ROBERT SCHUMANN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A MUSICIAN PDF, EPUB, EBOOK John Worthen | 496 pages | 18 May 2010 | Yale University Press | 9780300163988 | English | New Haven, United States Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician PDF Book Low, Marston and Company. Websites [ edit ] Bodsch, Ingrid. Edward rated it it was amazing Apr 27, Biography Memoir. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart , Beethoven , and Weber. Progress in Brain Research. Tunbridge, Laura Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. He worked prodigiously hard to develop his range of musical styles and to earn his living, only to be struck down, at the age of forty-four, by a vile and incurable disease. Print print Print. The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo. Wasielewski, Wilhelm Joseph von And that he has done extremely well. Xav rated it really liked it Mar 23, I'm glad I read it, though, and I'm glad my friend Danielle trusted me with it for over a year while I devoted little snatches of time to it here and there. Additional Product Features Dewey Edition. He worked prodigiously hard to develop his range of musical styles and to earn his living, only to be struck down, at the age of forty-four, by a vile and incurable disease. Kim rated it it was amazing Mar 24, He had contemplated suicide on at least three occasions in the s, and from the mids on he suffered periodic attacks of severe depression and nervous exhaustion. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. Clara Schumann , Robert Schumann. He made his debut as a conductor—a role in which he was invariably ineffective—with its first performance in December of that year. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen Ghost Variations. Robert Schumann had been mentally unstable all his life, suffering periodic attacks of severe depression and nervous exhaustion. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. Preview — Robert Schumann by John Worthen. Life Vintage Paperback Magazines. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician Writer Journal of the American Musicological Society 62 3 : — Robert Schumann: German composer. Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil — , who died at 1 year; Marie — ; Elise — ; Julie — ; Ludwig — ; Ferdinand — ; Eugenie — ; and Felix — Schnell und spielend. Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. Given such innate limitations, it is astonishing that Schumann was able to construct a symphony as firmly welded as the No. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. About this product. Robert Schumann began studying the piano at age six. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. Enlarge cover. Problems playing these files? Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Worthen paints on a broad canvas: two of his most fascinating chapters involve a trip to Russia and the German revolutions of Northeastern University Press. Welcome back. Publications Received. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett , for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig. After a visit to Vienna , during which he discovered Franz Schubert 's previously unknown Symphony No. Schonberg , in his The Great Conductors : "The great composer was impossible on the platform Fantasie in C, Op. A very affectionate portrayal of both the man and the composer. Bonn , Rhine Province , Prussia. Der Nervenarzt. It confronts the traditional perception of the doom-laden Romantic, forced by depression into a life of helpless, poignant sadness. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen Ghost Variations. Save on Nonfiction Trending price is based on prices over last 90 days. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements Nos. This is an in-depth, well-done biography of a fascinating and talented composer. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz , a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. In , he felt he had recovered. See all 5 - All listings for this product. Schumann in , age 29 lithograph by Josef Kriehuber. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. His only opera, Genoveva , Op. Print print Print. This is an excellent and provocative biography that is sure to spark fierce debate among musicians and psychologists. Be the first to write a review. It's so fascinating and amazing that a person who had to pay rent and had little kids being noisy and all these other humdrum things was able to produce such incredible music, and at such an astonishing rate. Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician Reviews Retrieved 2 April F-A-E Sonata. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. See also: German Student Corps and Corps. London: S. Namespaces Article Talk. You may also like. The state of the medical art had not matured enough to track syphilis from its early transmission to its late-stage devastation, but now that we know how the disease progresses, it is possible to correlate its path with Schumann's biographical details. Wasielewski, Wilhelm Joseph von He spent the first half of with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. I'm glad I read it, though, and I'm glad my friend Danielle trusted me with it for over a year while I devoted little snatches of time to it here and there. Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. Worthen's rebuttal is welcome, because it helps discredit the old wives' tale that you need to be crazy in order to be creative. This is the first book I've ever read that contains an autopsy report, brie An amazingly detailed, meticulously researched biography of one of the greatest composers of his generation. Legacy As a composer Schumann was first and most naturally a miniaturist. He worked prodigiously hard to develop his range of musical styles and to earn his living, only to be struck down, at the age of forty-four, by a vile and incurable disease. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side and Eusebius his dreamy, introspective side —the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. About John Worthen. His family encouraged him to enter the University of Leipzig as a law student. August Schumann Johanna Christiane Schnabel. Clara Schumann , Robert Schumann. It confronts the traditional perception of the doom-laden Romantic, forced by depression into a life of helpless, poignant sadness. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together. Progress in Brain Research. Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician Read Online Indeed, the Liederjahr or year of song is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior. This Site. An injury ended his hopes of a career as a virtuoso, confining him to writing compositions, the first of which were published in By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul , a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende , completed in , and Selene. Low, Marston and Company. However, there is no discussion of the music other than the bare details of dates, etc. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation". Show More. Schumann seems to have been "a regular guy" who just happened to be really good at writing music despite being largely self-taught. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent".