Schumann kept coming back to variation form. He often wrote his own variations in contrast to those on popular (operatic) themes, with which piano virtuosi of the time flooded the market. The “Impromptus” were written with the desire that they “should be seen to be variations of a new form” – he even skilfully joined two themes together. Although Franz Liszt had been very positive about them, Schumann later again made a great many changes to his Opus 5. The “Impromptus” are now appearing – in both versions – in our catalogue for the first time, as always with an informative accompanying text.
