A Poet's Love

Famous German singer and German Lieder authority Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau described Robert Schumann as "among those figures in cultural history who seem to elude objective assessment."¹ This supposition is quite believable. Most historians have more or less agreed on the significance of this enigmatic composer, though there has yet to be found an historic category into which he might be said to fit.² We may assume that the composer's own words could shed some light on the matter, but this is difficult when he merely refers to himself as "excellent in music and poetry­but not a musical genius."³ In any case, Schumann has left quite a legacy, regarded by some as "the quintessential artist of the Romantic era in German music," ⁴ unique in his compositional style of both piano and lieder.

Born in Zwickau, Germany on 8 June 1810 to August Schumann, a Saxon bookseller and lexicographer who made a small fortune selling translations of other author's works into German, Schumann was the youngest and favorite of five children. The family experienced poor health; August died at 53 of some kind of "nervouse disease," only one of his three brothers made it to late middle age, and his sister Emily most likely committed suicide at age 19.⁵

Schumann grew up to be quite atttractive, by all accounts: a ladies' man who enjoyed beer, wine and cigars, and showed proclivities to several musical skills. Ultimately choosing a piano career, he knew pursuing his piano studies would mean more intensive training, and in October 1830 he moved into the home of Friedrich Wieck. Association with Wieck proved to be a catalyst for several of Schumann's ultimate goals, including the hand of Wieck's daughter Clara, herself already on the cusp of a great performance career.⁶