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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Brahms & Schumann: Transcriptions for Viola & Piano
Chamber Music - Lançado por Claves Records em 13/11/2015
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Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major Op. 97 "Rheinische Symphonie"
Christian Lindberg, Robert Schumann, ADDA Simfònica
Classical - Lançado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE em 17/08/2021
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Schumann: Widmung, Op. 25, No. 1 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Lançado por EMG Classical em 17/02/2015
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Schumann Violin Sonatas, Op. 105 & Op. 121
Arvid Engegard, Nils Anders Mortensen
Classical - Lançado por Lawo Classics em 07/11/2016
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Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15
Classical - Lançado por MFF Records em 20/05/2020
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frei aber einsam
Chamber Music - Lançado por NOVA Record em 02/06/2021
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Schumann - Grande Sonate
Classical - Lançado por ClassicalPirosDigital em 08/07/2015
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Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 2
Classical - Lançado por Claves Records em 01/01/2006
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Mozart, Schumann, Wolf (2022 Remastered)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Kolisch Quartet
Classical - Lançado por Chemodanov Production em 30/09/2022
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Jennifer Montone performs…
Jennifer Montone, Anna Polonsky
Classical - Lançado por Albany Records em 01/01/2016
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Dreaming Reverie (Träumerei)
Classical - Lançado por MFF Records em 28/05/2020
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The Art of Samuel Feinberg Vol.4
Classical - Lançado por Classical Records em 18/03/2015
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Schumann / Reimann - Wigmore Hall Live
Wolfgang Holzmair, Imogen Cooper
Classical - Lançado por Wigmore Hall Live em 28/10/2013
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Mozart - Schumann
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann, Christian Lindberg, ADDA Simfònica
Classical - Lançado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE em 29/08/2023
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Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 2
Eliahu Inbal, Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, Robert Schumann
Classical - Lançado por Denon em 01/01/1996
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Schumann: Abegg Variations - Carnaval - Scenes from Childhood
Classical - Lançado por Blaricum CD Company (B.C.D.) B.V. em 14/08/2014
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Schumann: Piano Concertos
Peter Rösel, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kurt Masur
Classical - Lançado por Berlin Classics em 18/08/2006
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Cello (Red Classics)
Classical - Lançado por Cobra Entertainment LLC em 11/11/2014
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Janos Starker plays Schumann, Lalo, Dvorak, Fauré
Chamber Music - Lançado por ISIS em 19/07/2016
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Schumann: Dreams
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 04/09/2020
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