Schumann and His World

Description

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

"The seven studies of [Robert Schumann] and his music cover the composer's inspirations, his sources, and his relations with numerous interesting people... [a] well-rounded and interesting picture of the composer and his times."--Library Journal "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."--Times Literary Supplement "Rich in new ideas."--Choice