The passage at the end of Schumann's *Carnaval* sounds, at least to me, like the end of the "Christmas party scene" in the first act of Tchaikowsky's *Nutcracker* before the room is deserted and the Christmas tree starts growing. I don't think either was lifting from the other but suspect that both were drawing on the same well-known theme. Am I right? If so what theme, and why? Walter Meyer