After a brief introduction, the sustained theme of Schumann’s piano quartet becomes the principal idea of a faster, main body of the first movement. This main idea is elaborated and developed until the slow introduction returns, signaling further developments that pass through darker, more intense tonalities. After the triumphant return of the main idea in the home key of E-flat major, the tempo slows once more just before the movement’s concluding coda.
The main theme of the following scherzo clearly invokes Mendelssohn’s famous “fairy music” style. The piano and strings also frequently echo each other canonically, recalling the scherzo from Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-flat major, one of Schumann’s favorite pieces.
For many listeners the third movement is the heart of the work. After a few bars of introduction, the cello begins a singing melody that reminds one of Schumann’s gifts as a composer of vocal music. A series of variations on this expressive theme ensues, beginning with a quasi-canonic duet for the violin and cello.
Based on the final thought of the previous movement, the final movement soon launches into a fast fugue. Though finales are most often easy-going affairs, there was also a long tradition of learned, fugal finales going back to the 18th century.
Here is the Schumann Piano Quartet Opus 44:
https://youtu.be/NGYwkrv8q2I
