Track Listing -

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Fantasiestücke, Op. 73
\nAdagio and Allegro in A flat major, Op. 70
\nViolin Sonata No. 3 in A minor, WoO 27 arranged by Steven\nIsserlis
\nAbendlied, Op. 85 No. 12
\n3 Romances, Op. 94
\n5 Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102

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Schumann’s affection for the cello ran deep. It was an\ninstrument he had played in his youth, and considered taking up\nagain when, at the age of twenty-two, an accident to his hand\nforced him to relinquish his dream of being a virtuoso pianist. ‘I\nwant to take up the violoncello again (one needs only the left hand\nfor this) and it will be very useful to me in composing\nsymphonies’, he wrote to his mother. The sound of the cello played\nwithout the right hand would have been somewhat minimalist; but his\nlove for the instrument is clearly demonstrated by the cello parts\nin all four of his symphonies, as well as in the concertos for\npiano and violin, and of course throughout his chamber music. As\nthe great musicologist Donald Francis Tovey put it: ‘The qualities\nof the violoncello are exactly those of the beloved dreamer whom we\nknow as Schumann.’

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