Program Note:

Robert Schumann, in his writings, created musical characters which represented extensions of his personality. There is Florestan, filled with passion and energy, Eusebius, who is dreamy, reserved, and a bit melancholy, and Master Raro, a noble, wise, and rational intermediary between the other two.

In my composition, I envisioned a further character, who I have named RASCH. RASCH, which also means brisk in German, is a capricious iconoclast. I was inspired to think of such a character because, despite Schumann’s reputation as a quintessential Romantic composer, I think there is quite a bit in Schumann’s output that foreshadows modernism, and I have always been intrigued by the composer’s darker side.
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Schumann was also very fond of musical cryptograms, which appear throughout his catalogue, notably in Carnaval, which is quoted in this work. The letters RASCH can be represented by the pitches D, A, E-flat, C, and B (D is also known as Ré, and in German, E-flat is represented as Es and B as H.) Harmonic material related to this signature can occasionally be traced in the work. 

Performances:

• Front Porch ensemble, National Sawdust, Brooklyn, New York, July 28, 2019.