Scenes from Childhood by Schumann: a listening guide for kids

Scenes from Childhood is a set of 13 short piano pieces by Robert Schumann. He wrote it in 1838. Each piece is a small picture of being a child: a game of tag, a story by the fire, a ride on a hobbyhorse, falling asleep. The whole set lasts about 18 minutes. Its best-known piece is “Träumerei,” which means “dreaming.”

Quick facts

• Composer: Robert Schumann, who lived from 1810 to 1856
• Written: 1838
• Length: about 18 minutes for all 13 pieces
• Played by: one piano
• German title: Kinderszenen
• Written for: grown-ups to play, about childhood

Music about children, not for them

Schumann did not write these pieces for children to play. He wrote them for adults, as memories of what it felt like to be a child. Some of them are hard.

Ten years later, he wrote a second set, the Album for the Young, for his own children to play. Read Album for the Young.

How it began

In 1838, Schumann was in love with a young pianist named Clara Wieck. Her father would not let them marry. Robert wrote to Clara that she had once told him he seemed like a child at times. He said the remark had stayed with him, and that he had written about 30 small pieces and chosen some of them for a set.

They married two years later. Read Clara Schumann for kids.

The 13 pieces

No.	Title	What to listen for
1	Of Foreign Lands and People	A soft, rocking tune, as if someone begins a story about a faraway place
2	A Curious Story	A skipping rhythm, with a smoother part in the middle
3	Blind Man’s Buff	Fast running notes. A game of chase that is over in half a minute.
4	Pleading Child	A soft question, asked again and again. The last chord does not sound finished.
5	Happy Enough	A flowing tune that sounds content
6	An Important Event	Loud, proud chords, like a child’s idea of a parade
7	Dreaming	The slow, rising tune that many people know
8	At the Fireside	A warm, easy tune
9	Knight of the Hobbyhorse	A rocking gallop that grows louder
10	Almost Too Serious	A tune that falls just behind the beat
11	Frightening	Calm music, and then sudden fast bursts
12	Child Falling Asleep	A rocking lullaby that drifts off with no real ending
13	The Poet Speaks	Slow, quiet chords. The grown-up looks back.

Schumann said that he added the titles after he wrote the music. He meant them as hints for the player.

Dreaming

“Träumerei” is the seventh piece, the center of the set. It lasts about two and a half minutes.

The tune climbs to a high note and sinks back, again and again. Each climb is a little different. Pianists sometimes play this piece alone as an encore at the end of a concert.

Where to start

• Ages 4 to 7: “Blind Man’s Buff,” “Knight of the Hobbyhorse,” and “An Important Event”
• Ages 8 and up: add “Dreaming,” “Frightening,” and “Child Falling Asleep”
• Bedtime: “Dreaming,” “At the Fireside,” “Child Falling Asleep,” and “The Poet Speaks”

Things to do together

Name the scene. Play a piece with no title. Ask your child what the child in the music is doing. Then read Schumann’s title.

Chase and freeze. Play “Blind Man’s Buff.” Run on the spot, and freeze on the last note.

Ride the hobbyhorse. Gallop around the room for the ninth piece.

Draw a memory. Play “Dreaming.” Draw a quiet memory while it plays.

Jump at the fright. Play “Frightening.” Sit still in the calm parts, and jump when the fast music breaks in.

Write your own scenes. List five scenes from your child’s week. Give each one a title in Schumann’s style.

Questions to ask

• Which scene sounds most like your day?
• Why does “Child Falling Asleep” stop without an ending?
• Who is the poet in the last piece?
• What would you call “Dreaming” if you named it yourself?

Words to know

• Scene: a short picture of one moment
• Träumerei: the German word for dreaming
• Encore: an extra piece played at the end of a concert
• Character piece: a short piano piece with a mood or a title

Print and play

Use a listening journal page for each scene. Read Robert Schumann for kids and short piano pieces explained.