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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Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto; Antonín Dvorák: Symphony No. 8
Gerald Robbins, Kenneth Klein, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Concertos - Released by MSR Classics on 13 Nov 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44 & Piano Quartet, Op. 47
Jozef de Beenhouwer, Panocha String Quartet
Classical - Released by PHAEDRA on 11 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Studies in the Form of Canons for Organ, Op. 56 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann and Friends
Classical - Released by Heritage Records on 31 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Dichterliebe, Fantasie In C Major
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on 29 Nov 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: 200th Birthday Celebration!
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: The Bride from Messina Overture, Op. 100 (Digitally Remastered)
South German Philharmonic Orchestra, Hanspeter Gmur
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Three Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, No. 3 "Hasche-Mann" (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 129 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Victor Simon
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra in C Major, Op. 131 (Digitally Remastered)
Symphony Orchestra of Moscow State Philharmonie, Arnold Katz, Igor Oïstrakh
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Arabesque in C Major, Op. 18 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Fantasy Pieces, Op. 12, No. 1 "Des Abends" (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Fantasiestüke - Symphonic Studies
Classical - Released by Blaricum CD Company (B.C.D.) B.V. on 14 Aug 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Concerto - Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Ida Czernecka, Dubravka Tomsic
Classical - Released by Blaricum CD Company (B.C.D.) B.V. on 13 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Liszt
Chamber Music - Released by Gega New on 14 Dec 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Carnaval for Piano, Op. 9
Classical - Released by K&K Verlagsanstalt on 26 Jul 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Quintet Op. 44 and Piano Quartet Op. 47
Classical - Released by CRD Records on 1 Jan 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Couple of Men From 1810: Piano Music of Robert Schumann and Fréderic Chopin
Classical - Released by Albany Records on 1 Dec 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo