Noctave

Free sheet music · Noctave edition

The Happy Farmer, Op. 68 No. 10

Robert Schumann 1810–1856

Intermediate · 5/101848F major48 sRomantics
Portrait of Robert Schumann, in moonlight

Listen

The first 22 seconds, played by the piano of Noctave (the app's SoundFont).

The piece

The full title is longer: Fröhlicher Landmann, von der Arbeit zurückkehrend, the cheerful peasant coming home from work. First you hear him singing low down in the left hand, a straightforward F major tune marked Frisch und kräftig (fresh and vigorous). In the second half the tune reaches the right hand as well: both hands sing it together, a tenth apart, with chords slipped in between.

The left hand carries the tune with weight, like a full, low voice. The right hand fits chords between the melody notes, always after an eighth rest, and they must be short and clearly lighter. That offset is the first trap, because the right hand tends to lock onto the left and land with it. Count the eighths out loud at first. In the second part the right hand keeps its chords while also singing the top line: share the weight between the outer fingers, which sing, and the thumb, which accompanies. Practising hands separately is mostly a way to hear those two roles clearly here.

What makes it hard

Chords
21% of the attacks are chords of three notes or more.

Measured on the score, repeats included, at the written tempo.

Play it in Noctave

The score, free. The version that falls in light, in Noctave: the notes come down to your keyboard at your tempo, then fade to leave you the score. Noctave is coming soon to Android: leave your address to hear when it is out.

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