As a child, I plunged in the music of Schumann, head first so to speak, way before knowing anything about Eusebius, Florestan, Raro, the Philistines, Clara. The Album for the Young was invested, one piece at a time, as Schumann would have liked it to be, as a guide for the beginner that I was. A few years after that, I would discover his Romanza in F sharp major. (I must have thought the work was too beautiful to pass on, despite the six sharps taunting me as key signature.) I also played many Novelettes at that time. When I was 17, it was “the” chamber music revelation of my (then) short life: his Piano Quintet. I since then added to my list of favourites the sublime Dichterliebe (The love of the poet), the Papillons, the Fantasy, the Concerto, the Carnaval, that contains all the germs of this great composer’s genius.

Eventually, I got to read about Schumann and was much taken by his life, his creative fever, his multiple personnalities, his deep love for Clara, his will to support young composers, his very precise criticial sense. His articles in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik stand as inspiration for anyone interested in constructive criticism. His hesitations, when, as a young adult, he was torn between literature and music speak to me volumes. The letters he wrote to family and friends remain true miniatures of daily life, filled with plain events as well as some fundamental interrogations. His plea to Friedrick Wieck to be able to marry Clara is, today still, vibrant and holds much pertinence.

His journal also bears much weight. When I read that entry, dated 1833 (Schumann was 23 at the time), it really troubled me: “In the night between October 17 and 18, suddenly came to me the scariest thought a man can have, the most terrible thing Heavens could send my way: THE REALISATION THAT I WOULD LOSE MY MIND…” What incredible prescience of what was to happen… Constantly doubting himself, he probably would never have guessed that his music would survive eras and crazes. And yet, his music remains, whole, untouchable, essential, like life itself.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 10:28 am and is filed under Analekta catalogue, Anniversaries, Composers' biographies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.