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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Schumann: Piano Quintet • Mächenbilder • Fünf Stücke im Volkston
Kamermuziek - Released by AVIE Records on 24 aug. 2016
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Robert Schumann: Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 64 / Franz Liszt: Selection of Hungarian Rhapsodies
Klassiek - Released by RHI on 5 jun. 2017
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Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 5
Klassiek - Released by Claves Records on 2 mei 2011
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Schumann Recital
Maurice Bourgue, Jean-Bernard Pommier
Kamermuziek - Released by Gega New on 8 dec. 2009
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A Romantic Melody
Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 10 apr. 2024
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Wigmore Hall Live - Schumann: Märchenerzählungen / Moschekes: Fantasy, Variations, And Finale / Brahms: Clarinet Quintet In B Minor
Kamermuziek - Released by Wigmore Hall Live on 1 jan. 2006
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Best of Romantic Music
Pyotr Illitch Tchaïkovski, Robert Schumann, Gioachino Rossini, Christian Lindberg
Klassiek - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on 11 sep. 2021
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Classical in Winter: Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, Robert Schumann
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 7 dec. 2023
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Les 3 Quatuors à cordes
Kamermuziek - Released by Claves Records on 1 jan. 2004
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Peaceful Brahms & Schumann
Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 19 nov. 2020
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Robert & Clara Schumann
Berliner Symphoniker, Shoko Sugitani
Klassiek - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 9 jul. 2015
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Brahms & Schumann: Transcriptions for Viola & Piano
Kamermuziek - Released by Claves Records on 13 nov. 2015
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Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major Op. 97 "Rheinische Symphonie"
Christian Lindberg, Robert Schumann, ADDA Simfònica
Klassiek - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on 17 aug. 2021
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Schumann: Widmung, Op. 25, No. 1 (Digitally Remastered)
Klassiek - Released by EMG Classical on 17 feb. 2015
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Schumann Violin Sonatas, Op. 105 & Op. 121
Arvid Engegard, Nils Anders Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by Lawo Classics on 7 nov. 2016
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Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15
Klassiek - Released by MFF Records on 20 mei 2020
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Schumann - Classical Best
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Sir Neville Marriner
Symfonische muziek - Released by Classical Masters on 1 jun. 2009
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Schumann, Loeffler, Klughardt & Kahn: Romantic Trios for Oboe, Viola and Piano
Kamermuziek - Released by MSR Classics on 11 nov. 2014
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Schumann : Carnaval - Etudes Symphoniques - Papillons
Klassiek - Released by Saphir Productions on 8 apr. 2010
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Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6 (Arranged by Hans van der Heide & Micha Hamel)
Klassiek - Released by NBELive on 19 jan. 2017
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Richter plays Schumann & Chopin
Klassiek - Released by Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica on 14 nov. 2006
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