Why did Robert Schumann name this work as "Kreisleriana"? This question made me start to think about its enigma and complicated intention of Robert towards this work. Kreisleriana is very special for me and, maybe, for every classic music enthusiast. When I was twenty years old, I heard this work for the first time.

Every critic has said almost the same things like following;
"Schumann's Kreisleriana was based on a fictional character created by the writer E.T.A.Hoffmann, who was a musician, too. He had invented poor Johannes Kreisler as a symbol for the misunderstood musician, painting him as a kind of clown. Kreisler, some said, was Hoffmann himself, freed from the shackles of society by the 'madness' of music."

The truth may be;

The fictional Kreisler played the Goldberg Variations in the beginning part of the short novel by E.T.A.Hoffmann. But Robert Schumann actually was not familiar with the Goldberg Variations so much as we anticipated, even he was deeply interested in fuges and canons of J.S.Bach. If he had found out the healing power of that work, he would have lived a little more comfortable life without severe insomnia. Clara could have played it for him to soften his agony.

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"Schumann was obsessed by Hoffmann's creation, possibly because his own difficulties with society are legion, and he recognized that Kreisler is a clown only because people did not know how to take him seriously. Eventually the clown's underlying seriousness drives him mad."

The truth may be;

In younger days, Robert was not a man who underestimated himself. He was bright and eligible. Why had he to make himself fool like a clown towards beloved Clara? Instead he intended to be a great musician. And he seriously needed Clara's existence beside him.

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How many of you have read Hoffmann's works? I dared to read some of them. What I can say after reading them is that it is not necessary for you to read any of Hoffmann's works in order to experience Kreisleriana comprehensively.

"In April 1838 Schumann wrote to his future wife, Clara, that he had written a piece which he was going to call Kreisleriana and that she would smile when she discovered herself in it. She must indeed have smiled, for in seven of eight movements appears a theme she herself had written, a simple line of five descending steps (only No.7 is without it).

"Even in those days of his comparative youth, the everrecurring struggle between rationality and irrationality."

"Kreisleriana, significantly subtitled Fantasien, was written in four days, its inspiration flooding like a spring river in full spate. As so often with Schumann an elaborate literary programme thinly disguise an essentially personal touch. Writing to his beloved Clara, he said "Play my Kreisleriana often. A positively wild love is in some of the movements, and your life and mine, and the way you look."

The music's striking chromatism expresses as much as anything in rhythmic intricacy which caused Clara, a lady often inclined to confuse her husband's deepest confidences with obscurity, to complain of needless cloudiness. "

"The second intermezzo from 2 in particular is startling even today, and has been aptly characterized as 'romanticized baroque'.

"Most of the pieces are in rondo form with contrasted and related intermezzi. The concluding march in one of those spectral dances, its turning more and more frequently from a happy extroverted openness to disturbingly tormented world of his own. "

The truth should be;

Robert wanted to name this work as 'Clara, my Love' or 'I want you, Clara'. But he was in fight with her father who intended to disgrace Robert Schumann to avoid their marriage. These situations are wellknown.
So actually he could not name it like those. But of course Clara undersood the real meaning of this name. So she might have smiled.

A Fictional Dialogue

The truth should be a little deeper Secret;

Clara	'What does it mean by Kreisleriana ? Robert. You wrote that it was me and that I could find it out.'
	'Yes, my love, it is you. You will find your name, your passion and your beauty in it. I am very proud of it. By the way, have you ever read any of Hoffmann's novels ?'	Robert
Clara	'Well, well. You said Hoffmann ? I have heard of his name, but I don't know about him at all. My father would not allow me to read any of his works, even if he respects him somehow. Does it have anything to do with the title of your work ?'
	'Never mind about Hoffmann ! Kreisleriana is nothing else but you. I love you. While I think about you, a flaming desire captures all of me. So, I have described this feeling in this work. '	Robert
Clara	'Ah ! I have found out me in it. Thank you, Robert. What a nice gift of love. I want to play it right now. ' 'I played it and I got surprised at the beauty of it. I could not breathe enough while I was in front of the piano with this fantasy. There are many movements of heart and soul. And suddenly you emerges with mysterious atmosphere. I think I have to play it again and again. I cannot say now which part of this fantagy I love the most. To tell the truth the part which I am playing will impress me most. Then the next part surely moves me more. ' 'It is a terrifying experience for me. '
	'Play it for yourself and for me. It is for you and for us. ' 'I thought that you would love this work with a new cipher and eight new music tales. '	Robert
Clara	'Robert, I get horny when I play Kreisleriana. It is strange. I want you badly, too.'
	'Yes, it is the art of love. I can feel you as if you were beside me while I imagine that you are playing Kreisleriana.'	Robert
Clara	'Robert! Our love should be more spiritual ! I mean I'm still too young to think about it. I don't understand some parts of your work. It is like a Music of Desire.'
	'Yes, spiritual. That's right. Now we are separated and we cannot even see each other. But I want to hold you in my arms. '	Robert
Clara	'I know you. I know about you. And you should have known better of me. I love you.　But don't fool me around. Kreisleriana might be a kind of an aphrodisiac. You should not play it in front of girls and ladies except me. I won't allow you.'
	'Wow, Clara. I understand everything. You ! Pure ! Clara ! I love you. The medicine aphrodisiac which you mentioned was named after Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the goddess of love. The Greeks called her Aphrodite. The Romans worshiped her as Venus. You will be a Venus. Then I am your Zephyrus. I will take you on a shell to Cyprus. '	Robert
Clara	'You are a Zephyrus. Ok. Then I must be a Flora, in other name, Chloris. Because Chloris or Flora is the mother of the Flowers, and she consorted with Zephyrus, the West Wind. My flowers should be music, and your winds should be compositions. But Kreisleriana is not a gentle breeze from the west. It is wild and lascivious.'
	'You will be transformed into Venus. Now Zeus, your father, will give you to Hephaestus, Vulcan in Roman mythology. So, in order to get married with you, secretly I will be transformed into a Valucan the craftsman of music using fire. Naturally Kreisleriana is hot and with flames.'	Robert

Cipher

A transposition cipher is one in which the letters of the plaintext are retained but are moved from their normal position. An anagram, such as 'HE'S A SPEAKER.' for 'SHAKESPEARE', is a type of transposition cipher.

Anagram

It is a word or phrase made by transposing the letters of another word or phrase.

A CLAVIER

I am looking at " A CLAVIER ". You may find " I've Clara." Is that right ? So I can dream of you.

Clara! You! Pure! KLARA SEI REIN K R E I S L E R I A N A KLARA SEI REIN Clara! You! Pure!

"KREISLERIANA" "KLARA, SEI REIN!" "CLARA, BE PURE!"

Clara

Robert always treated me as an object of desire, and at the same time only as a performing pianist for him. I didn't like his way of thinking. I could not endure this kind of thing.

The Illness of Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann came to live and study with Wieck in 1830, and asked permission to marry Clara in 1837; Wieck objected, and did all he could to prevent the wedding before Clara's 21st birthday when she would be legally able without his consent; Robert and Clara filed a lawsuit, and won, but out of spite went ahead and married the day before her birthday, September 12, 1840.

On the day following their wedding, Robert Schumann gave a new diary to Clara for her birthday, recommending that they write and exchange the diary weekly, so that each could pen reflections on music they had heard, projects they were working on, and any personal notes to the other that spoken words could not express. They also wrote about the people they met, those with whom they dined and performed their music.
Robert needed Clara so badly.

Clara and Robert had eight children (ten pregnancies), and their prolific medical history continues to be the subject of many books. Because of the physical and mental instability of her husband, Clara took many of the family responsibilities upon herself. These kept her from practicing, performing, and composing. Also, the proximity of their two pianos often made it impossible for Robert and Clara to work at home simultaneously; they distracted each other. Inevitably, Clara would set her music aside in deference to Robert.

They first lived in Leipzig where they both taught in the Conservatory there; they moved to Dresden in 1844, to Duesseldorf in 1850.
Their children were: Marie (1841-1929), Elise (1843-1928), Julie (1845-72), Emil (1846-47), Ludwig (1848-99), Ferdinand (1849-91), Eugenie (1851-1938), Felix (1854-79).
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) met the Schumanns in 1853, and remained a dear friend of both while they lived.

The circumstance of the 1849 revolution in Dresden vividly illustrates the role that Clara played in their family. When it seemed that Robert might be drafted into the conflict, they evacuated with their first daughter Marie to nearby Maxen and the relative safety of the castle belonging to Friedrich Serre. Clara then returned across battle lines with two other women to retrieve her other three children ﾄ all this while she was seven months pregnant.

Robert's mental health was poor, and following a suicide attempt in 1854, he was committed to the asylum at Endenich; he is said to have suffered from manic depression and psychosis.

Robert Schumann died in the asylum at Endenich near Bonn on July 29, 1856.

The Wish of Clara

As the daughter of a famous piano teacher Friedrich Wieck, she was gifted from fine training and a heritage of musical talent. Wieck quickly recognized Clara's prodigious talents and developed her career as a piano virtuosa from very early.

Following Robert's death in 1856, Clara devoted herself to editing his works and correspondences, and concertizing widely to support the family. The reason why she did so is that she intended to conceal his secrets. He said something wrong to her many times. But he knew nothing about his own mal intention. Her life was sometimes happy and many times regretful. An abnormal genius and a normal genius, which had to take care of the other?

As Kreisleriana Clara tried to conceal the sexual intention of Robert by throw some letters from him away forever.

The Achievement of Vladimir Horowitz

Recorded in February and December 1969 in New York City
Released in 1970
Paying time about 32 minutes

"I have been a healthy man all through my life.
Anything could not beat me down. The reason which made me decide to play Kreisleriana was not sure even for me. But I did my best for it. In that year, the LP was the best classical hit of the world."

Vladimir Horowitz set the Variations on the Theme by Clara Wieck in advance with Kreisleriana for his LP record. This combination is supernatural. But why?

Horowitz was born in Russia, 1903. He died in New York City, 1989.