Traces of counterpoint in Schumann ‘Valse noble’ from Carnaval op. 9
The music of R. Schumann always surprises our students in PMW. The beginners and intermediate pianists love him for his Jugen-album (which is a perfect counterpoint to Heller, Czerny and the crew…). The advanced, do it for his amazing piano world. But sometimes, even the did not expect that his particular view of harmony, form amb melody put down his roots on baroque music and, consequently, in counterpoint techniques. In fact, even the famous in between melodies are a developing of contrapuntal views. Beyond Schumann fugues and strict contrapuntal music, examples like the following are proof of this influence:
The influence of “voicing” can be traced even in Schumann's salon-type pieces as the ‘valse noble’ from Carnaval. This piece is a simple ternary form (ABA). The first section (m. 1–8) starts in the key of B-flat major, but with a quite interesting chord of V7/vi:
and continue following a descending scale to A right before to conclude the 8 measures phrase in Bb chord:
The descending scale in the bass line follows the ascending line of the melody, which is a structure with two cadences (4+4 bars).
Despite section B (m. 9–24) seem to be quite the opposite when placed in comparison with section A in dynamics and key, the compositional treatment gets in deep in the voicing. The voices appear now in a clear contrapuntal style hidden behind the figuration of the left hand. As you can see in the following example, the dissonance in the right-hand resolves in the left-hand figuration in a way that only the pianist will notice. The firs C goes to Bb, the F goes to E, and so on:
Before the return of section A, we find an eight-measure transition (m. 25–32) to connect B and A’, and bring us back into the original key of B-flat major. These eight measures are a refined rhythmic mixture of both sections and also a preparation for the return of the bass line. Once back in section A, Schumann places a double forte on the first measure and compress the original phrase of 8 measures in only 4.
With this brief example, we can see how a Schumann Valse goes different as any other Valse-like piece of his time. When Bach’s music joined an extraordinary mind of the 19th century, the consequences appear anywhere.
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Prof. Jordi Clapes, musicologist and MA.
