Biography of Schumann - the great German composer - like the life of any famous person, was filled with both curious, anecdotal cases, and tragic twists of fate. Why did Schumann not become a virtuoso pianist, as he dreamed of in his youth, and why did he have to choose the composer's path? How did this affect him mental health, and where did the famous author end his life?

Composer Schumann (biography): childhood and youth

Schumann was born on June 8, 1810 in Germany. Zwickau became his hometown. The father of the future composer was a book publisher, a non-poor man, so he sought to give his son a decent education.

From childhood, the boy showed literary abilities - when Robert studied at the gymnasium, then, in addition to composing poems, dramas and comedies, he also organized a literary circle on his own. Under the influence of Jean Paul, the young man even composed a literary novel. Given all these facts, Schumann's biography could have turned out quite differently - the boy could well follow in the footsteps of his father. But the world of music worried Robert more than literary activity.

Schumann, whose biography and work throughout his life were firmly and firmly connected with the art of music, wrote his first at the age of ten. Perhaps this was the first sign that another great composer was born.

Robert Schumann (short biography): career as a pianist

Schumann began to show interest in playing the piano from an early age. He was very impressed by the play of the pianist Moscheles, as well as Paganini. The young man was inspired by the idea of ​​becoming a virtuoso instrumentalist and spared no effort for this.

At first, the future composer took lessons from the organist Kunsht. Under the strict guidance of his first teacher, the boy began to create his own musical works- mostly sketches. After getting acquainted with the work of Schubert, Robert wrote several songs.

However, the parents insisted that their son had a serious education, so Robert went to Leipzig to study law. But Schumann, whose biography, it seemed, could not have turned out differently, is still drawn to music, so he continues to study piano under the guidance of a new teacher, Friedrich Wieck. The latter sincerely believed that his student could become the most virtuoso pianist in Germany.

But Robert pursued his goal too fanatically, so he overdid it with classes - he earned a sprained tendon and said goodbye to his pianist career.

Education

As mentioned above, Schumann studied law at and then at Heidelberg. But Robert never became a lawyer, preferring music.

The beginning of composing

Robert Schumann, whose biography, after being injured, was completely devoted to composing, most likely was very worried about the fact that he would never be able to fulfill his dream and become a famous pianist. The character of the young man changed after that - he became taciturn, too vulnerable, stopped joking and playing his friends as soon as he knew how to do it. Once, while still young, Schumann went into a musical instrument store and jokingly introduced himself as the chamberlain of an English lord, who instructed him to choose a piano for playing music. Robert played all the expensive instruments in the salon, thus amusing onlookers and customers. As a result, Schumann said that in two days he would give the owner of the salon an answer about the purchase, and he, as if nothing had happened, left for another city on his own business.

But in the 30s. he had to say goodbye to his career as a pianist, and the young man devoted himself entirely to creating musical works. It was during this period that he flourished as a composer.

Music features

Schumann worked in the era of romanticism and, of course, this was reflected in his work.

Robert Schumann, whose biography was in a sense filled with personal experiences, wrote psychological music, which was far from folklore motifs. Schumann's works are something "personal". His music is very changeable, which reflects the fact that the composer gradually began to fall ill. Schumann himself did not hide the fact that duality is characteristic of his nature.

The harmonious language of his works is more complex than that of his contemporaries. The rhythm of Schumann's creations is quite whimsical and capricious. But this did not prevent the composer from gaining national fame during his lifetime.

Once, while walking in the park, the composer whistled under his breath a theme from Carnival. One of the passers-by made a remark to him: they say, if you have no hearing, then it’s better not to “spoil” the works of a respected composer.

Among the most famous works composers are as follows:

• romance cycles "Poet's Love", "Circle of Songs";
• piano cycles "Butterflies", "Carnival", "Kreislerian", etc.

Musical newspaper

Schumann, whose brief biography would not have been without literature, did not give up his hobby, and applied his literary talent in journalism. With the support of his many friends connected with the world of music, Schumann founded the New Musical Gazette in 1834. Over time, it has become a periodical and quite influential publication. The composer wrote many articles for publication with his own hand. He welcomed everything new in music, so he supported young composers. By the way, Schumann was one of the first to recognize Chopin's talent and wrote a separate article in his honor. Schumann also supported Liszt, Berlioz, Brahms and many other composers.

Often in his articles, the hero of our story had to rebuff many music critics who spoke unflatteringly about his work. Schumann also "created" not quite in the spirit of the times, so he had to defend his views on the art of music.

Personal life

In 1840, closer to the age of 30, Robert Schumann married. His chosen one was the daughter of his teacher, Friedrich Wick.

Clara Wieck was a fairly well-known and virtuoso pianist. She was also related to composing and supported her husband in all endeavors.

Schumann, whose brief biography by the age of 30 was full of musical activity, had never been married, and it seemed that his own personal life did not bother him much. But before the wedding, he honestly warned his future wife that his character was very difficult: he often acts contrary to close and dear people, for some reason it turns out that he hurts exactly those he loves.

But these shortcomings of the composer did not frighten the bride very much. The marriage took place, and Clara Wieck and Robert Schumann lived in marriage until the end of their days, left behind eight children and were buried in the same cemetery.

Health problems and death

Schumann's biography was full of various events; the composer left behind a rich musical and literary heritage. Such an obsession with his work and life could not pass without a trace. Around the age of 35, the composer began to show the first signs of a serious nervous breakdown. For two years he did not write anything.

And although the composer was given various honors, invited to serious positions, he could no longer return to his former life. His nerves were completely shattered.

At the age of 44, for the first time after a bout of prolonged depression, the composer tried to commit suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine. He was saved, but there were no significant changes in his state of health. Schumann spent two years in a psychiatric hospital and died at the age of 46. During all this time, the composer did not create a single work.

Who knows how the composer's life would have turned out if he hadn't injured his fingers and nevertheless became a pianist... Perhaps Schumann, whose biography was cut off at 46, would have lived a longer life and would not have lost his mind.

By the way, there is a version that the composer injured his fingers by creating a home-made simulator for them, similar to the instruments of Henry Hertz and Tiziano Poli. The essence of the simulators is that the middle finger of the hand was tied to a string, which was attached to the ceiling. This tool was designed to train endurance and amplitude of finger opening. But with inept use, it is possible to tear the tendons in this way.

There is another version according to which Schumann had to be treated for syphilis in the then fashionable way - to inhale mercury vapor, which caused side effect in the form of paralysis of the fingers. But Schumann's wife did not confirm any of these versions.

International Composer Competition

Schumann's biography and his work are so popular in music world that personal competitions and awards are often organized in honor of famous composer. Back in 1956, the first competition for performers of academic music was held in Berlin, which is called the Internationaler Robert-Schumann-Wettbewerb.

The first event was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the composer's death, and the first winners of the competition were the representative of the GDR Annerose Schmidt in the Piano nomination, as well as representatives of the USSR: Alexander Vedernikov, Kira Izotova in the Vocal nomination. Subsequently, contestants from the USSR won prizes almost every year until 1985. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, only in 1996 the competition was won by a representative from Russia - Mikhail Mordvinov in the "Piano" nomination.

Robert Schumann Award

R. Schumann, whose biography and creative heritage have become the pride of world art, presented his name and prizes, which have been awarded to performers of academic music since 1964. The award was established by the administration of the composer's hometown - Zwickau. It is awarded only to those figures who promote the composer's music and bring it to the masses. In 2003, the material component of the award was equal to 10,000 euros.

Until 1989, the names of Soviet artists were often included in the list of prize winners. The representative from Russia then appeared in the list of laureates only in 2000. Olga Loseva became the laureate of the award that year, since then the prize has not been awarded to immigrants from the CIS countries even once.

From the age of 13 he performed as a pianist. From 1828 he studied law at the Universities of Leipzig and Heidelberg and at the same time improved his piano playing skills under the well-known teacher F. Wieck. He studied music theory under the guidance of the composer and conductor G. Dorn (1831-32). He came up with a mechanical device for accelerated finger training, but damaged his right hand, destroying it. dream of becoming a virtuoso pianist. In 1834 he founded the New Musical Journal (Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Leipzig, was the author and editor until 1844) - a progressive organ in German music. Schumann called the circle of like-minded friends who united around the magazine "Davidsbund" (after the name of the biblical song-singer king who defeated the Philistines). In 1840 he married the pianist Clara Wieck (daughter and student of F. Wieck). From 1843, Schumann taught for some time at the Leipzig Conservatory (piano classes, composition and reading scores). Together with his wife, he made a number of concert trips (including to Russia, 1844). From 1844 he lived in Dresden, from 1850 - in Düsseldorf, where, along with composing, he led choirs and conducted a symphony orchestra. Since the end of the 40s. Schumann's mental illness gradually worsened, he spent the last two years of his life in a hospital (Endenich), where he died.

Schumann is one of the brightest representatives of romantic art of the 19th century. Much akin to the poetry of H. Heine, Schumann's work challenged the spiritual poverty of Germany in the 1820s - 40s, called to the world of high humanity. The heir of F. Schubert and K. M. Weber, Schumann developed the democratic and realistic tendencies of German and Austrian musical romanticism. His works are closely connected with the traditions of German classical music. At the same time, Schumann entered the history of music as one of the most daring innovators. Expanding the boundaries and means of the musical language, he sought to convey with completeness and accuracy, on the one hand, the processes of spiritual life, on the other hand, life "outside" - the connections and contrasts of phenomena that form the "drama" of life. Hence, in particular, his desire to closely bring music closer to literature and poetry.

Most of Schumann's piano works are cycles of small pieces of lyrical-dramatic, pictorial and "portrait" genres, internally interconnected and forming a plot-psychological line. One of the most typical cycles is "Carnival" (1835), in which skits, dances, masks, female images (among them Chiarina - Clara Wieck), musical portraits of Paganini, Chopin pass in a motley sequence. The cycles Butterflies (1831, inspired by the works of Jean Paul) and Davidsbündlers (1837) are close to Carnival. The Kreislerian play cycle (1838, named after literary hero E. T. A. Hoffmann - the musician-dreamer Johannes Kreisler) is one of the highest achievements of Schumann. The world of romantic images, passionate melancholy, heroic impulse are reflected in such works for piano by Schumann as "Symphonic etudes" ("Studies in the form of variations", 1834), sonatas (1835, 1835-38, 1836), Fantasia (1836-38) , concerto for piano and orchestra (1841-45). Along with works of variation and sonata types, Schumann has piano cycles, built on the principle of a suite or an album of plays: "Fantastic Fragments" (1837), "Children's Scenes" (1838), "Album for Youth" (1848), etc.

In vocal work, Schumann developed the type of Schubert's lyrical song. In a finely designed drawing of songs, Schumann captured the details of moods, the poetic details of the text, the intonations of lively speech. The role of piano accompaniment, which gives a rich outline of the image and often completes the content of the songs, has significantly increased in Schumann. The most popular of the vocal cycles is “The Poet's Love” to the verses of G. Heine (1840), consisting of 16 songs, including “If the Flowers Guessed”, “Do I Hear Songs Sounds”, “I Meet You in the Garden in the Morning”, “ I'm not angry", "In a dream I cried bitterly", "You are evil, evil songs." Another plot vocal cycle is "Love and Life of a Woman" to the verses by A. Chamisso (1840). Diverse in content, the songs are included in the cycles "Myrtle" to the verses of F. Rückert, J. W. Goethe, R. Burns, G. Heine, J. Byron (1840), "Circle of Songs" to the verses of J. Eichendorff (1840). In vocal ballads and song-scenes, Schumann touched on a very wide range of subjects. bright pattern Schumann's civil lyrics - the ballad "Two Grenadiers" (to the verses of G. Heine). Some of Schumann's songs are simple scenes or everyday portrait sketches: their music is close to German folk song(“Folk Song” to the verses of F. Ruckert, etc.).

In the oratorio "Paradise and Peri" (1843, based on the plot of one of the parts of the "oriental novel" "Lalla Rook" by T. Moore), as well as in "Scenes from Faust" (1844-53, according to J. W. Goethe), Schumann came close to realizing his lifelong dream of creating an opera. Schumann's only completed opera, Genoveva (1848), based on a medieval legend, did not win recognition on stage. Schumann's music for the dramatic poem "Manfred" by J. Byron (overture and 15 musical numbers, 1849) was a creative success. In the composer's 4 symphonies (the so-called "Spring", 1841; 2nd, 1845-46; the so-called "Rhine", 1850; 4th, 1841-51), bright, cheerful moods dominate. The predominant place is occupied in them by episodes of a song, dance, lyrical-pictorial nature.

Schumann is the author of 3 string quartets (1842), 3 piano trios (2 - 1847, 1851), a piano quartet (1842) and a widely popular piano quintet (1842), as well as solo chamber works for string and wind instruments, works for the choir.

Schumann made a great contribution to music criticism. Promoting the work of classical musicians on the pages of his magazine, fighting against the anti-artistic phenomena of our time, he supported the new European romantic school. Schumann scourged virtuoso panache, indifference to art, hiding under the guise of good intentions and false scholarship. The main fictional characters, on whose behalf Schumann spoke on the pages of the press, are the ardent, fiercely daring and ironic Florestan and the gentle dreamer Eusebius. Both of them personified the character traits of the composer himself.

Schumann's ideals were close to the leading musicians of the 19th century. He was highly valued by F. Mendelssohn, G. Berlioz, F. Liszt. In Russia, Schumann's work was promoted by A. G. Rubinshtein, P. I. Tchaikovsky, G. A. Laroche, and the leaders of the Mighty Handful.

Best of the day

Schumann's work is one of the pinnacles of the world musical Art XIX century. Cutting edge aesthetic trends German culture period 20-40-ies found a vivid expression in his music. The contradictions inherent in Schumann's creativity reflected complex contradictions public life his time. Schumann's art is imbued with that restless, rebellious spirit that makes him related to Byron, Heine, Hugo, Berlioz, Wagner and many other outstanding artists of the first half of the century.

In 1830, the composer's mental discord, forced to practice law, led to the fact that Schumann left Heidelberg and its academic environment and returned to Leipzig to Wieck to devote himself entirely and forever to music.

The years spent in Leipzig (from the end of 1830 to 1844) are the most fruitful in Schumann's work. He seriously injured his hand, and this deprived him of hope for a career as a virtuoso performer. Then he turned all his outstanding talent, energy and propagandistic temperament to composition and music-critical activity.

The rapid flowering of his creative powers is amazing. The bold, original, finished style of his first works seems almost implausible. "Butterflies" (1829-1831), variations "Abegg" (1830), "Symphonic Studies" (1834), "Carnival" (1834-1835), "Fantasy" (1836), "Fantastic Pieces" (1837), " Kreislerian" (1838) and many other works for piano of the 30s opened a new page in the history of musical art.

On that early period almost all of Schumann's remarkable publicistic activity also accounts for.

In 1834, with the participation of a number of his friends (L. Schunke, J. Knorr, F. Wieck), Schumann founded the New Musical Journal. This was the practical realization of Schumann's dream of a union of progressive artists, which he called the "David Brotherhood" ("Davidsbund"). The main purpose of the magazine was, as Schumann himself wrote, "to raise the fallen value of art." Emphasizing the ideological and progressive nature of his publication, Schumann provided it with the motto "Youth and Movement". And as an epigraph to the first issue, he chose a phrase from Shakespeare's work: "... Only those who came to watch a cheerful farce will be deceived."

In the “era of Thalberg” (Schumann’s expression), when empty virtuoso plays thundered from the stage and the art of entertainment was flooded with concert and theater halls, Schumann's magazine in general, and his articles in particular, made a stunning impression. These articles are remarkable, first of all, for their persistent propaganda of the great heritage of the past, a "pure source," as Schumann called it, "from where one can draw new artistic beauties." His analyzes, revealing the content of the music of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, amaze with their depth and understanding of the spirit of history. The crushing, full of irony criticism of modern pop composers, whom Schumann called "art dealers", has largely retained its social acuteness for the bourgeois culture of our days.

No less striking is Schumann's sensitivity in recognizing genuine new talents and appreciating their humanistic significance. Time has confirmed the infallibility of Schumann's musical predictions. He was one of the first to welcome the work of Chopin, Berlioz, Liszt, Brahms. In Chopin's music, behind its elegant lyricism, Schumann saw the revolutionary content before others, saying about the works of the Polish composer that they were "cannons covered with flowers."

The work of the German composer Robert Schumann is inseparable from his personality. A representative of the Leipzig school, Schumann was a prominent spokesman for the ideas of romanticism in musical art. "The mind is wrong, the feeling - never" - this was his creative credo, to which he remained faithful throughout his short life. Such are his works, filled with deeply personal experiences - sometimes bright and sublime, sometimes gloomy and oppressive, but extremely sincere in every note.

Read a brief biography of Robert Schumann and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.

Brief biography of Schumann

On June 8, 1810, a joyful event took place in the small Saxon town of Zwickau - the fifth child was born in the family of August Schumann, a boy named Robert. Parents then could not even suspect that this date, like their name younger son, will go down in history and become the property of the world musical culture. They were absolutely far from music.

The father of the future composer August Schumann was engaged in book publishing and was sure that his son would follow in his footsteps. Feeling literary talent in the boy, he managed to early childhood instill in him a love of writing and taught him to deeply and subtly feel the artistic word. Like his father, the boy read Jean Paul and Byron, absorbing all the charm of romanticism from the pages of their works. He retained his passion for literature for the rest of his life, but music became his own life.

According to Schumann's biography, Robert began taking piano lessons at the age of seven. And two years later, an event occurred that predetermined his fate. Schumann attended a concert by pianist and composer Moscheles. The virtuoso's playing so shocked Robert's young imagination that he could not think of anything else but music. He continues to improve in playing the piano and at the same time tries to compose.

After graduating from high school, the young man, yielding to his mother's desire, enters the University of Leipzig to study law, but future profession he is not interested in anything. Studying seems unbearably boring to him. Secretly, Schumann continues to dream about music. The famous musician Friedrich Wieck becomes his next teacher. Under his guidance, he improves his piano technique and, in the end, admits to his mother that he wants to be a musician. Friedrich Wieck helps break parental resistance, believing that a bright future awaits his ward. Schumann is obsessed with the desire to become a virtuoso pianist and give concerts. But at 21, an injury right hand puts an end to his dreams forever.

After recovering from the shock, he decides to devote his life to composing music. From 1831 to 1838, his inspired fantasy gives birth to the piano cycles “Variations”, “ Carnival ”,“ Butterflies ”,“ Fantastic plays ”,“ Children's scenes ”, “Kreisleriana”. At the same time, Schumann is actively engaged in journalistic activities. He creates the New Musical Newspaper, in which he advocates the development of a new direction in music that meets the aesthetic principles of romanticism, where creativity is based on feelings, emotions, experiences, and young talents are actively supported on the pages of the newspaper.

The year 1840 was marked for the composer by a coveted marriage union with Clara Wieck. Experiencing an extraordinary spiritual uplift, he creates cycles of songs that have immortalized his name. Among them - " Poet's love ”, “Myrtle”, “Love and life of a woman”. Together with his wife, they tour a lot, including giving concerts in Russia, where they are received very enthusiastically. Moscow and especially the Kremlin made a great impression on Schumann. This trip was one of the last happy moments in the life of the composer. The collision with reality, filled with constant worries about daily bread, led to the first bouts of depression. In his desire to provide for his family, he moves first to Dresden, then to Düsseldorf, where he is offered the post of music director. But very quickly it turns out that the talented composer can hardly cope with the duties of a conductor. Feelings about his failure in this capacity, the material difficulties of the family, in which he considers himself guilty, become the reasons for a sharp deterioration in his state of mind. From the biography of Schumann, we learn that in 1954 a rapidly developing mental illness nearly drove the composer to suicide. Fleeing from visions and hallucinations, he ran out of the house half-dressed and threw himself into the waters of the Rhine. He was saved, but after this incident he had to be placed in a psychiatric hospital, from where he never left. He was only 46 years old.

Interesting facts about Robert Schumann

• Schumann's name is international competition performers of academic music, which is called - Internationaler Robert-Schumann-Wettbewerb. It was first held in 1956 in Berlin.
• Exists music award named after Robert Schumann, established by the city hall of Zwickau. The laureates of the award are honored, according to tradition, on the composer's birthday - June 8th. Among them are musicians, conductors and musicologists who have made a significant contribution to the popularization of the composer's works.
• Schumann can be considered godfather» Johannes Brahms. Being the editor-in-chief of the Novaya Musical Newspaper and a respected music critic, he was very flattering about the talent of the young Brahms, calling him a genius. Thus, for the first time, he drew the attention of the general public to the novice composer.
• Adherents of music therapy recommend listening to Schumann's "Dreams" for a restful sleep.

• As a teenager, Schumann, under the strict guidance of his father, worked as a proofreader on the creation of a dictionary from Latin.
• In honor of the 200th anniversary of Schumann in Germany, a 10 euro silver coin with a portrait of the composer was issued. The coin is engraved with a phrase from the composer's diary: "Sounds are sublime words."

• Schumann left not only a rich musical legacy, but also a literary one, mostly autobiographical. Throughout his life, he kept diaries - "Studententagebuch" (Student diaries), "Lebensbucher" (Books of life), there is also "Eheta-gebiicher" (Marriage diaries) and "Reiseta-gebucher" (Road diaries). In addition, his pen belongs literary notes"Brautbuch" (Diary for the bride), "Erinnerungsbtichelchen fiir unsere Kinder" (Booklets of memories for our children), Lebensskizze (Outline of life) 1840, "Musikalischer Lebenslauf -Materialien - alteste musikalische Erinne-rungen" ( Music life- materials - early musical memories), "The Book of Projects", which describes the process of writing his own musical works, as well as his children's poems.
• On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the German romantic, a postage stamp was issued in the USSR.
• On their wedding day, Schumann presented his fiancee Clara Wieck with a cycle of romantic songs "Myrtle", which he wrote in her honor. Clara did not remain in debt and decorated the wedding dress with a myrtle wreath.

• Schumann's wife Clara tried all her life to promote her husband's work, including his works in her concerts. She gave her last concert at the age of 72.
• The composer's youngest son was named Felix - in honor of Schumann's friend and colleague Felix Mendelssohn.
• romantic love story Clara and Robert Schumann was filmed. In 1947, the American film Song of Love was shot, where the role of Clara was played by Katharine Hepburn.

Personal life of Robert Schumann

The main woman in the life of the German composer was the brilliant pianist Clara Wieck. Clara was the daughter of one of the best music teachers of his time, Friedrich Wieck, from whom Schumann took piano lessons. When the 18-year-old boy first heard Clara's inspirational play, she was only 8 years old. The talented girl was destined for a brilliant career. First of all, her father dreamed about it. That is why Friedrich Wieck, who provided all possible support to Schumann in his desire to connect his life with music, turned from the patron of the young composer into his evil genius when he learned about the feelings of his daughter and his student. He was strongly opposed to Clara's union with a poor unknown musician. But the young people showed in this case all the firmness of spirit and strength of character, proving to everyone that their mutual love is able to withstand any test. To be with her chosen one, Clara decided to break up with her father. Schumann's biography says that in 1840 young people got married.

Despite the deep feeling that bound the spouses, their family life was not cloudless. Clara combined concert activity with the role of wife and mother, she gave birth to eight children to Schumann. The composer suffered and worried from the fact that he could not provide the family with a decent comfortable existence, but Clara remained his faithful companion all her life, trying in every possible way to support her husband. She survived Schumann by as much as 40 years. She was buried next to her husband.

Schumann's mysteries

• Schumann had a penchant for hoaxes. So, he came up with two characters - the ardent Florestan and the melancholy Eusebius, and signed his articles with them in the New Musical Newspaper. The articles were written in a completely different manner, and the public was unaware that the same person was hiding behind the two pseudonyms. But the composer went even further. He announced that there was a kind of David's brotherhood ("Davidsbund") - a union of like-minded people who are ready to fight for advanced art. Subsequently, he admitted that "Davidsbund" is a figment of his imagination.
• There are many versions explaining why the composer developed hand paralysis in his youth. One of the most common is that Schumann, in his desire to become a virtuoso pianist, invented a special simulator for stretching the hand and developing finger flexibility, but in the end he was injured, which then led to paralysis. However, Schumann's wife Clara Wieck has always denied this rumor.
• A chain of mystical events is connected with Schumann's only violin concerto. One day, during a séance, two sister violinists received a demand, which, according to them, came from the spirit of Schumann, to find and play his violin concerto, the manuscript of which is kept in Berlin. And so it happened: the concert score was found in the Berlin library.

• No less questions are raised by the cello concerto of the German composer. Shortly before the suicide attempt, the maestro was working on just this score. A manuscript with corrections remained on the table, but due to illness, he never returned to this work. The concerto was first performed after the composer's death in 1860. There is a distinct emotional imbalance in the music, but the main thing is that its score is so difficult for a cellist that one might think that the composer did not take into account the specifics and possibilities of this instrument at all. Literally until recently, cellists coped with the task as best they could. Shostakovich even made his own orchestration of this concerto. And only recently archival materials have been discovered, from which we can conclude that the concerto was not intended for the cello, but for ... the violin. It is difficult to say how true this fact is, but, according to music experts, if the same original music is played on the violin, the difficulties and inconveniences that performers have been complaining about for almost a century and a half disappear by themselves.

Schumann's music in cinema

The figurative expressiveness of Schumann's music ensured her popularity in the world of cinema. Very often, the works of the German composer, in whose work the theme of childhood occupies a large place, are used as musical accompaniment in paintings that tell about children and adolescents. And the gloom, drama, quirkiness of images inherent in a number of his works, are most organically woven into paintings with a mystical or fantastic plot.

Musical works	Movies
Arabesque, Op. eighteen	Dirty Grandpa (2016), Supernatural (2014), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
"Slumber Song" ("Lullaby")	Buffalo (2015)
"About foreign countries and people" from the cycle "Children's scenes"	"Mozart in the Jungle" (TV series 2014)
Piano Concerto in A minor Op 54-1	"Butler" (2013)
"In the Evening" from the series "Fantastic Pieces"	"Free People" (2011)
"Baby Scenes"
"Poet's Love"	"Adjuster" (2010)
"From what?" from the series "Fantastic Pieces"	"True Blood" (2008)
"The Bold Rider" from the cycle "Children's Album", Piano Concerto in A minor	"Vitus" (2006)
"Carnival"	"White Countess" (2006)
Piano Quintet in E Flat Major	"Tristram Shandy: The Story of the Cockerel and the Bull" (2005)
Cello Concerto in A minor	"Frankenstein" (2004)
Concerto for cello and orchestra	"The Client is Always Dead" (2004)
"Dreams"	"Beyond" (2003)
"Merry Farmer" song	"The Forsyte Saga" (2002)

Schumann had a trait that was noted by many contemporaries - he came to sincere admiration when he saw talent in front of him. At the same time, he himself did not experience noisy fame and recognition during his lifetime. Today it is our turn to pay tribute to the composer and the man who gave the world not just unusually emotional music, but himself in it. Having not received a fundamental musical education, he created real masterpieces that only a mature master can do. In a literal sense, he set his whole life to music without lying about it in a single note.

Video: watch a film about Robert Schumann

To shed light into the depths of the human heart - such is the vocation of the artist.
R. Schumann

P. Tchaikovsky believed that future generations would call the 19th century. Schumann's period in the history of music. And indeed, Schumann's music captured the main thing in the art of his time - its content was the "mysteriously deep processes of the spiritual life" of a person, its purpose - penetration into the "depths of the human heart."

R. Schumann was born in the provincial Saxon town of Zwickau, in the family of the publisher and bookseller August Schumann, who died early (1826), but managed to pass on to his son a reverent attitude towards art and encouraged him to study music with the local organist I. Kuntsch. FROM early years Schumann loved to improvise on the piano, at the age of 13 he wrote a Psalm for choir and orchestra, but no less than music, he was attracted to literature, in the study of which he made great strides during his years at the gymnasium. The romantically inclined young man was not at all interested in jurisprudence, which he studied at the universities of Leipzig and Heidelberg (1828-30).

Classes with the famous piano teacher F. Wieck, attending concerts in Leipzig, acquaintance with the works of F. Schubert contributed to the decision to devote himself to music. With difficulty overcoming the resistance of his relatives, Schumann began intensive piano lessons, but a disease in his right hand (due to mechanical training of the fingers) closed his career as a pianist for him. With all the greater enthusiasm, Schumann devotes himself to composing music, takes composition lessons from G. Dorn, studies the work of J. S. Bach and L. Beethoven. Already the first published piano works (Variations on a theme by Abegg, "Butterflies", 1830-31) showed the independence of the young author.

Since 1834, Schumann became the editor and then the publisher of the New Musical Journal, which aimed to fight against the superficial works of virtuoso composers who flooded the concert stage at that time, with handicraft imitation of the classics, for a new, deep art, illuminated by poetic inspiration . In their articles, written in the original art form- often in the form of scenes, dialogues, aphorisms, etc. - Schumann presents the reader with the ideal of true art, which he sees in the works of F. Schubert and F. Mendelssohn, F. Chopin and G. Berlioz, in the music of the Viennese classics, in the game of N. Paganini and the young pianist Clara Wieck - the daughter of her teacher. Schumann managed to gather around him like-minded people who appeared on the pages of the magazine as Davidsbündlers - members of the "David Brotherhood" ("Davidsbund"), a kind of spiritual union of genuine musicians. Schumann himself often signed his reviews with the names of fictitious Davidsbündlers Florestan and Eusebius. Florestan is prone to violent ups and downs of fantasy, to paradoxes, the judgments of the dreamy Eusebius are softer. In the suite of characteristic plays "Carnival" (1834-35), Schumann creates musical portraits of the Davidsbündlers - Chopin, Paganini, Clara (under the name of Chiarina), Eusebius, Florestan.

The highest tension of mental strength and the highest ups of creative genius (“Fantastic Pieces”, “Dances of the Davidsbündlers”, Fantasia in C major, “Kreisleriana”, “Novelettes”, “Humoresque”, “Viennese Carnival”) brought Schumann the second half of the 30s. , which passed under the sign of the struggle for the right to unite with Clara Wieck (F. Wieck in every possible way prevented this marriage). In an effort to find a wider arena for his musical and journalistic activities, Schumann spends the 1838-39 season. in Vienna, but the Metternich administration and censorship prevented the journal from being published there. In Vienna, Schumann discovered the manuscript of Schubert's "great" Symphony in C major, one of the pinnacles of romantic symphonism.

1840 - the year of the long-awaited union with Clara - became for Schumann the year of songs. An extraordinary sensitivity to poetry, a deep knowledge of the work of contemporaries contributed to the realization in numerous song cycles and individual songs of a true union with poetry, the exact embodiment in music of the individual poetic intonation of G. Heine (“Circle of Songs” op. 24, “The Poet's Love”), I. Eichendorff (“Circle of Songs”, op. 39), A. Chamisso (“Love and Life of a Woman”), R. Burns, F. Ruckert, J. Byron, H. X. Andersen and others. And subsequently, the field of vocal creativity continued to grow wonderful works(“Six Poems by N. Lenau” and Requiem - 1850, “Songs from “Wilhelm Meister” by I. V. Goethe” - 1849, etc.).

The life and work of Schumann in the 40-50s. flowed in an alternation of ups and downs, largely associated with bouts of mental illness, the first signs of which appeared as early as 1833. Upsurges of creative energy marked the beginning of the 40s, the end of the Dresden period (the Schumanns lived in the capital of Saxony in 1845-50. ), coinciding with the revolutionary events in Europe, and the beginning of life in Düsseldorf (1850). Schumann composes a lot, teaches at the Leipzig Conservatory, which opened in 1843, and from the same year begins to perform as a conductor. In Dresden and Düsseldorf, he also directs the choir, devoting himself to this work with enthusiasm. Of the few tours made with Clara, the longest and most impressive was a trip to Russia (1844). Since the 60-70s. Schumann's music very quickly became an integral part of Russian musical culture. She was loved by M. Balakirev and M. Mussorgsky, A. Borodin and especially Tchaikovsky, who considered Schumann the most outstanding contemporary composer. A brilliant performer of Schumann's piano works was A. Rubinstein.

Creativity of the 40-50s. marked by a significant expansion of the range of genres. Schumann writes symphonies (First - "Spring", 1841, Second, 1845-46; Third - "Rhine", 1850; Fourth, 1841-1st ed., 1851 - 2nd ed.), chamber ensembles (3 strings quartet - 1842, 3 trios, piano quartet and quintet, ensembles with the participation of the clarinet - including "Fabulous Narratives" for clarinet, viola and piano, 2 sonatas for violin and piano, etc.); concertos for pianoforte 1841-45), cello (1850), violin (1853); program concert overtures (“The Bride of Messina” by Schiller, 1851; “Hermann and Dorothea” by Goethe and “Julius Caesar” by Shakespeare - 1851), demonstrating mastery in handling classical forms. The Piano Concerto and the Fourth Symphony stand out for their boldness in their renewal, the Quintet in E flat major for the exceptional harmony of embodiment and the inspiration of musical thoughts. One of the culminations of the composer's entire work was the music for Byron's dramatic poem "Manfred" (1848) - the most important milestone in the development of romantic symphonism on the way from Beethoven to Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Brahms. Schumann does not betray his beloved piano either (Forest Scenes, 1848-49 and other pieces) - it is his sound that endows his chamber ensembles and vocal lyrics with special expressiveness. The search for the composer in the field of vocal and dramatic music was tireless (the oratorio "Paradise and Peri" by T. Moore - 1843; Scenes from Goethe's "Faust", 1844-53; ballads for soloists, choir and orchestra; works of sacred genres, etc.) . The staging in Leipzig of Schumann's only opera Genoveva (1847-48) based on F. Gobbel and L. Tieck, similar in plot to the German romantic "knightly" operas by K. M. Weber and R. Wagner, did not bring him success.

The great event of the last years of Schumann's life was his meeting with the twenty-year-old Brahms. The article "New Ways", in which Schumann predicted a great future for his spiritual heir (he always treated young composers with extraordinary sensitivity), completed his publicistic activity. In February 1854, a severe attack of illness led to a suicide attempt. After spending 2 years in a hospital (Endenich, near Bonn), Schumann died. Most of the manuscripts and documents are kept in his House-Museum in Zwickau (Germany), where competitions of pianists, vocalists and chamber ensembles named after the composer are regularly held.

Schumann's work marked the mature stage of musical romanticism with its heightened attention to the embodiment of complex psychological processes. human life. Schumann's piano and vocal cycles, many of the chamber-instrumental, symphonic works opened a new art world, new forms of musical expression. Schumann's music can be imagined as a series of surprisingly capacious musical moments, capturing the changing and very finely differentiated mental states of a person. These can also be musical portraits, accurately capturing both the external character and inner essence depicted.

Schumann gave programmatic titles to many of his works, which were designed to excite the imagination of the listener and performer. His work is very closely connected with literature - with the work of Jean Paul (I. P. Richter), T. A. Hoffmann, G. Heine and others. Schumann miniatures can be compared with lyric poems, more detailed plays - with poems, short stories, romantic stories, where different storylines are sometimes bizarrely intertwined, the real turns into fantastic, there are digressions etc. Hoffmann's hero - the insane Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, who frightens the townsfolk with his fanatical devotion to music - gave the name "Kreislerians" - one of the most inspired Schumann creations. In this cycle of piano fantasy pieces, as well as in the vocal cycle on Heine's poems "The Love of a Poet", the image of a romantic artist arises, a true poet, capable of feeling infinitely sharp, "strong, fiery and tender", sometimes forced to hide his true essence under a mask irony and buffoonery, in order to later reveal it even more sincerely and cordially or plunge into deep thought ... Byron's Manfred is endowed by Schumann with sharpness and strength of feeling, the madness of a rebellious impulse, in whose image there are also philosophical and tragic features. Lyrically animated images of nature, fantastic dreams, ancient legends and legends, images of childhood ("Children's Scenes" - 1838; piano (1848) and vocal (1849) "Albums for Youth") complement the artistic world of the great musician, "a poet par excellence", as V. Stasov called him.

E. Tsareva

Schuman's words "to illuminate the depths of the human heart - this is the purpose of the artist" - a direct path to the knowledge of his art. Few people can compare with Schumann in the penetration with which he conveys sounds subtle nuances life human soul. The world of feelings is an inexhaustible spring of his musical and poetic images.

No less remarkable is another statement by Schumann: “One should not plunge too much into oneself, while it is easy to lose a sharp look at the world". And Schumann followed own advice. At the age of twenty he took up the struggle against inertia and philistinism. (philistine is a collective German word that personifies a tradesman, a person with backward philistine views on life, politics, art) in art. A fighting spirit, rebellious and passionate, filled his musical works and his bold, daring critical articles who paved the way for new progressive phenomena of art.

Irreconcilability to routinism, vulgarity Schumann carried through his whole life. But the disease, which grew stronger every year, aggravated the nervousness and romantic sensitivity of his nature, often hindered the enthusiasm and energy with which he devoted himself to musical and social activities. The complexity of the ideological socio-political situation in Germany at that time also had an effect. Nevertheless, in the conditions of a semi-feudal reactionary state system, Schumann managed to preserve the purity of moral ideals, constantly maintain in himself and arouse in others creative burning.

“Without enthusiasm, nothing real is created in art,” these wonderful words of the composer reveal the essence of his creative aspirations. A sensitive and deeply thinking artist, he could not help but respond to the call of the times, to succumb to the inspiring influence of the era of revolutions and national liberation wars that shook Europe in the first half of the 19th century.

The romantic unusualness of musical images and compositions, the passion that Schumann brought into all his activities, disturbed the sleepy peace of the German philistines. It is no coincidence that Schumann's work was hushed up by the press and did not find recognition in his homeland for a long time. Schumann's life path was difficult. From the very beginning, the struggle for the right to become a musician determined the tense and sometimes nervous atmosphere of his life. The collapse of dreams was sometimes replaced by a sudden realization of hopes, moments of acute joy - deep depression. All this was imprinted in the quivering pages of Schumann's music.

To Schumann's contemporaries, his work seemed mysterious and inaccessible. A peculiar musical language, new images, new forms - all this required too deep listening and tension, unusual for the audience of concert halls.

The experience of Liszt, who tried to promote Schumann's music, ended rather sadly. In a letter to Schumann's biographer, Liszt wrote: "Many times I had such a failure with Schumann's plays both in private homes and in public concerts that I lost the courage to put them on my posters."

But even among musicians, Schumann's art made its way to understanding with difficulty. Not to mention Mendelssohn, to whom the rebellious spirit of Schumann was deeply alien, the same Liszt - one of the most insightful and sensitive artists - accepted Schumann only partially, allowing himself such liberties as performing "Carnival" with cuts.

Only since the 1950s, Schumann's music began to take root in the musical and concert life, to acquire more and more broad circles adherents and admirers. Among the first people who noted its true value were leading Russian musicians. Anton Grigoryevich Rubinshtein played Schumann a lot and willingly, and it was with the performance of "Carnival" and "Symphonic Etudes" that he made a huge impression on the audience.

Love for Schumann was repeatedly testified by Tchaikovsky and the leaders of the Mighty Handful. Tchaikovsky spoke especially penetratingly about Schumann, noting the exciting modernity of Schumann's work, the novelty of the content, the novelty of the composer's own musical thinking. “Schumann’s music,” wrote Tchaikovsky, “organically adjoining Beethoven’s work and at the same time sharply separating from it, opens up a whole world of new musical forms to us, touches strings that his great predecessors have not yet touched. In it we find an echo of those mysterious spiritual processes of our spiritual life, those doubts, despairs and impulses towards the ideal that overwhelm the heart of modern man.

Schumann belongs to the second generation of romantic musicians who replaced Weber, Schubert. Schumann in many respects started from the late Schubert, from that line of his work, in which lyrical-dramatic and psychological elements played a decisive role.

Main creative theme Schumann - the world of internal states of a person, his psychological life. There are features in the appearance of Schumann's hero that are akin to Schubert's, there is also a lot of new, inherent in the artist of a different generation, with a complicated and contradictory system of thoughts and feelings. Artistic and poetic images of Schumann, more fragile and refined, were born in the mind, acutely perceiving the ever-increasing contradictions of the time. It was this heightened acuteness of reaction to the phenomena of life that created extraordinary tension and strength of the "impact of Schumann's ardor of feelings" (Asafiev). None of Schumann's Western European contemporaries, except for Chopin, has such passion and a variety of emotional nuances.

In the nervously receptive nature of Schumann, the feeling of a gap between a thinking, deeply feeling personality and the real conditions of the surrounding reality, experienced by the progressive artists of the era, is exacerbated to the extreme. He seeks to fill the incompleteness of existence with his own fantasy, to oppose an unsightly life with an ideal world, the realm of dreams and poetic fiction. Ultimately, this led to the fact that the multiplicity of life phenomena began to shrink to the limits of the personal sphere, inner life. Self-deepening, focus on one's feelings, one's experiences strengthened the growth of the psychological principle in Schumann's work.

Nature, everyday life, the entire objective world, as it were, depend on the given state of the artist, are colored in the tones of his personal mood. Nature in Schumann's work does not exist outside of his experiences; it always reflects his own emotions, takes on a color corresponding to them. The same can be said about the fabulous-fantastic images. In the work of Schumann, in comparison with the work of Weber or Mendelssohn, the connection with the fabulousness generated by folk ideas is noticeably weakening. Schumann's fantasy is rather a fantasy of his own visions, sometimes bizarre and capricious, caused by the play of artistic imagination.

The strengthening of subjectivity and psychological motives, often the autobiographical nature of creativity, does not detract from the exceptional universal value of Schumann's music, for these phenomena are deeply typical of Schumann's era. Belinsky spoke remarkably about the significance of the subjective principle in art: “In a great talent, an excess of an inner, subjective element is a sign of humanity. Do not be afraid of this direction: it will not deceive you, it will not mislead you. The great poet, speaking of himself, of his I, speaks of the general - of humanity, because in his nature lies everything that humanity lives by. And therefore, in his sadness, in his soul, everyone recognizes his own and sees in him not only poet, but human his brother in humanity. Recognizing him as a being incomparably higher than himself, everyone at the same time recognizes his kinship with him.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was a German composer, music critic and teacher. One of outstanding musicians era of such artistic direction in art, like romanticism. He was predicted the future of the best pianist in Europe, but Robert injured his hand and could no longer play on musical instrument, in this regard, devoted his life to writing music.

Parents

Robert was born on June 8, 1810 in the German town of Zwickau, located in picturesque Saxony.

The head of the family, Friedrich August Schumann, was the son of an impoverished priest from Ronnenburg. He had a natural talent for poetry. However, the poverty in which his childhood and youth passed made the guy part with his dreams of poetry and engage in trading. After graduating from school, he entered the service of a merchant as an apprentice. But trade was extremely disgusting to him, while Friedrich August read books to the point of madness. In the end, he left the merchant, returned home to his parents and took up the literary business. The novel he wrote was not published, but became an occasion to get acquainted with booksellers. Schumann was invited to work as an assistant in a bookstore, and he gladly accepted.

Soon, Friedrich August met a charming girl, Johann Christiana Schnabel, whom he loved with all his heart. Their marriage was opposed by the bride's parents due to the extreme poverty of the groom. But the persistent Schumann worked so hard for a year that he saved up money not only for the wedding, but also to open his own bookstore. When the trading business went especially well, Friedrich August moved them to the city of Zwickau, where he opened a store called the Schumann Brothers.

Robert Schumann's mother, Johann Christian, in contrast to her withdrawn and serious husband, was a cheerful, hot-tempered, sometimes quick-tempered, but very kind woman. She took care of the house and the upbringing of children, of whom there were five in the family - sons (Karl, Edward, Julius, Robert) and daughter Emilia.

The future composer was the most youngest child in family. After his birth, his mother fell into some kind of exalted delight and concentrated all her thoughts on Robert. maternal love. She called the youngest child "a bright spot on her life path."

Childhood

Schumann grew up playful and cheerful child. The boy was very handsome, with a delicately shaped face, which was framed by long blond curls. He was not only his mother's favorite son, but also the darling of the whole family. Adults and children calmly endured Robert's pranks and whims.

At the age of six, the boy was sent to Dener's school. Among classmates, Schumann immediately began to stand out and excel. In all games, he was the leader, and when they played their favorite game - soldiers, Robert was certainly elected commander and led the battle.

It cannot be said that Schumann studied brilliantly at school, but his rich creative nature manifested itself immediately. Finding an excellent child ear for music, at the age of seven, his parents sent him to a local organist to learn to play the piano. In addition to musicality, paternal genes also appeared in Robert, the boy composed poetry, a little later, tragedies and comedies, which they learned with comrades and demonstrated, sometimes even for a moderate fee.

As soon as Robert learned to play the piano, he immediately began to improvise and write music. At first, he composed dances, which he painstakingly wrote down in a thick music notebook. The most unique thing that he managed to do on a musical instrument was to depict character traits with the help of sounds. This is how he painted his friends on the piano. It came out so great that the boys gathered around young composer, rolled with laughter.

Passion for music

Schumann hesitated for a long time what to devote his life path- music or literature? The father, of course, wanted his son to fulfill his unfulfilled dreams and become a writer or poet. But everything was decided by chance. In 1819, in Karlsbad, the boy got to the concert of Moscheles. The virtuoso's playing made an extraordinary impression on the young Schumann, he then kept the concert program for a long time, like a shrine. From that day on, Robert realized that his heart finally and irrevocably belonged to music.

In 1828, the young man graduated from the gymnasium, receiving a diploma of the first degree. The joy of this was slightly overshadowed by the upcoming choice of career and profession. By this time, his father had died, and Robert had lost all creative support. Mom insisted on further legal education. After listening to her persuasion, Robert became a student at the University of Leipzig. In 1829, he transferred to one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in Germany - the University of Heidelberg.

But the heart of the young composer yearned for music, and in 1830 Schumann received permission from his mother to quit his law studies and take up creative activity.

Creation

He returned to Leipzig, found good mentors and took up piano lessons. Robert wanted to become a virtuoso pianist. But during his studies, he suffered a paralysis of the middle and index fingers, because of which he had to give up his dream and focus on musical writing. Simultaneously with the composition, he took up music criticism.

In 1834 he founded an influential periodical, the New Musical Gazette. For several years he was its editor and published his articles there.

Robert wrote most of his works for the piano. Basically, these are “portrait”, lyrical-dramatic and visual cycles of several small plays, which are interconnected by a plot-psychological line:

• "Butterflies" (1831);
• "Carnival" (1834);
• The Davidsbündlers, Fantastic Fragments (1837);
• "Kreisleriana", "Children's Scenes" (1838);
• "The Love of a Poet" (1840);
• "Album for Youth" (1848).

In 1840, Robert was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Leipzig. This year in general became the most fruitful for the composer in his work, inspired by his marriage to his beloved woman, he wrote about 140 songs.

In 1843, Felix Mendelssohn founded in Leipzig high school music and theater (now the conservatory), Schumann was engaged in teaching composition and piano, reading scores.

In 1844 Robert interrupted his teaching activities and work in a musical newspaper, as he and his wife went on a tour to Moscow and St. Petersburg. They were received very warmly there. Clara played with the Empress herself, and Schumann started a lot of useful acquaintances. The spouses were especially impressed by the luxury of the Winter Palace.

Returning from Russia, Robert refused to continue to publish a newspaper and devoted himself entirely to writing music. But such a diligent zeal for work began to have a detrimental effect on his condition. The composer was also upset by the fact that he was met everywhere as the husband of the famous pianist Clara Wieck. Traveling with my wife tours, he became more and more convinced that his fame did not go beyond Leipzig and Dresden. But Robert never envied his wife's success, because it was Clara who was the first performer of all Schumann's works and made his music famous.

Personal life

In September 1840, Robert married the daughter of his musical mentor Friedrich Wieck. This marriage met many obstacles along the way. With all due respect to Schumann, Friedrich Wieck wanted a more suitable suitor for his daughter. The lovers even resorted to the last resort - they went to court with a request to decide their fate.

The court ruled in favor of the young, and they played a modest wedding in the village of Shenfeld. Schumann's dream came true, now his beloved Clara Wieck and the piano were next to him. A brilliant pianist joined with a great composer, they had eight children - four girls and four boys. The couple were insanely happy until Robert began to have mental disorders.

last years of life

In 1850, Schumann was invited to Dusseldorf to take the place of the city director of music. Arriving with his wife in this city, they were amazed at the warm welcome they received. Robert happily began to work in a new position: he led spiritual concerts in the church, worked with the choir every week, managed symphony orchestras.

Under fresh impressions in Düsseldorf, the composer created the Rhine Symphony, the Bride of Messina, overtures to Shakespeare's drama Julius Caesar and Goethe's Hermann and Dorothea.

However, quarrels with the orchestra soon began, and in 1853 Schumann's contract was not renewed. He and his wife left to travel to Holland, but symptoms of mental illness began to appear there. Back in Germany, things didn't get any easier. On the contrary, apathy and signs of illness intensified. The consciousness of such a sad state prompted Robert to commit suicide, he tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into the Rhine River from the bridge. The composer was rescued and placed in a psychiatric clinic near Bonn.

At first, he was allowed to correspond with Clara and receive friends. But soon the doctors noticed that after the visits, Schumann was wildly excited, and his comrades were forbidden to come to the patient. Robert fell into a state of profound melancholy, in addition to auditory and visual hallucinations of smell and taste. Mental strength faded away, physical health dried up even faster, as the composer completely refused food. He passed away on July 29, 1856 as a result of exhaustion of the body.

When the skull was opened, it was found that the cause of the disease was right here: Schumann's blood vessels were overflowing, the bones at the base of the skull became thickened and let out a new bone mass, which broke through the outer brain cover with sharp tips.

The body of the great composer was transported to Bonn and interred with a huge crowd of people.