Customer Reviews

Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
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This is a very well written and nicely paced account of Schumann's life that draws heavily on his and Clara Schumann's diaries. Schumann's private personality emerges very nicely, and goes a long way towards dispelling the myths that were created by a tradition of biography in which the observations of those that did not know Schumann well took center stage and exaggerated the pathological elements of his personality and his eccentricities. Schumann was of course still a very unusual and unique man, but this is revealed in the context of the arc his entire life and in the context of his relationship with Clara.

This book is also a very good choice for those that are uncomfortable with the technical language of music and music notation. Schumann's music is not dealt with in these terms, but rather in the context of his life and musical development. This treatment is thorough enough, however, that those who are more familiar with music will gain much in reading it.

One quibble I have with the book is that I find Worthen's concept of manic-depressive disorder (bipolar I) very narrow, if not outright wrong at times. For example, he mentions times in which Schumann was particularly agitated and hyper-sensitive for periods of weeks or months. In doing so, he stresses that Schumann is not depressed since he is not showing the classic signs of depression that would characterize the depressive state of manic-depressive disorder, and that he was still able to work effectively through these periods. As someone who is familiar with this subject, my own thoughts are that these periods sound in fact, VERY much like dysphoric MANIC states or mixed states, which are often seen in patients with bipolar disorder and often misinterpreted by non-specialists. With this in mind, I very much doubt that this book has disproved the myth that Schumann had bipolar disorder, and in fact may make the case stronger, though I recognize the almost undeniable role that tertiary syphilis played in Schumann's final years. Worthern is very thorough in this respect, and gives very strong medical evidence to support this.

Solidly researched, splendidly argued, John Worthen's Schumann biography takes an untraditional approach. Every biography of the composer I've read stresses a schizophrenic or bipolar personality leading to madness and death in an asylum. Worthen strenuously argues for a physiological cause for Schumann's end. Even if Worthen turns out to be wrong, I find this the most nuanced account of Schumann's personality, and the prose is tremendous, besides. Worthen does not set out to give us an account of Schumann's music, but of the man. This might be frustrating for people who want to explore the music, but Schumann -- unlike many composers -- had a personality that justifies this kind of approach.

This is an exceptional and fascinating biography of Schumann. Reading about his life brought renewed interest and enthusiasm for Schumann's glorious music. After reading such a book, and I could hardly put it down, I cannot think of a better outcome.
Hats off to you, John Worthen!

John Worthen's book about Robert Schumann deserves to be called one of the best biographies that has ever been written in general, certainly the best on the this Romantic composer.
Alonside the tragedies of Schumann, this book also tells about his daily joys, the elation he felt at times, his sorrows and daily life.
This book, whose main core is about the relationship between Schumann, Clara his wife, and Friedrick Wieck, who was Schumann's father-in-law, reads like a ninetheenth century novel, although its pace is not steady at all. This is the composer's life crafted by a master teller who has demystified Schumann totally by scrutinizing almost every piece written by or about him.
Personally, I think the second half of the book is much more intriguing because it contains many more angles about Schumann's life, friends, family, as well as his sad and tragic fate, including many chapters concerning his last years. Schumann was not only a great Romantic composer, who arrived at the scene of composing relatively late; he was also a great human being, who had many sides and was extremely passionate and resolute.
This is a biography which will surely be the most authoritative one for years to come .

Pros:
Very well written, easy to read. Rather thouroughly documented. Sufficiently illustrated. Academic in the sense that year-long accepted "truths" about Schumann's (mental) health are questioned and challenged. After reading this book I think you have a good picture of the life (and death) of Robert Schumann.

Cons:
It's a tricky business to "diagnose" people deceased centuries ago, only based on diaries, doctor's comments, etc. (what was the level of medical expertise in Leipzig in the first half of the nineteenth century? Some of remarks by several doctor's seem to have been taken at face-value) Although Worthen makes well documented assumptions about Schumann's health, there remains an element of uncertainty and doubt. After all, you never saw the "patient"...
At times I find the book too apologetic towards Schumann. His social skills seem to have been under-developed(creating, on a personal level, problems with visitors, but also on a professional level with choirs and orchestras). Some of his works were not that great, especially some larger-scale works. For these, and other, aspects of Schumann (and his works) Worthen tries hard, but in my view not always very convincing, to find reason's and excuses. And why? Even if he wrote some lesser works, even if he wasn't very social, he is still a great composer of eternally beautiful music.

Also, at some points there are some odd remaks in this book, e.g. when Clara had a miscarriage it is stated that she was not too sad about it (at this point I would have appreciated supporting documentation). Also, the statement that Schumann was the first composer to compose for his children struck me as strange: J.S. Bach e.g. wrote Clavier-Büchlein for his son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (among other works for his other sons).

But still, 4 stars, because when you're interested in the life of the great composer Robert Schumann I think this book is one of the best available. Despite the critical remarkts above I found it hard to put this book down.

Absolutely the most interesting bio I've read in a while. I was pleased to find that Mr Worthen had access to Schumann's diaries and put together so much information about Robert and Clara's life together.
I was also pleased that Worthen didn't subscribe to other biographers views that Schumann was insane at an early stage of his career.
Written beautifully and with obvious admiration of the subject.

This book is well researched & written. It is, as the title indicates, about the daily life of the great composer & his interactions with those around him. There was, for me, further information about his terminal illness, some of it rather unpleasant. It fits in with Dr Oliver Sacks recent book "mucicophilia" who observes that musicians severely incapacitated by many different cerebral diseases often have their musical memory preserved in subcortical centres which can be evoked by various techniques of speech & music therapy. This might help to explain how Schumann, and Schubert, could compose such great music while suffering from a "vile disease". There are many new, for me, insights into Robert & Clara's love life. How he managed to have seven children etc.
What I found strange was that there was only a very cursory mention of Brahms in their ménage a trois. But this would probably merit another book in itself.

Worthen presents a very complete review of Schumann's life and character and his difficulties, both professionally - gaining recognition - and romantically. Indeed Worthen's discussion of the difficulties he and Clara overcame in getting married (eventually) read like a romance story in itself. If there is a criticism, it might be that Schumann's childhood is discussed only briefly. Worthen makes a convincing and thoroughly researched case that Schumann was not "mad" in the sense many biographers have thought. Nonetheless his last years make for sad reading.