Martin Stegner & Tomoko Takahaski - Myrtenlieder

Martin Stegner and Tomoko Takahashi adapted romances and songs by Robert Schumann for viola and piano.

It could be said that Schumann's mood pieces for a melody instrument plus the piano - for example the 'Adagio und Allegro' op 70 for cornet, the 'Fantasiestucke' op 73 for clarinet and the 'Drei Romanzen' op 94 for oboe and piano - are his contribution to the genre of the 'Songs without Words'. All pieces mentioned date back to the year 1849. It marks a period of his work that endowed - second to the year 1840 that was decidedly characterized by song - the composer with yet another rich, though autumnal, harvest of songs. It was the unexpected call to Dusseldorf that re-awakened Schumann's spontaneous delight both in the human voice and in the melodic solo instrument in a dialogue with the piano. In the 'Romanzen' op. 94 he allows for the use of the violin as well.