# Schumann's Three Romances (Op. 94)



## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

I've been listening to this a lot lately. Dark and beautiful. I'm going to play the first romance for a recital coming up.

I wonder, what are your favorite instruments for this piece to be performed on? I've heard it on oboe, flute, and clarinet. For me, the perfect instrument for the first romance is oboe...the tone fits it perfectly. I actually prefer the last two romances on flute for some reason.


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

I actually first came across these Romances in an anime (out of all places!), in which one of the characters (an introverted girl) played the first Romance on her clarinet. I guess the sound kind of left an impression, so now the clarinet is my favourite instrument for that piece. This could also be due to the fact that I've played the piece by ear on both the flute and oboe, and perhaps my liking of the piece on those two instrument was restricted by my inability to do the piece justice and the limitations of my own skill. :lol:


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I prefer the clarinet, mostly because I haven't heard it any other way; but also because my tolerance for solo oboe and flute is limited. If the piece were 'adjusted' for English horn... .


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

Hilltroll72 said:


> I prefer the clarinet, mostly because I haven't heard it any other way; but also because my tolerance for solo oboe and flute is limited. If the piece were 'adjusted' for English horn... .


Hmmm...it would be incredible on English horn. Good thinking. I like clarinet for certain things, but it just sounds too mechanical, there's not enough life in the instrument itself to pull off such a passionate piece. The lower register is rich and haunting, but the higher it goes, the less I like it haha. Just my feeling on it.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

OboeKnight said:


> Hmmm...it would be incredible on English horn. Good thinking. I like clarinet for certain things, but it just sounds too mechanical, there's not enough life in the instrument itself to pull off such a passionate piece. The lower register is rich and haunting, but the higher it goes, the less I like it haha. Just my feeling on it.


The clarino register... seems to be a bitch to get the sound appropriate for the music. My clarinetist friend is fanatical about avoiding edginess _or_ 'breathiness' there (except in the few classical pieces where edginess works). He has described manipulations of the soft palate that strike me as being nearly as difficult to manage as the fingering (which looks miraculous to me anyway). The altissimo register... well, I don't wish to discuss (or even think) about that.

You woodwind players can make wonderful sounding music, separately and together. I am very glad you are out there. I just wish that altissimo stuff would be reserved for the smaller flutes and piccolo; It sounds more natural for them.

:tiphat:


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

I love them. I prefer oboe.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

I've enjoyed these Romances with the cello, although I have enjoyed playing them on the violin myself.

Deeply sentimental works, and while having a moderate undercurrent of turbulence, these are a bit more restful [perhaps the third is the least restful of the lot] than many of the other works that Schumann labeled Romances.


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