C. Schumann: Three Romances op. 22.
A scholarly and practical edition including an expanded commentary and alternative, glossed copies of the violin part.
- Submitting institution
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Guildhall School of Music & Drama
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- ROSJACA
- Type
- R - Scholarly edition
- DOI
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- Title of edition
- C. Schumann: Three Romances op. 22
- Publisher
- Bärenreiter
- ISBN
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- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of publication
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- Year of publication
- 2021
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- Yes
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The research permitted the preparation, for the first time, of an edition informed by all seven extant sources. Newly consulted autograph scores, manuscripts, and the annotated parts of two dedicatees (Wasielewski, Joachim), promised fresh insights, and the opportunity to allow all performers to engage with the performance practices of the composer and her circle to a degree previously reserved for those able to access expensive critical editions and rare contemporary recordings. The research and its presentation alike were guided by a fundamental question: to what extent can an edition illuminate and incorporate performing context and traditions, including historical background, artistic collaboration, and contemporary organology, while still conforming to Urtext principles?
The editor’s performing experience (an international concert career on modern and period violin) informed the commentary, which combines historical evidence, analysis and explanation of artistic techniques with practical suggestions. In particular, principles of the violin annotation were derived from practical investigations into the Brahms circle’s idea of cantabile, including a series of rehearsals, workshops and eight public performances 2017-19 of chamber music by Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann, and transcription of their songs for violin.
The collaborative authorial voices in op. 22 were examined through a paratextual approach: analysis of varying phrasing slurs and fingerings revealed the composer’s work with each of the dedicatees in Romanze I, and Joachim’s increasing influence (the first edition includes violin markings which, it is established here, are his). These layers of composition and practice were separated using both philological and practical techniques, e.g. the application of research findings regarding the characteristic Brahms-Schumann-Joachim cantabile suggested enhanced use of expressive fingering (rhythmic flexibility/rubato through frequent portamenti), and nuanced use of bowings (e.g. varied portato). Examined through an iterative performance project, these features fundamentally altered the work’s realisation, allowing the texture of contemporary performance to emerge.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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