Searching for Arcadia in the Main Theme of Robert Schumann's Overture to Hermann and Dorothea

Abstract: Although literature on Robert Schumann's compositions increasingly reference his large-scale instrumental works, there continues to be little attention given his overtures. In this analytical essay, I approach one of these neglected works, the Overture to Hermann and Dorothea , op. 136, using William Caplin's theory of formal functions. Filtering Caplin's theory through Nathan Martin's concept of "formal incompleteness," I demonstrate how the overture engages with its source material—primarily Goethe's epic poem of the same name, but also the political circumstances from the late-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries—by leaving formal units incomplete at various hierarchical levels. I then use Andrew Davis's descriptions of Arcadia as a lens to explain how formal incompleteness brings out the overture's program. Perhaps mirroring Schumann's own ambivalence around the poem's subject matter, Arcadia is presented in an incomplete state for much of the piece; only at the end does it appear in reality.