
The Life of Schumann
Michael Musgrave(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 2. July 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
236 pages
978-1-107-53225-0 (ISBN)
Description
Robert Schumann had a difficult start as a composer. Denied any significant musical upbringing, he took a long time through indirect routes to establish himself as a major composer. Persistent illness also dogged his work. His final catastrophic mental collapse has combined with the autobiographical and secretive aspects of his music to cast for posterity a veil of ominous mystery over his entire life. Yet this is only one view. Schumann battled his personal demons and was acutely self-aware and organized. He transformed himself from a brilliant youthful fantasist in small forms into a composer of extended works in every genre. This book provides a new focus on Schumann as a practical working musician interacting with the professional world to develop his creative gifts to the full, and examines the central role of Clara Wieck Schumann in helping to bring this about.
Reviews / Votes
'Many considerably longer biographies seem to contain less material and are less engaging. Musgrave's research has been extensive, while his judgement is admirably balanced.' Classical Music 'Michael Musgrave's new biography is a welcome corrective to the trend, for while it presents a detailed and lively account of the life, it keeps the main musical issues in clear view.' Music and LettersMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
16 Halftones, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
303 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-53225-0 (9781107532250)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
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Michael Musgrave
The Life of Schumann
Book
05/2011
Cambridge University Press
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The Life of Schumann
Book
Cambridge University Press
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Person
Michael Musgrave is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of London, Visiting Research Fellow at the Royal College of Music, and serves on the Graduate Faculty of the Juilliard School, New York. His field of research is nineteenth- and early twentieth-century German music and English concert life in the same period. His many books include The Musical Life of the Crystal Palace (1995), The Cambridge Companion to Brahms (1999), A Brahms Reader (2000) and, with Bernard D. Sherman, Performing Brahms: Early Evidence of Performance Style (2003), with a CD of historical recordings: this won the 2003 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Best Research in Recorded Classical Music.
Content
Preface: inherited images; 1. A favourable upbringing: Zwickau, 1810-28; 2. Undirected student: Leipzig and Heidelburg, 1828-30; 3. A career in music: Leipzig, 1830-5; 4. The Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik, Clara and new horizons: Leipzig, 1835-40; 5. Married life: Leipzig, 1840-4; 6. Growing ambitions: Dresden, 1844-50; 7. Triumph and decline: Duesseldorf, 1850-4; 8. The end: 1854-6; Perspective and legacy; Further reading.