• Tracks

Schumann’s Four Fugues, Op. 72 were written during a period of ill-health in 1845 but these masterly pieces reveal nothing of his private turmoil. The Album für die Jugend followed in 1848. In this recording we hear the alternative version of Wilder Reiter (The Wild Rider), with its slightly more ambitious ending, as well as those pieces Schumann excised from the first edition. The Revolutionary year of 1849 brought resurgence in his creativity in the form of the Four Marches, Op. 76 which are imbued with a martial spirit. The Albumblatt: Ahnung (Album Leaf: Foreboding) was only rediscovered in 2007.