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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Daniel Gortler Piano Schumann
Classical - Released by Romeo Records on 1 Dec 2010
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Dichterliebe (In Four Seasons)
Classical - Released by Albany Records on 1 Apr 2007
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Schumann: 4 Symphonies, "Spring"
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
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Robert Schumann: Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Chamber Music - Released by Albany Records on 1 May 2014
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Schumann: Bilder aus Osten (Pictures from the East), 6 Impromptus for piano 4-hands, Op. 66 (Digitally Remastered)
USSR State Chamber Orchestra, Liyana Isakadze
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
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Schumann Orchestral Works
Classical - Released by Heritage Records on 17 Aug 2014
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Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri, Op. 50
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armin Jordan
Opera - Released by Cascavelle on 11 Apr 2007
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Schumann: Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
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Schumann: Manfred, Overture in E-Flat Minor, Op. 115 (Digitally Remastered)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Andre Christyakov
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
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Schumann : Sonate n°3 Op. 14 - Kinderszenen Op. 15
Classical - Released by Claves Records on 1 Jan 1989
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Schumann: Songs
Classical - Released by Berlin Classics on 1 Jan 2008
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Schumann: Organ Works
Accordion - Released by Berlin Classics on 14 May 2010
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Schumann: Piano Concerto - Franck: Variations Symphoniques
London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Katin
Classical - Released by Everest Records on 9 Jul 1965
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Mindru Katz Plays Piano Concertos by Schumann & Grieg
Classical - Released by Cembal d'amour CD 171 on 1 Jan 2013
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Mordecai Shehori Plays Schumann & Liszt
Classical - Released by Cembal d'amour CD 135 on 1 Apr 2008
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Obras para Órgano, Schumann - Brahms
Orgel van de Sint-Janskathedraal, Orgel in de Sint-Lambertuskerk
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 11 Nov 2015
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Los Grandes de la Musica Clasica - Robert Schumann Vol. 3
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 20 Jun 2015
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Piano Recital I
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 15 Jul 2015
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Schumann: Violin Sonata, Op. 105 & Schubert: Fantasie, Op. posth. 159, D. 934 & Duo, Op. 162, D. 574
Denes Zsigmondy, Anneliese Nissen
Classical - Released by Tuxedo Music on 23 May 2013
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Of Foreign Lands And Peoples
Classical - Released by Classical Meditations on 29 May 2020
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The Classical Collection - Schumann - Leyendas Románticas
Symphonieorchester von Radio Ljubljana, Slowacki Philharmonia, Sylvia Capova
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 10 Jun 2015
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