Kreisleriana,
Op. 16, is a composition in eight
movements by
Robert Schumann for solo
piano, subtitled
. It was written in only four days in April 1838 and a revised version appeared in 1850. The work was dedicated to
Frédéric Chopin, but when a copy was sent to the Polish composer, "he commented favorably only on the design of the title page".
Kreisleriana is a very dramatic work and is considered to be one of Schumann's finest compositions. In 1839, soon after publishing it, Schumann called it in a letter "my favourite work," remarking that "The title conveys nothing to any but Germans. Kreisler is one of E. T. A. Hoffmann's creations, an eccentric, wild, and witty conductor." In 1843, when he had moved from writing for solo piano to much larger works, in particular
Paradise and the Peri, he still listed it as one of his best piano works