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
-
Schumann: Three Sonatas For Violin & Piano
Classical - Lançado por Arabesque Recordings em 19 de set. de 1995
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Poet Speaks
Classical - Lançado por Lomo Audio Records em 27 de mai. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poseidonkvartetten - String Quartets by Schumann & Ravel
Classical - Lançado por CDklassisk em 12 de mar. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vanitas vanitatum
World - Lançado por 3279841 Records DK em 30 de ago. de 2021
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann Piano Trios
Chamber Music - Lançado por TownHall Records em 22 de mai. de 2007
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann - Essentials
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 17 de abr. de 2021
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Autumnal Schumann
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 10 de out. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Concerto, Op. 54 - Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
Slovenian Symphony Orchestra, Dubravka Tomsic
Classical - Lançado por Int - Bertus em 3 de out. de 2016
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Waldszenen, op. 82
Classical - Lançado por soundnotation em 16 de fev. de 2022
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Canon for Organ Op. 56 / 6 Adagio
Classical - Lançado por Digital Music Group, Inc. em 8 de fev. de 2006
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Träumerei
Classical - Lançado por soundnotation em 12 de mai. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carnaval, Op. 9
Classical - Lançado por Cascade-Medien em 16 de ago. de 2006
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Valentine's Day Music
Classical - Lançado por Syrinx em 12 de fev. de 2018
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fantasy in C major, Op. 17
Classical - Lançado por Digital Music Group, Inc. em 1 de out. de 2005
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Classical Great Series, Vol. 8: Chill Out Classics 1 (Deluxe Edition)
Shelley Beaumont, Keith Halligan
Classical - Lançado por Global Journey em 13 de jun. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Von Fremden Ländern Und Menschen (feat. Flavio Lima)
Classical - Lançado por Studio Sol Central em 1 de out. de 2020
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann
Classical - Lançado por Cobra Entertainment LLC em 31 de dez. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Romance with Robert Schumann
Lounge - Lançado por PMI Collins Classics em 1 de fev. de 2019
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Los Grandes de la Musica Clasica - Robert Schumann Vol. 1
ORF Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra Berlin, Peter Schmalfuss
Classical - Lançado por ClassicalPirosDigital em 20 de jun. de 2015
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Masterpieces of the Millennium: Schumann
Classical - Lançado por Cobra Entertainment LLC em 29 de out. de 2013
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Album für die Jugend (op. 68, Nr. 1 - Nr. 18)
Classical - Lançado por soundnotation em 22 de jul. de 2021
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo