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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Schwach will ich und darf ich nicht sein (Zum Gedenken an den 200. Geburtstag von Robert Schumann)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Bob-Media am 01.01.2010
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Mahler: Symphonie No. 2 in c minor "Resurrection"
Opernchor Chemnitz und Kinderchor der Oper Chemnitz, Singakademie Chemitz, Robert Schumann, Oleg Caetani
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Arts Productions Ltd am 07.11.2006
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Schumann and John Williams
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei New York Philharmonic am 25.08.2017
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Schumann: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 54 (Digitally Remastered)
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Ilmar Lapinsch, Svetlana Botanina
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 17.02.2015
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Schumann: Kreisleriana; Arabeske; Fantasie in C
Klassik - Erschienen bei MSR Classics am 08.12.1998
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Gilels Plays Schumann Sonatas Nos. 1, 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pipeline Music am 29.11.2006
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George Walker in Concert
Klassik - Erschienen bei Albany Records am 01.09.2002
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Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor - Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor
Pavel Egorov, Tatyana Zagorovskaya
Klassik - Erschienen bei Blaricum CD Company (B.C.D.) B.V. am 14.08.2014
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Schumann: Complete Works for Piano Trio
Klassik - Erschienen bei Challenge Classics am 13.09.2007
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Alfred Cortot - Jacques Thibaud - Pablo Casals
Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals
Klassik - Erschienen bei JamadaDigital am 05.02.2015
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Robert Schumann - A Night of Classics
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 15.10.2022
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Schumann: Música de Cámara para clarinete, viola y piano
Josep Fuster, Ashan Pillai, Enrique Bagaria
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Columna Música am 01.12.2016
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A Classical Compendium: Schumann
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 16.09.2022
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Schumann: Gesänge der Frühe (Songs of Dawn) for Piano, Op. 133 (Digitally Remastered)
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 17.02.2015
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Schumann Violin Sonatas - Wigmore Hall Live
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Wigmore Hall Live am 29.04.2013
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Chanson Perpétuelle
Katherine Broderick, James Baillieu
Vokalmusik (weltlich und geistlich) - Erschienen bei Champs Hill Records am 27.05.2016
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Robert Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22
Klassik - Erschienen bei K&K Verlagsanstalt am 28.10.2010
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Robert Schumann: Great Piano Sonata No. 3 "Concerto Without Orchestra"
Klassik - Erschienen bei K&K Verlagsanstalt am 25.10.2010
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Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
Franz Konwitschny, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Berlin Classics am 14.02.2007
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Schumann: Sinfonia No. 2 e Sinfonia No. 4
Orquestra Sinfônica Do Estado De São Paulo, John Neschling
Klassik - Erschienen bei Biscoito Clássico am 06.01.2009
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Album für die Jugend (op. 68, Nr. 19 - Nr. 43)
Klassik - Erschienen bei soundnotation am 16.07.2022
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