Work Text:
1838. The Golden Age of Robert Schumann.
His work Kinderszenen, or Scenes from Childhood, contains 13 solo piano pieces. The best known is No. 7, Träumerei - often translated as Dreaming.
Author A. Richard Scheumann wrote in 1908 that in Träumerei reveals Schumann’s most inner soul.
And Maggie Phillps uses the motifs from this piece to help convey Stede's inner soul.
You can hear this piece at key moments in Stede's story as he's evolving and beginning to live his truth. The most notable moments I remember are before the first Gentlebeard Kiss in Season 1, Episode 9 - you can hear the opening measures of Träumerei before the "love theme" starts (Erik Satie's Gnossienne No. 5). In Season 1, Episode 10, this piece also plays while Stede is telling his children about his fuckery plan and Alma hands him half of the petrified orange.
I think this highlights Stede's yearning for love and learning how he can be worthy of it.
For our crew, I arranged this piece for 6 French horns and recorded it, so you all can dream and know that we all belong to something. PS Listen for the little solo my dog gave at the end to add some pizzazz.
If you want to read more about this piece, NPR did a great segment back in 2010 in celebration of what would have been Schumann's 200th birthday. You can read the interview here.