From Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15. “Dreaming”: one rising phrase, asked again and again, each time a little differently.
The story
Schumann wrote the thirteen Scenes from Childhood in 1838, not for children to play but as an adult remembering childhood. He told Clara Wieck, whom he would later marry, that she had inspired them.
Träumerei, “Dreaming”, is the seventh and most famous. The same rising phrase opens almost every line.
Two things to know
- The great pianist Vladimir Horowitz often played it as an encore, including in Moscow in 1986.
- The whole piece is 24 bars long.
How to play it
Each phrase climbs to a high note and then relaxes. Do not hurry the top; let it float.