Papillons, Op. 2

Composer: SCHUMANN, Robert
  • Schumann composed Papillons (Butterflies), a suite for piano, between 1829-1831.1 It was published as his Op. 2 in 1831.2
    • At the time, Schumann was coming to terms with the injury that disabled a finger of his right hand, ruining his dream of becoming a professional pianist.
  • In letters to friends and family, Schumann explained that the suite was inspired by Jean Paul’s novel Flegeljahre (Fledgling Years): especially the masked ball scene near the end.3 
  • Papillons is a set of twelve dances (waltzes and a couple polonaises), all derived from an introductory waltz theme.4 Schumann’s Oxford Music Online article posits that the title “Butterflies” may be connected to the idea of transformation or metamorphosis, as the first waltz theme transforms throughout all the following movements. (Around the same time he wrote this suite, Schumann also wrote a set of poems about metamorphosis entitled Schmetterlinge, “butterflies.”5

Sources

  1. “Papillons, Op. 2 (Schumann, Robert),” IMSLP, accessed July 9, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Papillons,_Op.2_(Schumann,_Robert). 
  2. John Daverio and Eric Sams, “Schumann, Robert,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed July 9, 2021,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040704.
  3. Ibid.
  4. “Papillons, Op. 2 (Schumann, Robert),” IMSLP
  5. Daverio and Sams, “Schumann, Robert,” Grove Music Online

Cut IDs

20352 20823 40252 42026