Schumann and His World (The Bard Music Festival) [Paperback]

R. Larry Todd (Author), Larry Todd (Editor)

Book Description

Series: The Bard Music Festival | Publication Date: August 8, 1994

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 research, this collection offers new perspectives on this seminal 19th-century figure. In Part I, Leon Botstein and Michael P. Steinberg assess Schumann's efforts to place music at the centre 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 far die Jugend", Op. 68, while John Daverio considers the generic identity of "Das Paradies und die Peri", and Jon W. Finson re-examines 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 Part II presents letters and memoirs, including unpublished correspondence between Clara Schumann and Felix and Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

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
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

This volume . . . edited by the American scholar Larry R. Todd, contains a substantial essay on the composer's cultural background, . . . a comparably comprehensive piece . . . linking sociological to psychological motives, . . . and a fascinating account by the editor of Schumann's use of quotation and self-quotation. . . . Parts 2 and 3 of the book reprint letters, memoirs and critical commentaries by Schumann's contemporaries and successors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 8, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691036985
• ISBN-13: 978-0691036984
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,504,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Schumann

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Hats off, folks, . . . a great find!", May 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Schumann and His World (Bard Festival Series) (Hardcover)

Schumann and His World is a marvelous reference for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Schumann: the man, his music, how his contemporaries viewed him, what was happening socially and in the music world at the time, and what a range of historians have to say about all of the above. It is not a biography, but rather a collection of essays, letters, memoirs and musical criticism written by Schumann himself, his 19th century contemporaries (incl Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brendel and Weingartner), and by historians of both the 19th and 20th centuries. As a source of primary materials, it is a terrific companion to a biography (I found Jensen's 2001 biography to be great). For many it may not replace the need for a biography, since there are many references that may not be understood without at least a rudimentary knowledge of Schumann's life and his music. As a lecturer in music history, I can say that this book enriched my overall knowledge of Schumann's life and his music, and the music of his time, by one hundred percent.