But For Much Of His Life Schumann Was Fascinated By Puzzles And Ciphers,

But for much of his life Schumann was fascinated by puzzles and ciphers, particularly if they could be applied to music. His interest in ciphers was one that was common to not a few writers and artists associated with German Romanticism; Friedrich Schlegel, for example, described art as inner hieroglyphic writing. (Jensen 2001, p. 151, citing Dieckmann 1955, p. 311)
We should recognise this relationship between codified musical communication and German Romanticism. It was shared by other writers:
Schumann's interest in cipher, number symbolism, and musical/word puzzles is frequently encountered in his writings. [] Such an approach permitted him to add both mystery and extra musical significance to his works. [] An entire section of Aesthetics is devoted to the creation of secrets and hidden identities, all for the delight of the unravelling of little knots for the reader. (Jensen 2001, pp. 152 153, citing Richter 1973, p. 195)
In conclusion, a framework of communication, we have shown, can be semiological, cryptic and political. Barthes' semiological analysis of a piano recital tends towards the political, with his disdain for the bourgeois influencing his dislike of the politics of those attending piano recitals. If Schumann is played at a piano recital, there are semiological frameworks of musical communication derived from Schumann's interest in musical code. What is certain is that the historical context for each, the composer and the cultural analyst equally, is of paramount importance Without musical communication with Beethoven, Schubert would not have composed vastly different piano pieces, not to mention the pieces he composed for other instruments; and without a French social milieu Barthes might have had more tolerance for the piano recital as an excellent cultural event through which to investigate the nature of musical communication. As an event, the piano recital will generate a flood of memories for the active player and the passive audience, whose mood will be affected by the communication of thought, feeling and behaviour of the composer and by the music. Therefore historical is probably the best discussion of the specific type of cultural event that is the piano recital, because the music is historical, as is the event, and the environment.
Bibliography
BARTHES, R., 1977. Image, Music, Text, translated by Stephen Heath, Noonday Press Edition, New York.
DIECKMANN, L., 1955. The Metaphor of Hieroglyphics in German Romanticism, Comparative Literature VII.
JENSEN, E. F., 2001. Schumann, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
RICHTER, J. P., 1973. Horn of Oberon: Jean Paul Richter's School for Aesthetics, translated by Margaret R. Hale, Detroit.