5 days to go: a Christmas present for Clara
Dear concert guests,
Today, a love letter in music. In December 1849, in Dresden, Robert Schumann wrote three short pieces in the space of a few days and gave them to Clara for Christmas: the Three Romances, Op. 94.
A Christmas present for Clara
Schumann noted the dates himself: 7, 11 and 12 December 1849. He wrote the Romances for oboe and piano. All three are songs without words, each with a middle section that briefly turns off into another world before coming home. The middle one, marked “Einfach, innig” (simple, heartfelt), is the heart of the set: a melody you will find yourself humming after one hearing.
On Sunday, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker plays the oboe part on the cello. What sounds bright and a little wistful on the oboe becomes warm and dark on the cello, like a voice singing an octave lower.
Today’s listening tip
First, the original: the first Romance, “Nicht schnell” (not fast), played by the Swiss oboist Heinz Holliger with Alfred Brendel at the piano.
Listen on Apple Music · Spotify or YouTube, search for: Holliger Brendel Schumann Romances
To compare
Now the same Romance on the cello, with Mischa Maisky and Martha Argerich: the way you will hear it on Sunday. The same notes, in a completely different light.
Listen on Apple Music · Spotify or YouTube, search for: Maisky Argerich Schumann Romances
Did you know?
The publisher Simrock wanted to offer the Romances for violin or clarinet as well. Schumann refused: had he written the work for violin or clarinet, he said, it would have become a completely different piece. Simrock included a violin part anyway, and so today the Romances belong to violinists, clarinettists, cellists and flutists as much as to oboists. Their first public performance came only in 1863, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, seven years after Schumann’s death.
Tomorrow: Felix Mendelssohn and a sonata full of sunlight.
Warm regards,
Andreas Haefliger & Marina Piccinini
The Duo
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker won the Rostropovich Competition in Paris in 2005, the first person in its history to take the first prize and two special prizes at once. Martin Helmchen won the Clara Haskil Prize in 2001; his recording of all of Beethoven’s piano concertos received a Gramophone Award in 2020. The two are married, perform as a duo worldwide and together run the «Fliessen» festival in Brandenburg. Their latest album, «From Eastern Europe» (Alpha Classics, 2025): Spotify · Apple Music
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker & Martin Helmchen, cello & piano
Sunday, 18 October 2026, 5.30 pm · Parish Church of St. Peter and Paul, Bürglen UR
Pay as you like (cash or TWINT) · about 70 minutes, no interval
Reserve a seat
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