Robert Schumann was one of the most important Romantic composers of the 19th century. He was also a pianist, influential music critic and editor of 'The New Journal of Music'.
He was a champion of young composers including Chopin and Brahms.
His wife Clara, also a composer, was one of the most outstanding pianists of her day.
Robert Alexander Schumann Born: 8 June 1810 Zwickau, Saxony Father: August Schumann, bookseller, writer and publisher Mother: Johanna Siblings: Youngest of 5 Wife: Clara Josephine Wieck 1819-96, (daughter of his piano teacher) Children: eight Died: 29 July 1856 age 46 Cause of death: syphilis Buried: Zentral Friedhof, Bonn. see findagrave
Bicentenary
8 June 2010 was the 200th anniversary of his birth. There were celebrations, concerts, TV and radio programs all over the world.
Works:
Period: Early German Romantic Output: considerable Influenced by: Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Paganini, Schubert, Clara Schumann Influenced: too many to list! Orchestral: - 4 Symphonies - Piano Concerto - Cello Concerto Chamber music Piano: many pieces including: - Album for the Young - Scenes from Childhood - Carnaval - Fantasy Pieces - Papillons Songs: over 400 including lieder (solo voice + piano), partsongs, duets and trios Choral music, opera and drama - Genoveva (opera) - Manfred - Paradise and the Peris - Scenes from Goethe's Faust
Fantasy Pieces for Piano & Clarinet
Career
- age 18 began studying law at Leipzig University
- age 20 attending a concert by Paganini convinced him to follow a career in music.
- age 24-34 Edited the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music) which he jointly founded. He championed young composers including Chopin and Brahms.
- age 30 - married Clara, his piano teacher's daughter, much against her father's will
- met Liszt
- doctorate from Universty of Jena
- age 40 Appointed music director in Dusseldorf.
- age 44 - attempted suicide by throwing himself into the Rhine.
- Requested to be put into an asylum where he stayed until he died.
- age 46 - died
Health and personality
- As his father was a bookseller he was exposed to books and developed a great love of literature and thought about becoming a novelist. George Bernard Shaw once remarked that he was as much a literary man as a musician.
- It was soon apparent that he was a good pianist. He had aspirations to becoming a concert pianist but an injury his right hand ended that possibility. One theory is that the damage to his hand was caused by a device for strengthening his fingers, but a more recent theory is that it was caused by mercury poisoning from treatment of syphilis.
- He was not an effective teacher and neither was he a popular conductor.
- He suffered various personal tragedies during his life and from the age of 43 he suffered from bipolar disorder, also called manic depression.
Quotes
"Nothing right can be accomplished in art without enthusiasm."
"If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. therefore, respect every musician in his proper place. "
"The painter turns a poem into a painting; the musician sets a picture to music."
"In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of."
