Composed 1849; 8 minutes

In 1849, Schumann experienced one of his most prolific creative periods, producing nearly 40 works of remarkable variety and scope.  This surge occurred amidst the political unrest sweeping Germany, especially in Dresden, where Schumann and his family resided.  While Wagner, also in Dresden, responded to the 1849 uprisings with inflammatory political essays (which led to 12 years of exile in Switzerland), Schumann chose a different path. Rather than fight with revolutionary fervor, he made flight to a village outside Dresden to work in relative peace. "For some time now I’ve been very busy—it’s been my most fruitful year—it seemed as if the outer storms compelled people to turn inward," he wrote. “Only in my work did I find any counterforce against the terrible pressures that burst upon me from outside."

The Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 was one of the earliest works Schumann composed during this productive year. Completed in mid-February, Schumann originally wrote the piece for the valve horn, a modern development at the time that allowed for more precise chromatic playing than the traditional natural horn. This made the Adagio and Allegro the first substantial works for the valve horn, an instrument now standard among today’s horn players. Schumann, finding inspiration in this new technical possibility, soon set to work on a larger horn work: the Concertstück for four valve horns and orchestra, a full-scale concerto in three movements. Modestly describing it as "something completely unusual," Schumann produced a work of brilliant imagination.

When the Adagio and Allegro was published later in 1849, it was additionally labelled for ad libitum violin or cello in place of the horn, fitting Schumann’s goal of creating poetic short pieces, potentially Hausmusik, for a range of instruments.  Earlier in February, he had composed the Fantasy Pieces for clarinet and piano, Op. 73, which similarly allowed for performance by clarinet, violin or cello.  Schumann continued this approach with other works, such as the Five Pieces in Folk Style for cello (or violin) and piano, Op. 102, and the Three Romances for oboe (or violin) and piano, Op. 94.  He later turned to the viola, an instrument with few champions at the time, in two important works: the Fairytale Pictures for viola and piano, Op. 113 (1851) and the Fairy Tales for clarinet, viola and piano, Op. 132 (1853).

Although rooted in domestic music-making, the technical demands of the Adagio and Allegro elevate it to the professional concert stage. The work opens with a lyrical, sustained Adagio – originally and more poetically titled Romanze – and is followed by a passionate Allegro. The Allegro's vigorous recurring theme is closely related to the yearning theme of the Adagio and supports a rondo structure.