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PHILIPPE BIANCONI
As for the
Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins
that
ends
Carnaval
, it provides the link between
Papillons
and
the
Davidsbündlertänze
which concludes your programme.
Yes, here we have not only a reminder of the
Préambule
but also
the
Grossvatertanz
theme (marked ‘theme from the seventeenth
century’!). Moreover, this is the first time that the
Davidsbündler
(Members of the League of David)make their appearance inawork
by Schumann. They form a confraternity that sets out to combat
the conservatism and narrow-mindedness of the ‘Philistines’, the
bourgeoisie with their ossified artistic traditions. It’s permissible
to surmise that the characters in
Carnaval
all have something of
the
Davidsbündler
about them and that they unite in this vigorous
final march in which they triumph over the Philistines symbolised
by the
Grossvatertanz
.