In 1850, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik described Schumann's "Fantasiestücke" op. 73 as "a rapturous excitement, sometimes wafted by a melancholy breath, sometimes rising to jubilant sounds of joy". All these facets can also be found in the E-flat major sonata written 44 years later by Brahms, who was Schumann's patron – his very last chamber music work. Tabea Zimmermann presents another compositional farewell work with Shostakovich's Viola Sonata from 1975. Benjamin Britten, a friend of the Russian, takes up the latter's melancholy tones in his "Lachrymae" (Tears), which are variations on a lament by the Renaissance composer John Dowland.

Clef at 6.30 pm in the Senate Hall: concert introduction with Marcus Imbsweiler and Tabea Zimmermann, made possible by the Friends of Heidelberger Frühling