Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A viewer asks: "Hi Dave, thanks a lot for your series about flawed pieces that we love anyway. I have a very general question about that: What exactly is a flaw, and are there objective or subjective criteria for it?
In one video, you talked about Schumann's 'Rhenish' Symphony and its weak development section, which doesn’t live up to the expectations of sonata form. Yet the piece is extremely popular, also because it draws a lot of inspiration in its melody and directness from Rhenish folk music. Could it maybe have been Schumann’s intention to shape the development section that way? And could one still even call it a flaw? I have the feeling that a development section in the traditional sense would probably be more disruptive to the atmosphere of the first movement."
A viewer asks: "Hi Dave, thanks a lot for your series about flawed pieces that we love anyway. I have a very general question about that: What exactly is a flaw, and are there objective or subjective criteria for it?
In one video, you talked about Schumann's 'Rhenish' Symphony and its weak development section, which doesn’t live up to the expectations of sonata form. Yet the piece is extremely popular, also because it draws a lot of inspiration in its melody and directness from Rhenish folk music. Could it maybe have been Schumann’s intention to shape the development section that way? And could one still even call it a flaw? I have the feeling that a development section in the traditional sense would probably be more disruptive to the atmosphere of the first movement."
