Adagio and Allegro

In 1849 Schumann turned to a new genre: works for piano and an accompanying instrument. The first work he composed were the Fantasy Pieces for Piano and Clarinet op. 73, immediately followed by the Adagio and Allegro op. 70. Clara played the new work together with the horn player E. Julius Schlitterlau, writing afterwards in her diary: "The piece is splendid, fresh and passionate, just as I like it!" Even Schumann himself was impressed with his new composition. He particularly drew the publisher Kistner’s attentionto the "brilliant allegro", whose solo part is indeed so virtuosic that opus 70 is one of the showpieces for horn players even today.