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 Lieder - Wigmore Hall Live
Alice Coote, Christian Blackshaw
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Wigmore Hall Live on 21 Dec 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi Pianisti Clara Haskil
Clara Haskil, Robert Schumann, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 21 May 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
From Leipzig to Madrid: Piano Works by Schumann & Arzamendi
Noemí Teruel Serrano, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Beatriz Arzamendi
Classical - Released by Novus Promusica on 2 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Horowitz plays Schumann
Vladimir Horowitz, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 3 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann - Album für die Jugend (Album for the Youth)
Classical - Released by Arts Productions Ltd. on 22 Oct 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opus Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 12 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by Claves Records on 1 Jan 2006
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann - Great Recordings
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 7 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Karajan conducts Schubert and Schumann
Herbert von Karajan, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 12 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Sonosphere Vol. 2
Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy, Edvard Grieg
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 22 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann: Violin Concerto in D Minor - Franz Schubert: Concerto, Polonaise, Rondo
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Emmanuel Krivine, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Music
Classical - Released by AVIE Records on 6 Apr 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Romantic Melody
Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 10 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen, Arabeske, Fantasie - Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 25 Jun 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Relaxed Holidays with Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 12 Dec 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Goldmark: Orchestral Works
Robert Schumann, Frank Beermann
Classical - Released by CPO on 29 Apr 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Fantasie, Faschingsschwank aus Wien etc.
Classical - Released by Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann - Classical Best
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Sir Neville Marriner
Symphonic Music - Released by Classical Masters on 1 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clara Haskil in Geneva & Montreux
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, Clara Haskil
Concertos - Released by Claves Records on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Infinite Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 11 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Concerto Op. 54 - Bach: Partita No. 1, BWV 825 - Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8, K. 310
Classical - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo