character piece
A short piano composition expressing a single mood, scene, or poetic idea
In Depth
The character piece became the dominant genre of Romantic piano music, replacing the Classical sonata as the form best suited to personal expression. Examples include Schumann's Kinderszenen, Chopin's nocturnes and preludes, Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, and Brahms's intermezzi. Each piece captures a single emotional state or programmatic image, typically in simple ternary or binary form. The genre's intimacy suited the domestic piano culture of the 19th century.
Schumann often grouped his character pieces into poetic cycles with fanciful titles, blurring the boundary between music and literature.