The custom has arisen of jumping right into the finale as though Schuman had marked attacca at the end of the scherzo. This is because the finale is too long, wears out its welcome and doesn’t work unless you play it molto vivace like the previous movement. If you play it fast enough, the seams don’t show.
It’s in 2/2 and begins in C minor as though caught in the act of doing something wrong, which is another reason why the unwritten attacca is observed. It meanders into G Major, E Major and C# minor before winding its way back to C minor.
At 3:59, Schumann writes a gesture than would normally mean that he is summing up for a grand finish in E-flat. If he had wrapped it up at this point, he would have had a winner on his hands. But he writes a double fugue instead. There’s nothing wrong with multiple counterpoint, and Schumann was an old hand at this kind of academic writing. But it doesn’t belong here and drags the piece into double overtime. (Some in the audience miss the cue and applaud.) At 6:32, Schumann reprises the same passage from 3:59, but this time he heads for the finish line with the bravura ending he should have written earlier.
This video shows it played at a blistering pace, fully three minutes shorter than another available video.
See you tomorrow night for more String Quartet + 1.
Good evening, Publius...enjoying Schumann. Thanks for the tunes for the troops. ((HUGS))
HUZZAH!!!!
It worked!
:-)