Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic of the Romantic era, born on June 8, 1810, in Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. He passed away on July 29, 1856, in Endenich, near Bonn, Prussia, Germany. Schumann is renowned particularly for his piano music, songs (lieder), and orchestral music. Many of his best-known piano pieces were written for his wife, the pianist Clara Schumann.
Schumann’s early years were marked by his father’s influence, who was a bookseller and publisher. He began his musical education at the age of six, studying the piano. In 1827, he came under the musical influence of Austrian composer Franz Schubert and the literary influence of German poet Jean Paul Richter. In the same year, he composed some songs.
Despite initially studying law at the University of Leipzig, Schumann’s passion for music prevailed. He studied the piano seriously with Friedrich Wieck, Clara’s father, and eventually married Clara despite Wieck’s opposition2. Schumann’s early works were mainly piano pieces, including the large-scale “Carnaval” (1834–1835). He co-founded the “Neue Zeitschrift für Musik” (New Musical Journal) in 1834 and edited it for ten years, contributing significantly to music criticism.
His compositions include the “Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54,” “Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major,” and song cycles such as “Frauenliebe und -leben” and “Dichterliebe.” Schumann turned to orchestral music in 1841, chamber music and choral works in the following years, and his wife Clara premiered many of his works, including the Piano Concerto.
Schumann’s life was troubled by mental health issues, which led to his attempted suicide in 1854 and subsequent confinement in a sanatorium, where he died two years later. His legacy remains significant, as he was one of the most important Romantic composers and a highly regarded music critic, whose deeply personal music reflects the nature of Romanticism.
Schumann’s Violin Concerto in D minor WoO 1, his last work for solo instrument and orchestra, was not given its premiere until 1937, at which…
Schumann’s Violin Concerto in D minor WoO 1, his last work for solo instrument and orchestra, was not given its premiere until 1937, at which time it was also released in an editorially inadequate version. A re-evaluation of Schumann’s late oeuvre began in the 1980s, in the wake of which the “missing link between the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms” (Yehudi Menuhin) also drew increasing attention. Since then, those in the know have come to appreciate the work, whose unique musical and technical demands challenge for both interpreter and listener.
This new edition of what is perhaps the most underestimated masterpiece of the Romantic era is the first meticulously prepared Urtext edition of the score. Nothing short of incredible is the fact that the composer’s own piano reduction from which Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim played the piece is being published here for the first time! Thomas Zehetmair, who has significantly contributed to the re-assessment of the concerto, assumed the task of providing a sound technical basis to his revision of the solo part.
“Perhaps this edition will help stimulate awareness and appreciation of this unjustly forgotten romantic violin concerto described by Menuhin as the “missing link” between the concertos by Beethoven to Brahms.” (John Thomson, Stringendo)
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