We find ourselves in a crucial year, 1849. At that time, the Schumanns opted for a rural retreat due to the tension in Dresden, where they resided at that moment – a city that was the centre of notable revolutionary episodes during the uprising that occurred there, with its epicentre in May of that year. Precisely in that fruitful year, Robert Schumann tackled several chamber works that seem to be written in a relaxed atmosphere, in a very short time, without excessive formal nor constructive ambition, but with the stamp of his high melodic and harmonic inspiration. There is a certain common denominator among them, which we could call a certain lack of instrumental definition – pieces for oboe and piano, or for horn and piano, or for clarinet and piano – but in which the “melodic” role, as indicated in the score, can be transferred to other instruments with similar “singable” capacity, either to the same woodwind family or even to the string family (violin, cello). In short, it’s about “singing without text”; they are authentic “songs without words”.

The Three Romances, op.22, by Clara Schumann, which open this recording, is music initially intended for violin and piano, although the violin part has traditionally been adapted for other instruments: oboe, clarinet, viola, cello, etc. The cello version on this album is due to its performer, Alberto Martos.