Schumann Serenade (2007) for string trio was written for the Rosetta Trio and is dedicated to Ford
and Susan Schumann with great appreciation. (Thus, the title refers primarily to the dedicatees,
rather than composer Robert Schumann.)
The work begins with a slow introduction that sets forth much of the musical material for the rest
of the work. A faster, "flowing" section tries to establish itself but continues to break down into runs
and trilling, finally leading to a brief, dancing scherzo. Following the scherzo, a more developed
version of the opening introduction returns before a quiet coda closes the work.
In this final section, referencing the name of the dedicatees, recognizable fragments are heard from a
work of Robert Schumann: "Der Dichter Spricht", the evocative final movement from his piano
suite Kinderszenen, op. 15 (1838). Many small allusions (rhythms, harmonies, and melodic
fragments) to this piano work have occurred throughout the earlier sections of the trio, but finally
they are allowed to come to the foreground in the closing minutes.