Composed over several years, this collection of works reflects an advanced 'Romanticism' in music. Her father, Wieck, proudly recorded in his diary that after she performed these pieces for Chopin in September 1836, he was so impressed that he carried the scores with him.

No. 1: Impromptu – The Witches' Sabbath

This piece is dominated by a single, recurring musical figure. This figure consists of a rhythmic pattern of two sixteenth notes and one eighth note, leaps with chromatic appoggiaturas creating sharp dissonances, and accents on weak beats or sf markings, all typical 'demonic' idioms of the 19th century. While this pattern repeats throughout the piece to a degree that might seem somewhat monotonous, the harmonies, entrusted with variation, play a crucial role. True to its title, combined with a hurried, rushing tempo, it evokes a wild dance of specters. This work was also published independently in 1838 as 'Hexentanz' (Witches' Dance).

No. 2: Caprice à la Boléro

From the outset, a motif of repeated notes rushes forth at a presto tempo. It must have been an ideal piece to showcase Clara's virtuosity. The middle section, in contrast, sings gently. The beautiful, long-breathed melody that emerges from the flow offers a glimpse into another side of Clara, like a dreaming maiden. After the recapitulation, the coda, modulating from E minor to E major, recalls the preceding motifs and concludes brilliantly with ff chords.

No. 3: Romance

In ternary form. The opening, in B major, features a beautiful melody sung with great expressiveness. The innovative harmonic progressions, employing chromaticism, provide a rich palette of colors. The middle section, modulating to D major, is very passionate. Ornaments such as turns, trills, and arpeggios further heighten the tension. However, it suddenly darkens, and the recapitulation appears in the parallel minor, B minor. In stark contrast to the opening, it is filled with sorrow and concludes quietly with pp in a melancholic atmosphere.

No. 4: Scène Fantastique – The Dance of the Specters

This piece, lively throughout, gives the impression of constantly shifting musical ideas, but broadly schematized, it has a symmetrical structure of ABCDC’B’A’. The chromatic appoggiaturas and large intervallic leaps seen in the middle section of A and in D, along with the way the music rhythmically rushes across the keyboard, serve to express the supernatural 'specters' just as in No. 1, forming a kind of cycle.

Of particular interest are the diminished fifth motif at the beginning of A and the left-hand melody in B, characterized by its pulsating rhythm. Robert used these, transforming A into a perfect fifth and combining it with B, in the first movement of his Piano Sonata No. 1, which he dedicated to Clara. In a letter to Clara, he wrote that this sonata was 'a call from my heart to yours, a piece where your melodies appear in every form.' This can be seen as a clear example of the musical relationship between the two young musicians before their marriage.