“I am endlessly looking forward to the second sonata”, thus Clara wrote to Robert in 1838, “Your whole being is so clearly expressed in it.” Nonetheless in the same letter she encouraged him to revise the last movement, which provided the composition with a completely new finale.
The first two movements were also reworked several times. The editor assiduously provides information on the complicated genesis of the work in this new edition. The musical text is not only followed by the original final movement, which is musically and pianistically very demanding, but also the model for the second movement: Schumann made an arrangement of one of his own songs (“In the autumn”) for the piano.
我無比期待第二奏鳴曲,」克拉拉在1838年寫給羅伯特的信中這樣說道,「你的全部心血都如此清晰地傾注其中。」然而,在同一封信中,她也鼓勵他修改最後一個樂章,這使得整部作品擁有了一個全新的結尾。
前兩個樂章也經過了多次修改。在這個新版本中,編者細緻地提供了關於這部作品複雜創作過程的資訊。樂譜不僅收錄了對音樂和鋼琴演奏技巧都要求極高的原始最後一個樂章,還收錄了第二樂章的創作藍本:舒曼將自己的一首歌曲《在秋天》改編成了鋼琴曲。