Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

We know Robert Schumann in many ways: as a visionary composer, a seasoned journalist, a cultured man of letters, and a genius who, having passed his mantle on to the young Brahms, succumbed to mental illness in 1856. Drawing on recent pathbreaking research, this collection offers new perspectives on this seminal nineteenth-century figure.

In Part I, Leon Botstein and Michael P. Steinberg assess Schumann's efforts to place music at the center of German culture, in public and private sectors. Bernhard R. Appel offers a probing source study of one of Schumann's most personal works, the Album für die Jugend, Op. 68, while John Daverio considers the generic identity of Das Paradies und die Peri, and Jon W. Finson reexamines the first version of the Eichendorff Liederkreis . Gerd Nauhaus investigates Schumann's approach to the symphonic finale, and R. Larry Todd considers the intractable issue of quotations and allusions in Schumann's music. Part II presents letters and memoirs, including unpublished correspondence between Clara Schumann and Felix and Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. In Part III, conflicting critical views of Schumann are juxtaposed. Some of these sources are translated into English for the first time.

Originally published in 1994.

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Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• History, Rhetoric, and the Self: Robert Schumann and Music Making in German-Speaking Europe, 1800-1860 (p. 3)
• Schumann's Homelessness (p. 47)
• On Quotation in Schumann's Music (p. 80)
• Schumann's Symphonic Finales (p. 113)
• Schumann's "New Genre for the Concert Hall": Das Paradies und die Peri in the Eyes of a Contemporary (p. 129)
• The Intentional Tourist: Romantic Irony in the Eichendorff Liederkreis of Robert Schumann (p. 156)
• "Actually, Taken Directly from Family Life": Robert Schumann's Album fur die Jugend (p. 171)
• The Correspondence between Clara Wieck Schumann and Felix and Paul Mendelssohn (p. 205)
• Reminiscences of Robert Schumann (1878) (p. 233)
• Robert Schumann in Endenich (1899) (p. 268)
• Schumanniana (1925) (p. 288)
• On Robert Schumann's Piano Compositions (1844) (p. 303)
• Robert Schumann with Reference to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and the Development of Modern Music in General (1845) (p. 317)
• Robert Schumann (1855) (p. 338)
• Schumanniana No. 4: The Present Musical Epoch and Robert Schumann's Position in Music History (1861) (p. 362)
• On Schumann as Symphonist (1904-1906) (p. 375)
• Index of Names and Compositions (p. 385)
• List of Contributors (p. 395)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Writing about Robert Schumann inevitably involves literature, politics, and psychology as well as music, and this collection of essays is no exception. The seven studies of the man and his music cover the composer's inspirations, his sources, and his relations with numerous interesting people. Leon Botstein sets the pace with "History, Rhetoric, and the Self," a fascinating overview of the first half of the 19th century. Four sets of letters by and about Schumann provide a personal impression of the man, and a set of contemporary criticisms of his music expose his public work. This well-rounded and interesting picture of the composer and his times belongs in most academic music collections.-Timothy J. McGee, Univ. of Toronto (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Rich in new ideas, this book consists of seven essays, four selections of little-known letters and memoirs, and five critical views of Schumann. Leon Botstein and Michael P. Steinberg consider Schumann's place in German culture; Bernhard Appel traces the genesis of the Album f"ur die Jugend. Schumann's contemporary Eduard Kr"uger provides John Daverio with a framework for discussing the problematic Das Paradies und die Peri. Gerd Nauhaus addresses the function of Schumann's symphonic finales, and Jon Finson considers the effect on Liederkreis, Op. 39, of Schumann's own revision--inserting a new song to open the cycle. Editor Todd discusses allusion and quotation in Schumann's work by considering other writers who have searched for such devices and by suggesting categories for the references. The criteria for inclusion of material in this collection are unclear. Some essays cover vast areas, others have very limited scope. Some are primarily philosophical, others are mainly historical. The excerpts of letters, memoirs, and critical views are important individually, but there are no strong links among them. This book contains important new information on Schumann. Suitable for both undergraduate and graduate collections. C. Cai; Kenyon College