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: Symphony "Zwickauer"
Robert Schumann, Frank Beermann
Classical - Released by CPO on Jan 10, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 3
Classical - Released by Claves Records on Feb 14, 2009
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Quintet • Mächenbilder • Fünf Stücke im Volkston
Chamber Music - Released by AVIE Records on Aug 24, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Khachaturian: Symphony No. 2 & 3 Concert Arias
Robert Schumann, Julia Bauer, Frank Beermann
Classical - Released by CPO on Jun 20, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann: Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 64 / Franz Liszt: Selection of Hungarian Rhapsodies
Classical - Released by RHI on Jun 5, 2017
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Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 5
Classical - Released by Claves Records on May 2, 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann Recital
Maurice Bourgue, Jean-Bernard Pommier
Chamber Music - Released by Gega New on Dec 8, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wigmore Hall Live - Schumann: Märchenerzählungen / Moschekes: Fantasy, Variations, And Finale / Brahms: Clarinet Quintet In B Minor
Chamber Music - Released by Wigmore Hall Live on Jan 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of Romantic Music
Pyotr Illitch Tchaïkovski, Robert Schumann, Gioachino Rossini, Christian Lindberg
Classical - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on Sep 11, 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical in Winter: Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Dec 7, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les 3 Quatuors à cordes
Chamber Music - Released by Claves Records on Jan 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Peaceful Brahms & Schumann
Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Nov 19, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert & Clara Schumann
Berliner Symphoniker, Shoko Sugitani
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on Jul 9, 2015
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Brahms & Schumann: Transcriptions for Viola & Piano
Chamber Music - Released by Claves Records on Nov 13, 2015
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Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major Op. 97 "Rheinische Symphonie"
Christian Lindberg, Robert Schumann, ADDA Simfònica
Classical - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on Aug 17, 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Widmung, Op. 25, No. 1 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on Feb 17, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, Loeffler, Klughardt & Kahn: Romantic Trios for Oboe, Viola and Piano
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on Nov 11, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann Violin Sonatas, Op. 105 & Op. 121
Arvid Engegard, Nils Anders Mortensen
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on Nov 7, 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15
Classical - Released by MFF Records on May 20, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Carnaval - Etudes Symphoniques - Papillons
Classical - Released by Saphir Productions on Apr 8, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6 (Arranged by Hans van der Heide & Micha Hamel)
Classical - Released by NBELive on Jan 19, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo