A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Nachtstücke

by J. A. Fuller-Maitland

NACHTSTÜCKE (Night Pieces). The name of four pieces for pianoforte solo by Schumann, constituting op. 23 of his published works. They were written in Vienna in 1839 (the same year as the Fasschingsschwank aus Wien, the Three Romances, the Humoreske, etc.) and are dedicated to F. A. Becker of Freiberg. The name is taken from the title of a series of tales by Hoffmann, whose works, like those of Jean Paul Richter, had a great fascination for Schumann at this period of his life. [See Kreisleriana, which were written the year before the Nachtstücke.] They are entirely distinct in character from the ordinary Nocturne, though the name would seem to imply a resemblance; in fact, they are much more like the 'Nuits Blanches' of Stephen Heller, being, with one exception (No. 4, the simplest and most popular, as well as the quietest of the series), excited and restless yet full of vigour.

[ J. A. F. M. ]