This chapter turns to Robert Schumann's Fantasie in C Major, op. 17, a piece that lies at the center of his innovative cluster of piano works from the 1830s and that was conceived in 1836 at the stressful nadir of his struggle for the hand of Clara Wieck, the brilliant young pianist who became his wife four years later. As originally conceived, the composition in question was an offering to Beethoven, who had died almost a decade earlier, in 1827. To better illustrate Schumann's approach to the piece, this chapter considers not only his compositional preoccupations and ongoing engagement with Beethoven's music but also Beethoven's own treatment of the theme of a distant beloved in several works—pieces that in turn became sources of inspiration for Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck during their difficult periods of separation in the later 1830s.

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This book opens the door to the composer's workshop, investigating not just the final outcome but the process of creative endeavor in music. Focusing on the stages of composition, the book maintains that the most rigorous basis for the study of artistic creativity comes not from anecdotal or autobiographical reports, but from original handwritten sketches, drafts, revised manuscripts, and corrected proof sheets. It explores works of major composers from the eighteenth century to the present, from Mozart's piano music and Beethoven's Piano Trio in F to Kurtág's Kafka Fragments and Hommage à R. Sch. Other chapters examine Robert Schumann's Fantasie in C, Mahler's Fifth Symphony, and Bartók's Dance Suite. Revealing the diversity of sources, rejected passages and movements, fragmentary unfinished works, and aborted projects that were absorbed into finished compositions, the book illustrates the wealth of insight that can be gained through studying the creative process.