Robert Schumann in Three Pieces
Robert Schumann in Three Pieces is the collective title given to three works, composed for the "Avenue A" ensemble by the British composer, Matthew King. Together, they constitute a musical portrait of the German Romantic composer, Robert Schumann. The first piece, entitled "Ash on the Ground" is a passacaglia in which various compositions by Schumann are quoted; the second piece, entitled "Love in a Life" has a soprano soloist, and is a miniature song cycle to texts by Robert Schumann himself, along with poems by Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It has been described , by one critic, as "rich and sumptuous, with some spine-tingling moments" the third piece, entitled "Night Phantoms and Rocking Horses" is a rapid musical survey of Schumann's piano music at a furious galloping tempo. The work ends with fragments of celeste and percussion sounding like a wound-down music box. "Robert Schumann in Three Pieces" has been recorded by the "Avenue A" ensemble on the Weave Records label.