Schumann in Endenich

Wilhelm Killmayer puts a single note at the heart of this composition. But whereas Robert Schumann took it as the starting point of his romanticism, Killmayer doesn’t allow himself the freedom to develop poetic melodies. Just as Schumann deliberately decided to live within the constraints of a mental asylum in Endenich, Killmayer favours the constraints of a very limited tonal space. Recurring seconds in the piano part illustrate the confines in the life of the ill composer. Even the addition of a vibraphone, bongo and conga cannot overcome these boundaries in the end. The only option left is to look inwards for an escape. And when refined tone colours are revealed in a dialogue between piano and glockenspiel, Schumann in Endenich turns into a journey into the consciousness of an enigmatic fellow human being.