Castalia 330

Schumann's Bund

Dear Friends,

I’m so happy to offer you the first of Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, Dances of the League of David.

Lebhaft from Davidsbündlertänze, op. 6 by Robert Schumann (1810 — 1856)

performed by Ishmael Wallace, pianist

Last week, a word of advice for tourists hit me hard. We were visiting Samut Sakhon, a town on the Gulf of Thailand; near a landing stage on the river, I saw this:

As we walked through the market, I thought “This is exactly it. Get in with buddy. As we embark on the river, the river which will take us to the sea, we need a buddy.”

So too was it for Schumann. In his day, thanks to changes in patronage, the great tradition had been dimmed. While Haydn could all his life serve the Esterhazys, and Beethoven rely on a stipend from Archduke Rudolf, composers now must look for support to nouveaux riches.

As he sought to raise the level, like the shepherd boy David to bring down the giant of musical Philistinism, he looked for buddies. Most important among them were Clara Wieck — who became his wife — and Felix Mendelssohn. The numbers of his Bund were swelled also by a self-division: in place of Schumann appeared two sub-personalities, the outgoing Florestan and dreamy Eusebius.

Among the Davidsbündlertänze, some are credited to Florestan, some to Eusebius, and some to both. In this first piece, as one may hear clearly, both have a hand. It begins with a quotation from Clara Wieck — from her Mazurka, op. 6 no. 5.

Much in Schumann has its origin in improvisations on melodies of hers; like dead men’s bones become coral, they are transmuted by passion “into something rich and strange”.

Thank you so much.

With every good wish,

Ishmael

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