Date/Place of Birth:

8 June, 1810 at Zwickau, Germany.

Personality:

A quiet, intelligent composer. Being a big-hearted and generous critic, Schumann liked to help and publicise new talents like Chopin, Brahms etc. Unfortunately, Schumann had a mental illness that he was so scared of being insane after his father died of 'nervous disorder' and yet his sister committed suicide as she could not stand with her mental instability. Despite of such fearful thought that troubled Schumann's whole life, he was very hardworking and multi-talented man: he not only involved in composing, but also in conducting, teaching at the Leipzig Conservatory, and being an editor of Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.

Piano-Playing Style:

As a child, Schumann had easily learned how to play piano by himself and always practised on the piano. His first piano teacher, Friedrich Wieck, noticed Schumann's potential, and even wrote to his mother," Robert would be one of the greatest pianists within 3 years," However, in 1832, being zealous and impetuous, Schumann permanently injured his hand a device invented by him to keep his fourth finger immobile while practising. Therefore, his career as a piano virtuoso had ended and his piano-playing style could only be reflected from his piano works.

Music:

While other composers like Beethoven and Schubert were writing classical forms like sonatas, variations, waltz etc, Schumann's works did not follow the classical form and they were totally romantic (eg. Papillons, Carnaval, Waldszenen etc). His works were all based on his romantic imagination with its sense of free and very personal expression. Besides that, Schumann's music was a music related to poetry, painting, personal allusions and moods. It was no doubt that Schumann put his own characters into his music. The two different personalities of Schumann were represented by pen-names:- Florestan - forceful and impetuous; and Eusebius - dreamy and introspective. Theoretically, the following are among the features found in Schumann's works: rich, complicated harmony; a strong polyphonic texture; cross-rhythm; syncopations; strong chordal structure etc. In addition, Schumann's piano works were no virtuoso. Although they were difficult, the bravura passage was normally dictated by the expression of his feelings. Schumann's hate of virtuosity was evidently expressed when he said,"As if there was nothing higher than the art of pleasing the public."

Composing Habit:

Schumann's strong passion of everything around him such as romantic literatures, paintings, people and places; inspired him greatly. Therefore, whenever he was so interested with a poem, a story, a place or whatever, he would compose a new work based on his feelings and thoughts over what he was interested. Therefore, Schumann always put some useful guidelines in his works like the tempo, terms of performance direction, pedal signs and sometimes even autography about the works. These guidelines were very important for the proper performance in order to express his true feelings behind the music. For example, his Carnaval was explained that the theme "A-S-C-H"(A flat-E flat-C-B) was based on the girl's name with whom he was in love. Each of the 21 pieces in Carnaval has a descriptive title. Other works like Kreisleriana and Romanzen were composed to show his growing love for his wife, Clara Wieck. Because of such unique composing style and these highly poetic and introspective qualities in his music, Schumann was definitely a true exponent of Romantic music.

Schumann's Quote:

"The painter turns a poem into a painting; the musician sets a picture to music" Schumann, 1833 "If all were insisted on playing the first violin, we should never have a complete orchestra. So, respect every musician in his proper field." Schumann, in 'Advice to Young Musicians', 1850 "I am affected by everything that goes on in the world - politics, literature, people - I think it over my own way, and then I long to express my feelings in music. That's why my compositions are sometimes difficult to understand," Schumann writing to his wife, Clara, 1838 "I believe music to be ideal language of the soul; some think it is only intended to tickle the ear; while others treat it like a mathematical calculation," Schumann, 1832

Schumann's Death:

In 1854, Schumann attempted suicide by throwing himself into the river Rhine as a result of his severe mental illness. He was rescued and voluntarily sent to lunatic asylum in Endernich, near Bonn. Since then, Schumann's wife, Clara, never see him again and they only communicated with each other by letters. Two years later, on 29 July, 1856, Schumann finally died there.