Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann is known as one of the greatest German composers of the Romantic era. His contributions to the world of music are not only vast in numbers, but they span a very broad range of composition including his piano sonatas and lied. Although this output is grand and very influential, it is important to keep in mind that Robert Schumann was fighting with mental illnesses throughout his life. With the knowledge of his struggles with depression and other illnesses, one must look deeper and ask if his mental illness affected his music, and if it did, to what extent does it reveal itself in the music? Born the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiana and Augustus Schumann, Robert Schumann was born into a house of intense literary focus.…

Robert Schumann was a German composer and music critic. He could be considered one of the most influential composer of the Romantic era. Schumann works as a writer and a critic played a great role in the works of some of the leading composers of his days and even today. The most unique detail in Robert Schumann's work is its relations to literature. Though several of his compositions portray scenes from poems, characters, plays and novels there are some that are about place and people that were…

Schumann: Schubert’s Opus 142 There are few things more subjective than music: a subjective opinion on a subjective writing about a subjective composition. This particular set of impromptus appear rather disrupted by the publisher. Discrepancies regarding performance order, genre grouping and key signature have been disputed by theorists. In his review of Schubert’s Four Impromptus for the Pianoforte, Robert Schumann recognizes both strengths and weaknesses of the works in their current state…

Schumann’s Involvement in Resurrecting J.S. Bach As editor and writer for his own music journal, Neue Zeitscrift für Musik, Robert Schumann made it his personal mission to write about worthy composers and lift them up as examples to the music community. He was tired of the “Philistines” of the current music establishment, such as Wagner and Meyerbeer, who he felt were commercial and pretentious. He brought Brahms and Chopin to Germany’s notice, because he felt that their music was “honest…

Robert Schumann composed orchestral music, including four symphonies and one piano concerto. He also composed chamber music, including three string quartets, one piano quintet, one piano quartet, piano trios, and sonatas. In the emotional abandonment of his music, Schumann is the true Romantic. His piano pieces are filled with impassioned melody, unique changes of harmony, and driving rhythms. His music was often had literacy, meaning and was connected by a literary theme or musical motto.…

about vivid details particularly on the emotional spectrum. This is also showed in many admirers of Paul’s writing were predominantly women. Schumann said in respect for Jean Paul’s writing, “ In all of his works, Jean Paul mirrors himself, but always as two persons, he is Albano and Schoppe [in Titan], Seibankäs and Leibgeber [Seibenkäs], and Vult and Walt [Flegeljahire]”. Schumann also had projections of himself much like how Paul portrayed in his novels. This could have been the first sign…

We filed onto the risers, our stage, and my choir director started talking to the choir, and then the other soloist in the choir and I sang for the night. As I and the other soloist made sure to frantically flip through the solos to attempt to make sure we remembered the lines, the red looming curtains opened. The distant stage lights were shining down upon me and the rest of my group of singers with hundreds of judging eyes of parents, friends, teachers, and other important people. The pressure…

Elle Varner, A “Conversational Lush” Watching her mom and dad do their thing in the music industry, Elle would follow in their footsteps. She is born to two musically inclined parents and spent much of her remarkable childhood years in the studio and in the entertainment world. Elle's talents are many but include singing, playing the flute, guitar and piano. Born on February 12, 1989, Gabrielle “Elle” Varner has become a popular R&B recording artist. It's no wonder as her family is actually…

Scott Hicks is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He’s best known as the author and director of Shine. Is a 1996 Australian biographical drama film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Goodie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris Haywood and Alex Rafalowicz. The screenplay was written by Jan Sardi, and then directed by Scott…

Frederic Chopin was on March 1, 1810 in Zelazowa Wola. Both of his parents were musicians, and it was almost destined for Chopin to be a musical prodigy. In his short life of 39 years, Chopin traveled through Europe, meeting famous composers like Liszt and Cherubini. He composed over 230 works, which were mainly piano pieces. Ever since his childhood, he was destined for greatness. When Chopin was six months old, his family moved to Warsaw, where his father was employed teaching French at the…