The work was in part a love letter in disguise for Clara. “Play my Kreisleriana sometimes!” he told her. “There's a very wild love in a few movements, and your life and mine and many of your looks.”> I also think this Kreisleriana is a love letter. Roberto and Clara were living like brother and sisterin their early days . They played Anagram. When youare looking at " A CLAVIER ". You may find " I've Clara." Then you will know; "KREISLERIANA" "KLARA, SEI REIN!" "CLARA, BE PURE!"
However, Every critic has said almost the same things like following;
"Schumann's Kreisleriana was based on a fictional character created by the writer E.T.A.Hoffmann, who was a musician, too. He had invented poor Johannes Kreisler as a symbol for the misunderstood musician, painting him as a kind of clown. Kreisler, some said, was Hoffmann himself, freed from the shackles of society by the 'madness' of music."
The truth may be;
The fictional Kreisler played the Goldberg Variations in the beginning part of the short novel by E.T.A.Hoffmann. But Robert Schumann actually was not familiar with the Goldberg Variations so much as we anticipated, even he was deeply interested in fuges and canons of J.S.Bach. If he had found out the healing power of that work, he would have lived a little more comfortable life without severe insomnia. Clara could have played it for him to soften his agony.
I made a webpage for Kreisleriana; Music of Desire; Kreisleriana.