Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120, Third Movement
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Born: June 8, 1810, Zwickau, Germany
Died: July 29, 1856, Endenich, Germany
In his own words...
"The singing voice is hardly sufficient in itself; it cannot carry the whole task of interpretation unaided. In addition to its overall expression, the finer shadings of the poem must be represented as well—provided that the melody does not suffer in the process."
German composer, critic, and music journalist. Schumann was one of the driving forces of the young Romantic movement in Germany.
Like many in his generation, Robert Schumann did not seem destined to become a composer, let alone one who would be so influential in the development of a new style. He was the son of a bookseller, and had a love of music and literature. However, at his mother's insistence, he went to Leipzig to study law. While there, he also studied piano with an ambitious teacher by the name of Freidrich Weick, whose daughter he would one day marry. He soon convinced his family of the futility of further law study and turned his full attention to music. Physical problems with his hands prevented him from continuing as a pianist, and he turned to composition and criticism.
In 1834, Schumann began the journal Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, one of the most important musical periodicals of the century. In its pages, Schumann championed the composers he favored and helped shape the tastes of a new generation. It was also around this time that his friendship with Wieck's daughter Clara progressed to love. An enormously talented performer and composer in her own right, Clara became Robert's wife only after a protracted legal struggle with her father.
Robert's marriage to Clara ushered in a time of great creative energy, and Robert focused it in different directions at different times, at one point writing Lieder almost exclusively, at another concentrating on symphonic works. His compositional career continued successfully, with Clara premiering many of his works. He was appointed to a few teaching and conducting positions, but these proved of little interest to the composer and he was quick to abandon them. He also was plagued by increasingly deep periods of depression. By the early 1850s these worsened, and in 1854 he began to have auditory hallucinations and attempted suicide. He was confined to a mental institution where he died two years later.
Schumann's music is often enigmatic and personal. He liked to hide names (spelled out in note names) in his pieces, and he often imbued pieces with their own personalities. An example of this is his set of short piano pieces, Carnaval. In this collection, two pieces are entitled Floristan and Eusebius. These are pseudonyms that Schumann wrote under in his journal, and each depicts an aspect of his personality, the first being more flamboyant and the second more controlled. He represents these in the music, making each a short character piece.
At the same time, Schumann explored the other extremes of Romantic ideal: size and experimentation with form. His symphonies, especially, are large works in which the lyrical tendencies of his style seem to push against the constraints of form. His piano concerto broke new ground by having all the movements based on transformations of a basic theme. In all these ways, and in his mixing of literary and musical ideals, Robert Schumann was a true Romantic.
Musical Examples:
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120, Third Movement
Three Characters from Carnaval, Op. 9
Eusebius (Adagio)
Florestan (Passionato)
Chiarina (Passionato)
Works: