Robert Schumann
One of the great composers of the 19th century, Schumann was the quintessential artist whose life and work embodied the idea of Romanticism in music. Schumann was uncomfortable with larger musical forms, such as the symphony and the concerto (nevertheless, representative works in these genres contain moments of great beauty), expressing the full range of his lyrical genius in songs and short pieces for piano. Schumann's extraordinary ability to translate profound, delicate -- and sometimes fleeting -- states of the soul is exemplified by works such as the song cycle Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love), after Heinrich Heine, and his brilliant collections of short piano pieces, including Phantasiestücke (Fantastic Pieces), Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), and Waldszenen (Forest Scenes). As other critics have observed, Schumann attained the elusive union of music and poetry which Romantic poets and musicians defined as the ultimate goal of art.
Schumann's father was a bookseller who encouraged Robert's musical and literary talents. Robert started studying piano at age 10. In 1828, he enrolled at the University of Leipzig as a law student, although he found music, philosophy, and Leipzig's taverns more interesting than the law. He also began studies with a prominent Leipzig piano teacher, Friedrich Wieck. There was serious mental illness in Schumann's family, and the composer, who most likely suffered from a manic-depressive condition, approached madness with the typical Romantic combination of fear and fascination. A compulsive womanizer and a heavy drinker, Schumann led a life that aggravated his psychological problems. His efforts to become a concert pianist failed after he developed partial paralysis of his right hand. According to a conventional story, the injury resulted from Schumann's compulsive use of a finger-strengthening device, but newer research points to mercury poisoning due to treatment for syphilis. Schumann settled on a career as a composer and musical writer, co-founding the influential Neue Zeitschrift für Musik and attracting attention early with his prophetic praise of Chopin. Many of his articles take the form of dialogues featuring the "League of David," young artists fighting the "Philistines," and headed by his alter egos "Florestan" and "Eusebius," intended to represent the two contrasting facets -- one ebullient, the other reserved -- of his personality. Schumann's music, with its sharp changes in mood, also reflects his tumultuous inner life. Wieck's highly talented pianist daughter Clara grew up and fell in love with Schumann, much to her father's horror. Despite Wieck's opposition, Clara and Robert gained the legal right to marry in 1840, a day before Clara's 21st birthday. During this period, Schumann composed feverishly. Spellbound by a musical thought, he would work himself to exhaustion, enthusiastically cultivating a particular genre for a period of time. (For instance, 1841 was a "year of songs" in which he brought the Romantic song cycle to its apex). He virtually invented the short, poetic, descriptive Romantic piano work, and produced such works in glorious profusion in the late 1830s. Schumann tackled larger forms in the 1840s, partly at Clara's urging; his four mature symphonies retain a place in the repertoire, but his opera Genoveva failed. He held several musical jobs, teaching at the newly founded Leipzig Conservatory, eventually becoming town music director in Düsseldorf, but without much success. On February 27, 1854, he threw himself into the freezing waters of the Rhine. After his rescue, he voluntarily entered an asylum. Although he had periods of lucidity, his condition deteriorated, and he died there in 1856, probably of tertiary syphilis.
© Zoran Minderovic /TiVo
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Schumann: Three Sonatas For Violin & Piano
Classical - Released by Arabesque Recordings on 19 Sep 1995
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The Poet Speaks
Classical - Released by Lomo Audio Records on 27 May 2020
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Poseidonkvartetten - String Quartets by Schumann & Ravel
Classical - Released by CDklassisk on 12 Mar 2013
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Vanitas vanitatum
World - Released by 3279841 Records DK on 30 Aug 2021
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Schumann Piano Trios
Chamber Music - Released by TownHall Records on 22 May 2007
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Autumnal Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 10 Oct 2020
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Schumann: Piano Concerto, Op. 54 - Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
Slovenian Symphony Orchestra, Dubravka Tomsic
Classical - Released by Int - Bertus on 3 Oct 2016
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Waldszenen, op. 82
Classical - Released by soundnotation on 16 Feb 2022
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Canon for Organ Op. 56 / 6 Adagio
Classical - Released by Digital Music Group, Inc. on 8 Feb 2006
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Carnaval, Op. 9
Classical - Released by Cascade-Medien on 16 Aug 2006
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Valentine's Day Music
Classical - Released by Syrinx on 12 Feb 2018
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Fantasy in C major, Op. 17
Classical - Released by Digital Music Group, Inc. on 1 Oct 2005
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The Classical Great Series, Vol. 8: Chill Out Classics 1 (Deluxe Edition)
Shelley Beaumont, Keith Halligan
Classical - Released by Global Journey on 13 Jun 2013
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Von Fremden Ländern Und Menschen (feat. Flavio Lima)
Classical - Released by Studio Sol Central on 1 Oct 2020
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Schumann
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on 31 Dec 2013
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Classical Romance with Robert Schumann
Lounge - Released by PMI Collins Classics on 1 Feb 2019
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Los Grandes de la Musica Clasica - Robert Schumann Vol. 1
ORF Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra Berlin, Peter Schmalfuss
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 20 Jun 2015
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Classical Masterpieces of the Millennium: Schumann
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on 29 Oct 2013
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Album für die Jugend (op. 68, Nr. 1 - Nr. 18)
Classical - Released by soundnotation on 22 Jul 2021
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Robert Schumann: Novelletten; Blumenstuck; Traumerei
Classical - Released by Romeo Records on 15 Dec 2021
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