Several of Schumann’s piano works were inspired by literary works, including his Waldszenen, Papillons and Kreisleriana. The son of a publisher, Schumann grew up surrounded by literature; he was extremely well-read and also wrote poetry. He wrote in his diary that he had felt the need to create something, if not with music then with words: clearly a musician who was also a man of letters. Music and literature are inseparable in Schumann’s creative spirit: many of his compositions were based on literary works, although these pieces were never literal transcriptions in sound of the original text. Schumann took rather the ideas behind the work; his fantasy and powers of expression then transformed them into sound. This CD explores Schumann’s deeply poetic and richly imaginative sound world.

Mitsuko Saruwatari was born in Tokyo and studied first at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo and then at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam under Willem Brons. She then worked with John Bingham for two years in London.