Kinderszenen, Op. 15 No. 7 — Dreaming

About this work

Rêverie is the seventh of the thirteen Scenes from Childhood, composed in 1838, and seems to suspend the motion after several livelier miniatures. Schumann looks back at childhood as an adult: the theme is simple, but its returns subtly alter the colour and direction.

The melody passes from one voice to another within four-part chords. The player must therefore decide which notes sing and which support the harmony. Syncopations and suspensions create the sense of floating time; covering them with continuous pedal deprives the piece of its breathing.

Practise each voice separately, then play the chords while bringing out only the upper line. Add the inner replies afterwards. A calm tempo still needs a pulse. Change the pedal with the harmony and leave phrase endings open, like a thought that needs no full stop.

What the document containsThe 2-page PDF contains the seventh piece from Scenes from Childhood, while the MIDI file makes the succession of voices easier to follow. Mutopia Project record 504 preserves the LilyPond engraving placed in the public domain. LesPartitions.info brings both files together for piano study.