Noctave
The piece
Schumann wrote the Album for the Young in 1848 and split it into two parts, one for younger players and one for older ones. This A minor portrait belongs to the first. The German title, Armes Waisenkind, means just what the translation says, and the music paints it without fuss: a slow march (Langsam) in two beats, a melody doubled in thirds and sixths, moving one step at a time.
Almost every note carries both a dot and a slur: this is portato, a touch halfway between legato and staccato. Sink into each chord without letting go abruptly, the hand rising gently as if the note faded on its own. The melody is the top voice of the right hand; bring it out above the thirds and sixths that double it. At times an inner voice moves to the left hand and answers the tune in the middle register, so do not let it vanish. The pace stays slow, around two and a half notes per second, which leaves plenty of time to shape this veiled sound.