Robert Schumann
Romantic Composer, Master in Piano Music and Voice
Robert Schumann was a German composer of the Romantic period, best known for short piano pieces, songs, and concertos. He was one of the most important music critic of his day. Felix Mendelssohn championed many of his works.
Early Life
Robert Alexander Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856), was born in Zwickau, the son of a book publisher. He started piano lessons at six years old. Among his piano works, Carnaval and Kinderscenen from "Scenes from Childhood" are most popular.
Early on, Robert Schumann showed ability as a pianist, and an equal love for music and literature. For this reason, many of his compositions are linked to characters or scenes from play, novels and poems. This doesn’t come as a surprise for Schumann’s father was a bookseller, author, and publisher.
At the age 13, the young Robert already wrote his first articles printed by his father. In 1821 he went to Leipzig to study law but instead spent his time in musical, social and literary activities. He wrote some piano music and took lessons from Friedrich Wieck.
Schumann and Clara Wieck
By 1835 he was in love with piano virtuoso Clara Wieck, the young daughter of his music-instructor Wieck who developed into a musician of consummate artistry. Wieck did his best to separate them. After many trials, Schumann and Clara were able to marry in 1840. The couple had eight children and Clara continued her career as concert pianist, at times, more popular than her husband of which he was painfully aware.
Schumann's list of truly great composers
(according to Classical Music by Phil G. Goulding, 1992)
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Franz Schubert
- Frederic Chopin
- Felix Mendelssohn
- Hector Berlioz
Robert Schumann's first blissful composition after his marriage to Clara was the vocal duet Wenn Ich Ein Voglein War (If I were a Little Bird), later translated into his only opera Genoveva.
Final Years
In 1854 he began to suffer hallucinations. He attempted suicide and entered an asylum, where he died in Endenich, 1856, cared for by his beloved wife Clara and great friend of the Schumanns, Johannes Brahms, who Schumann met in the last three years of his life.
Robert Schumann's Major Works, by Categories:
- Piano Music: Arabesque, Carnaval, Etudes Symphoniques, Fantasia in C, Fantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces), Humoresque, children's Kinderscenen (Scenes from Childhood), Kreisleriana, Papillons, Sonata in G Minor for Piano, and Album fur die Jugend (Album for the Young)
- Vocal Music, Song Cycles: Dichterliebe (Poet's Love, 1840), Frauenliebe und Leben (Women's Love and Live)
- Orchestral Music: Symphony No.1 in B-flat "Spring", Symphony No.2 in C, Symphony No.3 in E-flat "Rhenish", Symphony No.4 in D Minor
- Concerto: Violin concerto, piano concerto
- Chamber Music: Quartet in E-flat for Piano and Strings. Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Strings
Recommended Reading
Robert and Clara Schumann - A Love Story by Agnes Selby
Sources:
Classical Music by Phil G. Goulding (1992)
Dictionary of the Arts, Gramercy (1999)
The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie (2000)
Robert Schumann by A. Menzel
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