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
-
Albert Flotats, Schumann
Classical - Released by Edicions Albert Moraleda on 8 Dec 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tapestry
Classical - Released by ACA Digital Recording, Inc. on 2 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann - Essentials
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 17 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Masters - Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 20 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Abendlied, Op. 85: No. 12 (Violin and Piano)
Robert Schumann, Koji Morishita
Classical - Released by Stereo Arts Classics on 26 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Andante. Piano Works by Mozart and Haydn
Irene Cantos, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Joseph Haydn
Classical - Released by Novus Promusica on 26 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
F-A-E Sonata, WoO22
Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Koji Morishita
Classical - Released by Stereo Arts Classics on 9 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lieder von Robert Schumann, S. 569 - Liederalbum für die Jugend, Op. 79: 1. Weihnachtslied (Arr. for Piano by Franz Liszt)
Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, German Kitkin
Classical - Released by Stereo Arts Classics on 25 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cancan phantastique. Allegro
Nina Karmon, Oliver Triendl, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on 15 Dec 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Live Recital: Massenet - Beethoven - Schumann (Live)
Bahar Büyükgönenç, Dilek Batıbay, Jules Massenet, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by Tanış Müzik on 19 Jul 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Scenes from Childhood Op. 15 (Guitar Version By Johann David)
Classical - Released by Classical Moments on 18 Jan 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15, No. 2 "Kuriose Geschichte" (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)
RTV Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Cherkasov
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 54 (Digitally Remastered)
North German Philharmonic Orchestra, Hanspeter Gmur, Ernst Gröschel
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Introduction and Allegro Appassionato for Piano and Orchestra in G Major, Op. 92 (Digitally Remastered)
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Ilmar Lapinsch, Svetlana Botanina
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Carnaval for Piano, Op. 9: I. Preambule-Pierrot-Arlequin-ValseNoble
Chamber Music - Released by K&K Verlagsanstalt on 1 Aug 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fiammette Tarli plays Robert Schumann
Chamber Music - Released by Gega New on 15 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Chopin
Classical - Released by Soundset on 10 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Re-Encuentro
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Chicatano Records on 3 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucia Negro plays Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by Swedish Society on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Er ist's (Nr. 24 aus Liederalbum für die Jugend, op. 79)
Classical - Released by soundnotation on 21 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo