Is There Romance after Schumann

This document is a compilation of two lecture recitals held on November 10, 2015 and April 27, 2016. Both of these recitals explored selected works performed by oboists written in the Romance genre. The lectures define stylistic characteristics distinctive to Romances composed in the nineteenth century. Musical analyses of selected pieces written from 1849 to 1988 are compared and contrasted with these typical features in order to highlight how composer’s asserted their unique style or how compositional conventions changed throughout history. Selections originally written for oboe and piano and published with the title of Romance is the focus of the latter lecture recital. In the former, Three Romances for Oboe and Piano, Op. 94 (1849) by Robert Schumann and Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22 (1853) by Clara Schumann are further explored to uncover musical evidence to prove the historical plausibility that Clara Schumann had written Robert Schumann’s Op. 94. Robert Schumann’s Three Romances, Op. 94 is one of the most recognized works from the nineteenth century repertoire for oboe and piano. The Romances of Op. 22 have increasingly been borrowed by oboists. Due to the loss of the original manuscript there is conjecture, based on the historical events in the Schumann family, that Clara Schumann could possibly have penned the Op. 94. In an effort to find musical evidence to prove the veracity of this claim, the Op. 94 and Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22 will be analyzed and compared. Furthermore, comparing these works shows how Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann influenced one another and what features distinguish the two composers from one another. This musical evidence, primarily the piano writing, does not support the likelihood that Clara Schumann wrote Robert Schumann’s Op. 94. Examining the repertory for pieces composed for oboe and piano, with the title of Romance, since Robert Schumann wrote Op. 94 yields seven works written during 1849-1988. The pieces not written by Schumann exhibit departures from the earlier Romance genre that reflect shifts in compositional strategies. Many do share general characteristics found in Schumann’s Op. 94. Biographical information of the composer, premiere and publication details, musical analyses, stylistic comparison to Schumann’s Op. 94, and the performance challenges of each work will be discussed.