- Biography
- Carnaval
- Scenes of Childhood
- Dichterliebe
- Symphony No. 4 in D Minor
- Piano Concerto in A Minor
- Rhenish Symphony
Biography
Schumann is depicted as being a dreamy, totally impractical artist and the archetypal representative of the Romantic music movement.
He was born into a very wealthy family and his father was a bookseller and publisher.
Not surprisingly, young Schumann had an avid interest in the literary world – an interest that started at school, where he was totally absorbed in both books and music.
He was already composing by this time, mainly piano music, and his early works show a wonderful youthful spontaneity that he later lost.
New medical evidence suggests that quite early on in his life he contracted syphilis (yes, another one!), the mercury treatment for which may have led to his right hand becoming crippled.
Another theory for this affliction is that he was overworking his hands in the pursuit of a perfect piano technique, but, whatever the reason, the result was that his career as a concert pianist was terminated, to be instantly replaced by a career as a composer.
Schumann wrote a large number of works in a very short space of time, and many of these pieces are now among the standard repertoire of today’s concert pianists.
He also developed his skills as a writer about music and he is renowned for his outspoken but usually well-informed critical judgements on the music and art of the day.
Wieck, his teacher, had a beautiful daughter, Clara, with whom Schumann fell in love.
When Clara’s father found out about the affair he was furious and forbade his daughter to marry.
The situation became acrimonious, to the point of Robert Schumann’s bringing a law suit against Wieck forbidding him to interfere any further in their relationship.
Robert and Clara were married in 1840, and this turbulent episode is undoubtedly typical of Schumann’s passion and pursuit of romantic notions.
Clara was very good for Schumann: she was a loyal and excellent critic of his work, always encouraging and supportive of his endeavours.
She also encouraged him to write symphonies, something that he had always yearned to do, as he considered the symphony to be the real ‘truth’ in music.
After a few years, however, things took a turn for the worse and Schumann placed extraordinary constraints on his wife, claiming that he needed absolute silence whilst composing.
This caused a problem, as Clara was herself one of the leading concert pianists of the day and needed to practise.
These and other problems eventually led to Schumann suffering from a nervous breakdown and terrible hallucinations, which may well have been due to the effects of his syphilis.
They decided after a time that life was becoming too stressful, so Schumann quit his job at the Leipzig Conservatoire and the couple moved to Dresden in search of peace and quiet.
After a few years Schumann decided to take up another job in Düsseldorf.
This also turned out to be a disaster and only made his mental and emotional problems worse, and following a few particularly severe bouts of depression and hallucinations he threw himself into the Rhine in an attempt to commit suicide.
He was unsuccessful and was sent to a mental asylum in Bonn, where he spent the last few years of his life.
He has left us, however, with a lot of great music, especially in the fields of piano music and song.
It is also widely accepted that he made a truly significant contribution to the development of lieder (German songs) – in particular establishing the piano as an equal partner in the work rather than simply as the accompaniment.
Carnaval
Carnaval: ‘Arlequin’
1835, Keyboard Works
This piece is typical of the works Schumann wrote for his wife, Clara, who was an accomplished pianist in her own right. ‘Carnaval’ is the story of a costume party, where the guests, including Paganini and Chopin, end up rounding on a gang of kill-joys and kick them out in a fantastic march.
Scenes of Childhood
Scenes of Childhood: ‘Dreaming’
1838, Keyboard Works
Written in 1838, ‘Scenes of Childhood’ is a set of thirteen short piano pieces depicting childhood life. They have been arranged for several instruments, including clarinet and strings.
Dichterliebe
Dichterliebe Op. 48
1841, Songs
Described as Schumann’s greatest song cycle, the Dichterliebe (‘Poet’s Love’) is a musical representation of the hope entertained by a young poet that his beloved will respond to him. Tragically (or typically – for Schumann), the phrases he sings are constantly mocked, until he eventually accepts the loss of his love. It is a tale of happiness snatched beyond recovery.
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor
Symphony No. 4 in D Minor Op.120: Ziemlich langsam
1841, Symphonies, Orchestral
Schumann composed his D Minor Symphony during the first wonderfully happy year of his marriage to Clara Wieck (which almost never took place because of the serious opposition of Clara’s father, who had tried everything possible to stop the marriage).
The tension and stress incurred from the strenuous courtship was replaced by a huge sense of contentment that served as a major source of inspiration and creative drive.
The two of them kept a joint diary, and in the spring of 1841 Clara wrote about Robert’s work on a new symphony:
‘As yet I have heard nothing of it, but from seeing Robert’s bustling and hearing the chord of D Minor sound wildly in the distance, I know in advance that another work is being wrought in the depths of his soul.’
A few days later she added:
‘Robert is composing steadily. He has already completed three movements and I hope the symphony will be ready by his birthday.’
In fact, the work was finished not on Schumann’s birthday (8 June), but on Clara’s (13 September), which was also the day of the christening of their first child, Marie.
It was written in four movements yet designed to be played without interruption.
The first movement is a slow introduction with a thoughtful melody that crops up many times throughout the work, while the second, more romantic section has a mournful tune sung by oboe and cellos alternated with the original melody from the first movement.
However, the mood and pace changes as we enter the third movement, which is a more vigorous and light-hearted scherzo.
The finale rounds off the work with a recapitulation of the themes from the initial section.
Piano Concerto in A Minor
Piano Concerto in A Minor Op. 54: Allegro affettuoso
1845, Concerti, Orchestral
Schumann’s Piano Concerto is in many ways a symbol of his relationship with his adored wife Clara.
He’d planned a piano concerto some two years before they were married but nothing came of it until a short while after their marriage, when he produced a Fantasy in A Minor for her to play (she was, in fact, an accomplished pianist). Initial attempts to have the work published failed, even when Schumann tried different titles such as ‘Allegro affetuoso’ or ‘Concert Allegro’ – but nobody wanted it.
Four years later he added an intermezzo and a finale, changing the shape of the work to the extent that Clara wrote in their joint diary:
‘It has now become a concerto which I mean to play next winter. I am very glad about it for I have always wanted a great bravura piece by him.’
A month later she added:
‘Robert has finished his concerto . . . I am happy as a king at the thought of playing it with orchestra.’
At its premiere in December 1845, Clara was, of course, the soloist, and she performed again that winter with their friend Felix Mendelssohn conducting. The concerto was often seen as a symbol of the love that Robert and Clara shared.
The first movement (Allegro affetuoso) opens with a furious cascade of chords for the soloist followed by a plaintive melody from the oboes, which forms the principal theme of the concerto. Being a three-movement work, the second movement (Andantino grazioso) serves as an interlude that is both playful and sensitive, and seems to be made up of three miniature parts itself. Towards the end, the opening notes of the first movement’s theme return to create a link with the finale, this being delightfully light-footed and also based on the initial melody.
The idea of having a main theme as a base for variations and alterations throughout a work was very popular in the Romantic period, and this concerto is a great example of its success.
Rhenish Symphony
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major (‘Rhenish’): Feierlich
1851, Symphonies, Orchestral
Of his four symphonies, the ‘Rhenish’ is certainly Schumann’s most descriptive. It was written in 1850, soon after Robert and his beloved wife, Clara, moved to the Rhenish city of Düsseldorf. Quite simply, the symphony is a glorification of the life, the landscape and the Rhineland’s most famous building: the cathedral at Cologne.
Schumann received his ultimate inspiration for this work during one of his many visits to the cathedral, where he witnessed the rather solemn ceremony of the elevation of the Archbishop of Cologne to the rank of Cardinal. This made such a deep impression on him that he recalled the event and its surroundings in the fourth movement of this symphony, writing at the top of the music: ‘[To be played] In the character of the accompaniment to a solemn ceremony.’
At the time when Schumann saw the cathedral it was in a state of serious disrepair, and critics of the day suggest that, to the Romantics, this represented a mute call to action, a plaintive appeal to fulfil some medieval dream and the faith it embodied.
The symphony is arranged in five movements, and if one listens to the solemn fourth movement one can almost see the dilapidated edifice that so inspired the Romantics.