.

  1. Practise the pickup into those three upper attacks.
  2. Play only the lower attacks and count every rest before combining the parts.

How hard is it

Level 3, estimated

Expressive melodic shaping and gentle balance matter even when the surface texture is relatively modest.

About this piece

Interpretive sketch of Robert Schumann, an illustration and not a verified likeness
An illustration, not a portrait
Collection
Small scenes, big imagination
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5
Source
mutopiaproject.org
Credit
“Album pour la jeunesse - 6.Pauvre orpheline” by R. Schumann (1810 to 1856). Mutopia edition maintained by Philippe Hézaine. Source: https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=687. 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. Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 1, MélodieLevel 2, estimatedOpen to everyone
  2. Träumerei, Kinderszenen Op. 15 No. 7Level 6, estimatedWith Maestro
  3. Toccata in C major, Op. 7Level 10, estimatedWith Maestro

With Maestro

Play it, slow it down, hear where you land

Separate the little approaches from the main paired notes.

Practise it in PlayPiano