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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Notes from Endenich
Francisca Skoogh, Staffan Storm, Robert Schumann
Classique - Paru chez Daphne Records le 15 juin 2020
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Daniel Gortler Piano Schumann
Classique - Paru chez Romeo Records le 1 déc. 2010
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Dichterliebe (In Four Seasons)
Classique - Paru chez Albany Records le 1 avr. 2007
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Schumann: 4 Symphonies, "Spring"
Classique - Paru chez Denon le 1 janv. 2009
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Robert Schumann: Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Albany Records le 1 mai 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
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 17 févr. 2015
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Schumann Orchestral Works
Classique - Paru chez Heritage Records le 17 août 2014
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Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri, Op. 50
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armin Jordan
Opéra - Paru chez Cascavelle le 11 avr. 2007
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Schumann: Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 (Digitally Remastered)
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 17 févr. 2015
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Schumann: Manfred, Overture in E-Flat Minor, Op. 115 (Digitally Remastered)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Andre Christyakov
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 17 févr. 2015
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Schumann : Sonate n°3 Op. 14 - Kinderszenen Op. 15
Classique - Paru chez Claves Records le 1 janv. 1989
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Schumann: Songs
Classique - Paru chez Berlin Classics le 1 janv. 2008
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Schumann: Organ Works
Accordéon - Paru chez Berlin Classics le 14 mai 2010
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Schumann: Piano Concerto - Franck: Variations Symphoniques
London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Katin
Classique - Paru chez Everest Records le 9 juil. 1965
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Mindru Katz Plays Piano Concertos by Schumann & Grieg
Classique - Paru chez Cembal d'amour CD 171 le 1 janv. 2013
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Mordecai Shehori Plays Schumann & Liszt
Classique - Paru chez Cembal d'amour CD 135 le 1 avr. 2008
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Obras para Órgano, Schumann - Brahms
Orgel van de Sint-Janskathedraal, Orgel in de Sint-Lambertuskerk
Classique - Paru chez ClassicalPirosDigital le 11 nov. 2015
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Los Grandes de la Musica Clasica - Robert Schumann Vol. 3
Classique - Paru chez ClassicalPirosDigital le 20 juin 2015
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Piano Recital I
Classique - Paru chez ClassicalPirosDigital le 15 juil. 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
Classique - Paru chez Tuxedo Music le 23 mai 2013
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Of Foreign Lands And Peoples
Classique - Paru chez Classical Meditations le 29 mai 2020
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