A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Humoreske

by George Grove

HUMORESKE. A title adopted by Schumann for his Op. 20 and Op. 88, No. 2, the former for Piano solo, the latter for Piano, Violin, and Cello. Heller and Grieg have also used the term for pianoforte pieces—op. 64 and op. 9 and 16 respectively. There is nothing obviously 'humorous' in any of these, and the term 'caprice' might equally well be applied to them. Rubinstein also entitles his Don Quixote 'Humoreske,' but the 'humour' is there of a much more obvious and boisterous kind.

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