Childhood as a musical theme – affectivity and instrumental expressiveness in the works of Schumann, Debussy and Enescu

Abstract

Childhood is a theme that music does not avoid, and through works such as Kinderszenen by Robert Schumann, Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy or Impressions d’enfance (Childhood Impressions) by George Enescu, is illustrated by various compositional means, determined by epochs or trends with which the creators identify, but also by their personal experiences and their expressive intentions. The affectivity of childhood is the key to decipher the musical message, pursuing the connection between the universe and the way in which the composers chose to lead the sound discourse through instruments, exploring so diversily the possibilities presented by them. The image, the symbol or the instrumental timbre, understood as processes of transmitting the expression, are the elements that the study seeks to define in correlation with the programmatism and the musical specificity of each previously mentioned work. This analytical incursion belongs to the contemporary performer, who, in order to understand and render this theme, uses not only the knowledge in the field, but also the extra-musical insight, belonging to literature or psychology.