Schumann's Forest Scenes Op.82 are a typical example of German romanticism, an age that expressed itself in a great many images, where mystery was no less part of its preferred expressive universe than obscurity, thesacredno less than the ominous, unrestrained merriment no less than escapism and the remembrance of bygone days. One of the typical metaphors for these facets was the forest. Writers and poets frequently took up this metaphorandadorned it with ever-new imagery. Schumann, too, was held in thrall by the magnetism of the 'romantic forest'.
