Noctave
The piece
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15, gathers thirteen short pieces, and Träumerei is the seventh. Everything grows from one gesture: an upbeat on C, then a melody that climbs an F major arpeggio to the high F and drifts gently back down. Schumann restates this outline in almost every bar, but the harmony underneath keeps changing, and that is what makes the daydream wander. The writing is in four voices, like a small choir: beneath the tune, inner voices imitate it, cross one another and move from one staff to the other.
The notes look simple; the real task is holding one note while the same hand leads another voice. Work out on the score which voice is singing at each moment, and keep the rest in the background. The grace notes, mostly in the left hand, spread a chord before the beat: start them early enough for the bass to land with the melody. Change the pedal with each bass note, or the inner voices will smear. As for the fermatas, let the sound breathe before you take up the phrase again.