Pictures from the East. Opus 66, No. 4. Robert Schumann .Arr. by W.H.B (Village Organist Vol.6)

In 1849 Schumann published six Impromptus for piano four-hands with the title Bilder aus Osten. Schumann was inspired by the Maqama - a genre of Arab rhymed prose - by the medieval poet Hariri in the translation by Friedrich Rückert. Schumann could not banish the protagonist in the Maqama, Abu Said, whom he likened to the German character Till Eulenspiegel from his thoughts whilst he was writing the works. This explains the foreign character of the pieces. Even 150 years later, the Pictures from the East with their nuanced use of a wide range of sound possibilities in the interplay of the four hands, have lost none of their charm.
I'm unable to positively identify the arranger, W.H.B. but likely to be either W .H. Bell or W. H. Barnett. The former published a few pieces with Novello about the copyright date of The Village Organist (also published by Novello) whilst the latter published in The Organists Quarterly Journal, also about the same period.
Played on Hauptwerk sample set of St. Mary le Bow.
Thumbnail of the composer