Knight Rupert (Album for the Young No. 12)

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Quarantine-Spot Practice

This article comes from our series on Quarantine Spots and shows how to use quarantining and other practice tools to approach two challenging spots within the work. Click here to find out more about quarantining and to view other works featured in this manner.

Knight Rupert, No. 12 from Schumann’s Album for the Young, Op. 68, is a favourite recital piece for the intermediate player, and great fun to play. The rousing A section contrasts beautifully with the more lyrical B section. Come up with a story line from your imagination, but first do some research on the character - according to German folklore Knight Rupert is Saint Nicolas’ companion, but someone who might give lumps of coal to naughty children instead of a more welcome Christmas present.

The piece places plenty of demands on the player, and I have selected three Q-spots that will benefit from some very careful, systematic practice – one snippet from the A section and two parallel spots from the B section. Provided you know how the piece should sound in its entirety from some pre-listening, it is possible to work on these extracts before you even begin work on the rest of the piece. If you work on these extracts diligently and regularly (rather than hoping they will come right after several weeks of hacking through) you can expect them to feel easy in performance, and your playing will be safe and reliable.

The three Q-spots are:

• Bar 18 – Downbeat of bar 21
• Bar 37 – 40
• Bar 45 – 48

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