The Romanticization of the Rounded Binary Form in Robert Schumann’s Piano Works

Abstract This article examines the transformation of the rounded binary form in the piano works of Robert Schumann. Whereas the Classical rounded binary is characterized by a clear separation between the contrasting middle and the recapitulation, Schumann’s rounded binaries often join together these two sections by treating the recapitulation as a continuation, a cadence, or a cadential extension to the contrasting middle.