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Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
A. Schumann’s life and work embodies the spirit of romanticism in music.
B. His works are intensely autobiographical and have high literary content
1. Songs—Schumann composed over 120 songs in 1840, which he called
the Year of Song.
2. Symphonies—The Year of the Symphony was 1841, although the
symphonies come from more years than that. Schumann composed
four symphonies. Symphony No. 1 (Spring), Symphony No. 2,
Symphony No. 3 (Rhenish), and Symphony No. 4 (which was actually
written second, withdrawn, and rewritten). Symphony is in 4
connected movements.
3. Chamber music—1842-1843 was the Year of Chamber music.
Schumann studied Haydn’s and Mozart’s quartets. He argued in his
writing that the quartet should sound like a 4-way conversation. Other
important chamber works include piano trios and a piano quintet.
C. Movements/works often have descriptive titles, texts, or programs.
D. As critic, he discovered and made famous several leading composers of his day.
E. Biographical detail
1. Born in Zwickau, Germany
2. Studied music as a child (from age 7). He was the son of a book dealer and
writer, which led to his great interest in literature
3. Studied law at Leipzig University.
4. At twenty, decided to become a piano virtuoso. This goal became impossible
when he developed serious problems with his right hand which were not
helped by medical treatments or by a device he may have used to stretch and
strengthen the fingers. "Don't worry about my finger," he wrote to his mother;
"I can compose without it." It is unclear whether the device caused the injury
or if it was caused by medical treatments (possibly mercury) for (presumed)
syphilis.
5. Most of his piano music was composed before 1840. At the time they were
often considered unconventional and personal.
6. During his twenties, he also founded and edited the influential New Journal of
Music, which contained his reviews of young "radical" composers like Chopin
and Berlioz.
7. While studying piano, Schumann met his teacher's daughter and pupil, Clara
Wieck, then a nine-year-old prodigy. They were engaged when Clara was 17.
8. Her father was bitterly opposed. The couple had to fight in court before they
could be married.
9. They married in 1841. Their marriage was happy, although there is evidence
that Clara’s success detracted from Robert’s ability to work, and conversely,
his need for seclusion to compose and family support retarded her career,
which she resented. Clara--herself a composer--was also the ideal interpreter
of Robert's works and introduced many of them to the public.
10. In 1850, he became the municipal music director in Düsseldorf. He was forced
to resign in 1853.
11. During his late years, his mental and physical health deteriorated. He
experienced hallucinations, heard voices, and attended séances. In 1854, he
tried to drown himself. He committed himself to an asylum, where he died
two years later of self-starvation.
Schumann's Mental Illness – An Overview
Following are the various mental disorders stated as fact in various sources that attempt
to describe Schumann's mental illness:
 syphilis
 struggle to imbue music with the intellectual substance of literature (creative
crises)
 suicide attempts
 depression
 manic-depression
 temporal lobe disorder
 softening of the brain
 schizophrenia amid signs of cyclical depression
 catatonia
 hypochondria
 acrophobia
 withdrawal
Some of these conditions are mutually contradictory or mutually exclusive.
1. Syphilis, but he had no evidence of Argyll Robertson phenomenon (unequally dilated
pupils) in 1853. Argyll Robertson phenomenon is present in 1/2 of syphilis patients
according to Peter Ostwald. Schumann’s eyes were observed by a painter who came
to paint his portrait. He had equally enlarged pupils, perhaps linked to the stressexcitement he felt at the first meetings with Brahms.
2. Creative crises. "...Composer who began his career as a genius and ended it as a
mere talent." John Daverio, a musicologist, takes issue with this Schumann myth,
arguing instead that the composer's entire creative life was guided by the desire to
imbue music with the intellectual substance of literature. In other words, his mental
illness was driven by creative crises.
3. Brain deterioration. “Schumann began to suffer from mental illness, even while
accepting a position at Mendelssohn's conservatory in Leipzig, his brain was
beginning to deteriorate. He attempted suicide, and was committed to an asylum in
Bonn” (a Schumann website). However, there is no evidence that his brain
"deteriorated." In the autopsy performed by Dr. Richarz, was clearly performed by a
physician who had no training in pathology, Richarz observed deterioration of the
brain which is normal with death but which he labeled "pathological." Some of the
shinkage may have been caused by the self-starvation, in any case.
4. “In the case of Schumann, the German composer who died in 1856, the problem
included severe depression, excited agitation and intermittent hallucinations”. - Press
story about Music and Mental Illness Symposium in Chicago in 1992.
5. “Manic-depressive illness, known as bipolar disorder” - Dr. Richard Kogan, pianist
and psychiatrist.
6. Temporal lobe disorder. Schumann reported that he heard the tone 'A' constantly
ringing in his ears. According to Peter Ostwald, M.D., Schumann's affliction was
diagnosed at the time as "softening of the brain," He said Schumann's career-long
pattern of explosive bursts of composition followed by periods of prolonged
depression suggest the composer might have had a brain ailment called a temporal
lobe disorder.
7. Schizophrenia is evident amid signs of cyclic depression. Schumann himself gave a
clue as to his ailment, when he wrote: "beginning today, entirely new persons are
coming in my journal — two are my best friends, although I have never seen them —
they are Florestan and Eusebius." Anton Neumayr believes that Schumann was
suffering from composite psychosis, one in which the symptoms of schizophrenia are
evident amid signs of cyclic depression. In the case of Schumann, the most likely
form of schizophrenia is periodic catatonia, but Neumayr admits that this diagnosis is
still beyond final proof. Music and Medicine: Hummel, Weber, Mendelssohn,
Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner, by Anton Neumayr, MD.
8. Various neuroses. In 1844, Schumann still suffers from hypochondria, acrophobia,
and withdrawal (diagnoses offered in a Schumann Chronology).
9. Suicide/anger. In 1854, Schumann throws his wedding ring into the Rhine, jumps in
after it and is rescued by fishermen. Schumann’s motive for actions unclear. He may
have attempted suicide or attempted to retrieve the ring. rescued by fishermen. In
other words, he may have thrown the ring in the Rhine out of anger and/or fear, and
then changed his mind and tried to retrieve it.
10. Personality disorder. Schumann suffered from major affective disorder,
compounded by a difficult to define personality disorder, and mild to severe physical
disorders. Ostwald in Schumann, Music and Madness
Source of biographical detail:
Music an Appreciation by Roger Kamien, Third Brief Edition, McGraw Hill Companies,
Inc.