Robert Schumann

Works for organ or pedal piano

It all started with a pedal-board which the Schumanns rented for their grand piano. Enthused by the new tonal qualities and performing opportunities offered by the new instrument, Schumann composed his three cycles op. 56, 58, and 60, which are the result of combining a strict contrapuntal style with a Romantic character piece. The new Carus Urtext edition contains a detailed foreword with important suggestions on interpretation, enabling performers to do justice to these works on the organ. The editor Martin Schmeding, professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig, is a specialist in the history of the pedal piano and has recorded the three Schumann cycles for the first time on an original pedal piano.