Oslo Philharmonic's Chamber Series Robert Schumann
Giacomo Puccini
Johannes Brahms

In 1838, Robert Schumann (1810–1856) composed Kinderszenen – “Scenes from Childhood” – a collection of thirteen piano pieces. Schumann himself stated that the collection was not intended for children, but rather reflects how an adult might look back on the simple emotional world of childhood. No. 7 from the cycle, Träumerei (“Dreaming”), is among Schumann’s most famous piano pieces. This short and simple work has a melancholy and dreamlike character. It was used as the opening theme in the 1947 film Song of Love, which portrays the relationship between Clara and Robert Schumann. The piece is often performed at memorial services and funerals, and in Russia, an a cappella version is traditionally used as mourning music.

When Amadeo I of Spain, Duke of Aosta, died at the age of 44 in 1890, it deeply affected his close friend Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924). Crisantemi was composed in memory of the duke, and Puccini claimed to have written it in a single night. Scored for string quartet, the piece is a poignant and beautiful elegy. The title, Crisantemi, is the Italian word for the chrysanthemum flower, which in Italy is used exclusively in funerals and on graves. The premiere took place just days after the duke’s death, and Puccini later reused music from the piece in his opera Manon Lescaut, a story of tragic love.

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) composed over twenty chamber works – including three string quartets and three piano trios – but only one piano quintet. He began the work in 1862 as a string quintet with two cellos. Violinist Joseph Joachim, a close friend of Brahms, felt that the string writing in this early version was unsatisfactory. Brahms therefore reworked the piece into a sonata for two pianos, a version he performed with Clara Schumann, the widow of his friend Robert Schumann, with whom Brahms was deeply infatuated. Clara felt that this version sounded as though it had been arranged for two pianos, and suggested that he rewrite it as a piano quintet instead. Brahms followed her advice and produced a piano quintet that is now regarded as one of the most celebrated works in the classical chamber music repertoire.