Schumann's music is descriptive and poetic. He was, after Wagner, surely the most important writer of musical commentary among the musicians of his time, while his piano cycles like Papillons, Davidsbündlertänze, Carnaval, Kinderszenen and Kreisleriana couple personal feelings with poetic aspects.

For about ten years, up to op. 23, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano; it had been his instrument from the time of his youth, an affinity he shared with his later friend Frédéric Chopin, who was born in the same year as he was.

The opus numbers of the four works on this CD follow directly upon one another, having been written in the same short period (1838/39); in spite of their differences in form, length and content, they have much in common.