Scenes from Goethe's Faust (Szenen aus Goethes Faust) has been described as the height of composer Robert Schumann's accomplishments in the realm of dramatic music. The work was written between 1844 and 1853 and is scored for SATB chorus, boys' chorus, orchestra, and a number of solo parts which, even with doubling, require seven solo singers, although eight (three sopranos, two mezzos, one tenor, one baritone, and one bass) is the usual number for a performance. Schumann never saw all three parts of the work performed in the same concert, or published together. Eric Sams comments 'There is no coherence in the orchestration, which audibly dates from two different periods (hand-horns in Part III, valve-horns elsewhere)', leading him to conclude that Schumann did not conceive the work as a whole, although late nineteenth-century ideas of performance mean that in the modern era the piece is predominantly heard with all three parts.

Original Name Szenen aus Goethes Faust
Date of composition 1853 (1844-1853)
Premiered 1862, January 13th in Cologne, Germany
Type Oratorio
Catalogue WoO 3
Approx. duration 120 minutes
Spoken language German
Instruments Chorus/Choir
Boys Chorus
Orchestra
Voice (Tenor)
Voice (Baritone)
Voice (Bass)
2x Voice (Alto)
2x Voice (Soprano)
Autotranslations beta Robert Schumann: Scenes from Goethe's Faust, WoO 3
Robert Schumann: Scenes from Goethe's Faust, WoO 3
Robert Schumann: Scenes from Goethe's Faust, WoO 3