On March 30, 1839, he received a letter concerning the imminent death of his older brother Eduard (1799–1839), which could have meant economic disaster to the family's publishing business.
He wrote to Clara: "Half past three on Saturday morning, while traveling, I heard a chorale of trombones—it was the moment Eduard died.
Schumann eventually heeded the advice of Clara concerning the title of the work: "The public won’t understand what you mean and it will bother them.
on high the moon, her lustre dead, O'er the death-like grove uplifts her head, Sighing flits the spectre through the gloom-- Misty clouds are shivering, Pallid stars are quivering, Looking down, like lamps within a tomb.
Spirit-like, all silent, pale, and wan, Marshall'd in procession dark and sad, To the sepulchre a crowd moves on, In the grave-night's dismal emblems clad.
Funeral processionC Major The Trauerzug has the indication 'Mehr langsam, oft zurückhaltend' ('More slow, often holding back' [the tempo]).
The image of ghostly groping is evoked by the short eighth note chords in piano, the harmonic uncertainty—only after eight bars do we reach a secure C major and last not least the rhythmic displacement of the strong beat.
The characteristic repeated motif of descending seconds (b flat-a-g-f-e, f-e-d-c-b) followed by a modified ascending inversion (c-d-e-e-e), and with a dotted rhythmic figure at the third and fourth notes is clearly reminiscent of the characteristic ostinato phrase of the fourth movement of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, which is entitled "The procession to the stake" ("Marche au supplice") (see sections 50–52, bars 17ff).
Schumann had written a critique of Berlioz's symphony in "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik " four years earlier, in 1835 [1], which was by far the longest of his articles.
Curious gathering F Major Kuriose Versammlung – (Markiert und lebhaft "Marked and lively") abounds with frequent digressions.
Night binge D♭ Major Nächtliches Gelage – (Mit großer Lebhaftigkeit "With great vivacity") maybe described as a ‘nocturnal Faschingsschwank’ or 'noctural "Carnival Scene"' and there are unmistakable similarities between these two pieces written at Vienna.
These indulgences are interrupted by two 'intermezzos', the first one a sinister murmuring of repressed agitation, the second one a ghostly 'Wilde Jagd' (Wild Hunt).
The fact though remains that Schumann's predilection for allusions has rendered many relationships too subtle for the (non artistic) analyst's senses.