Noctave
The piece
The Album for the Young, which Schumann wrote in 1848 for his children, gathers forty-three pieces in two parts: the first for younger players, the second for older ones. Melodie opens the collection. Under the German marking "Nicht schnell" (not fast), it consists of a simple tune in the right hand over a continuous line of eighth notes. The score is based on the Peters edition, entered for the Mutopia Project by Philippe Hézaine.
The main challenge is balance: the two hands play very close together around middle C, and the left hand, the faster one here at about 2.5 notes per second, must not cover the tune. Its eighths often alternate a moving note with a repeated G above it; play that G more softly, as a backdrop. The right hand moves in slurred quarter notes, so connect them properly, lifting each finger only as the next one presses its key. Several phrases end on a rest: breathe with them. When the right hand plays two notes at once, the upper one stays the melody.