One of the great composers of the nineteenth century, Schumann was
the quintessential artist whose life and work embody 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 form
Childhood), and Waldszenen (Forest Scenes). In his songs, as
critics have remarked, 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, 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.
One of the great composers of the nineteenth century, Schumann was
the quintessential artist whose life and work embody 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 form
Childhood), and Waldszenen (Forest Scenes). In his songs, as
critics have remarked, 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, 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. 
