Robert Schumann

Studien für den Pedalflügel op. 56

In order to preserve compositions for pedal grand piano for practical use, they had to be arranged. Schumann's Studies for the Pedal Piano op. 56 in particular have always been recognized as special gems and have been arranged for various instrumentations. There are arrangements for piano four hands by Georges Bizet (1873), for two pianos four hands by Claude Debussy (1891), as well as numbers 2, 4, 5 and 6 for solo piano by Clara Schumann (1896; new edition in the Dohr Edition as E.D. 17629 in preparation). There are two arrangements by Theodor Kirchner from 1888: one for piano, violin and violoncello (new edition in Edition Dohr as E.D. 18987) and the present version for piano four hands. Theodor Kirchner had a particularly close relationship with Schumann's music throughout his life and arranged many of his works for piano, including song cycles, the string quartets and the four symphonies. His friend Johannes Brahms also valued Kirchner as an arranger of his works. (Jürg Löffler)