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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Er ist's (Nr. 24 aus Liederalbum für die Jugend, op. 79)
Classique - Paru chez soundnotation le 21 sept. 2022
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Minuet. Piano Works by Mozart and Schumann
Irene Cantos, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann
Classique - Paru chez Novus Promusica le 2 mars 2024
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Piano
Stina Backlund, Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy, Alexander Scriabin
Classique - Paru chez Swedish Society le 1 janv. 1991
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Kreisleriana (Electronic Version)
Électronique - Paru chez Digi Records le 30 déc. 2021
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Meine Liebste... (Liebesbriefe berühmter Männer)
Clemens Brentano, Kurt Tucholsky, Robert Schumann
Diction - Paru chez AUDIOBUCH le 1 janv. 1970
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Piano Masterpieces - Schumann, Ravel, Brahms
Hamburg Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, Jurgis Karnavichius
Classique - Paru chez Piros Comercial Digital le 23 avr. 2015
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Hyekyung Lee
Classique - Paru chez Classical Records le 1 oct. 2006
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Scenes from Childhood (Electronic Version)
Électronique - Paru chez Digi Records le 26 déc. 2021
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Youthful Passion and Fantasy
Classique - Paru chez Americus Records, Inc. le 27 févr. 2015
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Love Mood
Classique - Paru chez Paradise Classical le 29 sept. 2017
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Love Piano
Classique - Paru chez Classic Records le 31 janv. 2017
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Love Classical Music
Classique - Paru chez Classic Records le 27 janv. 2017
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Classical Music To Fall in Love
Classique - Paru chez Music Ware le 16 nov. 2016
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Schumann: Symphony No. 2, Op. 61
American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein
Musique symphonique - Paru chez American Symphony Orchestra le 5 mars 2014
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Roberto Bravo de Colección, Vol. 10
Classique - Paru chez JCM le 25 mars 2014
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Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 - Liszt: Vallée d'Obermann S. 160, No. 6 - Scriabin: Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
Classique - Paru chez VDE-GALLO le 22 mai 2013
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Schumann: Carnaval for Piano Op.9 - (5) Pause - Marche des Davidsbuendler contre les Philistins
Musique de chambre - Paru chez www.kuk-art.com - Josef-Stefan Kindler and Andreas Otto Grimminger le 1 août 2010
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Schumann: Carnaval for Piano Op.9 - (4) ValseAllemande-Paganini-Aveu-Promenade
Ballets - Paru chez www.kuk-art.com - Josef-Stefan Kindler and Andreas Otto Grimminger le 1 août 2010
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Clásica-Schumann
Classique - Paru chez Digital Natives le 1 juil. 2011
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