This piece originates from Robert Schumann's 'Album für die Jugend' - a collection of 43 short works that were composed for his three daughters. The opus 68 'Album für die Jugend' is, unlike 'Kinderszenen', meant to be played by children, although the collection is divided in two parts - and the second is marked 'Für Erwachsenere', from no. 19, 'Kleine Romanze', onwards. 

'Wilder Reiter', or - as it is more commonly referred to, 'The Wild Horseman', is the eight piece of the collection. It is a short and easy, albeit wonderful piece due to its evocative, enthralling composition. It is essentially a lesson in staccato phrasing (one can really imagine the horseman trotting about), and teaches the pianist how to lead the cantabile with both hands, while accompanying with the other. The first section, where the melody is led by the right hand, is repeated. What follows is an intermezzo, if you will, where the left hand leads the melody - an inverse variation on the first section. The piece concludes with a third repetition of the first section. 

I am fascinated by the images that the piece conjures. Is the horseman clad in medieval armour, riding past you in a jousting roundabout? In measures 5 through 8 I deliberately retained some intensity in favour of conveying how the horseman has galloped past the listener (who is of course, stationary), and is making another pass. The second section, measures 9 through 16, seem to indicate the 'wild' in the horseman. Is he perhaps struggling to contain the horse, who has run amok? But then the first section is repeated, and the controlled, frivolous atmosphere reassures and consoles the listener. 

illustration: Géricault - 'Head of White Horse', ca. 1810, Musée du Louvre, Paris

R. Schumann - Wilder Reiter (The Wild Horseman) op. 68 no. 8 in A minor

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Ysaye - Sonata No 3 for solo violin 'Ballade'

Canción brasilera con ritmo de choro,compuesta en 1917 por Zequinha de Abreu, interpretada por mí. Grabado el 01-12-2014.

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ANAM Fellow recital 2002

Ravel Gaspard de la nuit

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Simone Young, conductor

Brahms Schoenberg  Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 (June 2019)

New England Conservatory's Philharmonia led by Hugh Wolff perform Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54. Recorded live in Jordan Hall March 11, 2013.

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54 - Presto

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