ISBN 9790006539628. With Text
language: German, English. 31
x 24.3 cm inches.
In spring 1838 Schumann
composed "30 short, sweet
things", as he called them in
a letter to his fiancee Clara
Wieck. He originally composed
these under the title
"Kindergeschichten" and
intended them as a supplement
to the "Noveletten" op. 21,
also composed in 1838. From
these piano miniatures he
chose twelve pieces. At the
beginning of the following
year, now expanded with a
thirteenth piece, they were
published as "Scenes from
Childhood" by Breitkopf &
Hartel in Leipzig. The
collection centred on
Traumerei which is the seventh
and the most famous piece in
the collection.
The significance of the cycle
was completely misjudged by
the critic Ludwig Rellstab but
it was enthusiastically
received by Liszt. He wrote to
Schumann in June 1839 that he
was frequently playing "Scenes
from Childhood" to his then
three-and-a-half year old
daughter Blandine with
enthusiasm, but particularly
to himself.
