Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

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201001A Law Unto Himself2010060720120102 (R3)Born 200 years ago on 8th June 1810 in provincial Saxony, Robert Schumann's story is about as Romantic with a capital R as it gets - dead at 46, a love life worthy of the opera stage, his final years incarcerated in a mental asylum.

The young Robert Schumann showed promise as a pianist, had great talent as a literary writer and critic, and composed sparkling often perplexing music. Yet, hand in hand with these qualities was a gaucheness that made Schumann misunderstood. For much of his life he was fought over by opposing factions - his parents over his vocation, his father-in-law and bride-to-be over his marriage, critics and performers undecided about his music and skills as a conductor.

Donald Macleod sources the fascinating first-hand account of a man who knew Schumann well, his first biographer Wilhelm Von Wasielewski. Schumann's better-known pieces such as 'Carnaval' and 'Liederkreis Op.24' join company with rarely heard works including the astonishing oratorio 'Paradise and the Peri'. The ideal introduction to Schumann or a chance to re-evaluate a great composer in this his bicentennary year.

Donald Macleod in 'A Law unto Himself' unravels Schumann's formative years and discovers how as a young man he couldn't make up his mind whether to become a lawyer, writer, pianist or composer.

Donald focuses on Schumann's formative years and discovers his career doubts.

201002Matters Of The Heart2010060820120103 (R3)Donald Macleod focuses on Robert Schumann's nerve-racking love life.
201003In Sickness And Health2010060920120104 (R3)Donald Macleod discusses the disorders that plagued Schumann for much of his life.
201004Weathering The Storm2010061020120105 (R3)Donald Macleod on Schumann's precarious mental health and revolution in Dresden.
201005Of Stars And Angels2010061120120106 (R3)Donald Macleod focuses on Schumann's move to Dusseldorf and his last days.
201301Piano20130729When Robert Schumann abandoned his legal studies, the world may have lost a lawyer, but it gained one of the freshest, most distinctive musical voices of the 19th - or any other - century. In this 70th anniversary week of the programme, Donald Macleod explores the work and life of this prototypically Romantic composer, who drew his inspiration as much from literature and the dramas of his own life as from the music of the composers he revered - above all, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert.

Largely self-taught, Schumann immersed himself in one musical medium until he felt ready to move on and tackle another. So this week's programmes look in turn at his five major fields of compositional activity: solo piano; song; chamber music; music drama; and music for orchestra.

For his first ten years as a composer, Schumann focused almost exclusively on the piano. He was a virtuoso pianist and had originally envisaged a solo career, so it was a natural place for him to start. Schumann's piano music is closely bound up with the circumstances of its creation, from the early Toccata in C, inspired by seeing Paganini in concert, to another C major work on an altogether grander scale, the Fantasie, op.17, which dramatizes the composer's inner life, and particularly his feelings of desolation at being separated from Clara Wieck (later to become his wife). The soberly-titled Variations in E flat major on an Original Theme are Schumann's last surviving work for solo piano, written days before his voluntary committal to the asylum where he would see out his final years. He said that the theme was 'dictated by the angels' whose voices he heard one night as he lay in bed.

Donald Macleod explores Schumann's music for solo piano.

201302Song20130730When Robert Schumann abandoned his legal studies, the world may have lost a lawyer, but it gained one of the freshest, most distinctive musical voices of the 19th - or any other - century. In this 70th anniversary week of the programme, Donald Macleod explores the work and life of this prototypically Romantic composer, who drew his inspiration as much from literature and the dramas of his own life as from the music of the composers he revered - above all, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert.

Largely self-taught, Schumann immersed himself in one musical medium until he felt ready to move on and tackle another. So this week's programmes look in turn at his five major fields of compositional activity: solo piano; song; chamber music; music drama; and music for orchestra.

Today's programme is set largely in 1840, Schumann's 'year of song'. It was an extraordinary period of creative fertility that followed in the wake of his reunion with Clara Wieck, the sweetheart from whom he had been separated for many months. The year of song was far from idyllic; for much of it, Schumann had to contend with the litigation initiated by Clara's father, Friedrich, who was implacably opposed to their relationship. Implacable or not, he lost the battle, and on the 12th of September 1840, Clara Wieck became Clara Schumann. More than half of Schumann's output of lieder, much of it infused with his feelings for Clara, dates from this single year, including one of his finest song-cycles, Dichterliebe - The Poet's Love. Right at the other end of the spectrum are the 5 Hunting Songs of 1849, for male chorus and a quartet of horns.

Donald Macleod focuses on the year 1840, known as Schumann's 'year of song'.

201303Chamber Music20130731When Robert Schumann abandoned his legal studies, the world may have lost a lawyer, but it gained one of the freshest, most distinctive musical voices of the 19th - or any other - century. In this 70th anniversary week of the programme, Donald Macleod explores the work and life of this prototypically Romantic composer, who drew his inspiration as much from literature and the dramas of his own life as from the music of the composers he revered - above all, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert.

Largely self-taught, Schumann immersed himself in one musical medium until he felt ready to move on and tackle another. So this week's programmes look in turn at his five major fields of compositional activity: solo piano; song; chamber music; music drama; and music for orchestra.

Schumann's first serious venture into chamber music came in 1842, and it was an exceptionally productive one: two piano quintets, three string quartets and a set of Phantasiestücke for piano trio. The first quintet is one of Schumann's most popular works and has a truly symphonic sweep. By contrast, the quartets are intimate and discursive. Ten years on, Schumann was half-way through an ill-fated post as Director of Music for the city of Düsseldorf. Perhaps it was the increasingly unsatisfactory nature of his encounters with the local symphony orchestra, of which he was now the conductor, that spurred him to an intense, late burst of chamber-music composition, including the strange and elliptical M䀀rchenerz䀀hlungen.

Donald Macleod explores Schumann's chamber music.

201304Music Drama20130801When Robert Schumann abandoned his legal studies, the world may have lost a lawyer, but it gained one of the freshest, most distinctive musical voices of the 19th - or any other - century. In this 70th anniversary week of the programme, Donald Macleod explores the work and life of this prototypically Romantic composer, who drew his inspiration as much from literature and the dramas of his own life as from the music of the composers he revered - above all, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert.

Largely self-taught, Schumann immersed himself in one musical medium until he felt ready to move on and tackle another. So this week's programmes look in turn at his five major fields of compositional activity: solo piano; song; chamber music; music drama; and music for orchestra.

Today's programme is largely devoted to Schumann's one and only opera, Genoveva, a tale of conjugal suspicion - and devotion - set in the time of the Crusades. It's been widely criticised for its lack of real drama, but contains some wonderful music and deserves to be better known. Schumann's other major dramatic project started off as an opera but metamorphosed into an oratorio; Scenes from Goethe's Faust kept its composer occupied, on and off, for nearly ten years. Like Genoveva, it's had a mixed reception critically, and is equally deserving of performance.

Donald Macleod focuses on Schumann's music drama, including his only opera, Genoveva.

201305Music For Orchestra20130802When Robert Schumann abandoned his legal studies, the world may have lost a lawyer, but it gained one of the freshest, most distinctive musical voices of the 19th - or any other - century. In this 70th anniversary week of the programme, Donald Macleod explores the work and life of this prototypically Romantic composer, who drew his inspiration as much from literature and the dramas of his own life as from the music of the composers he revered - above all, Bach, Beethoven and Schubert.

Largely self-taught, Schumann immersed himself in one musical medium until he felt ready to move on and tackle another. So this week's programmes look in turn at his five major fields of compositional activity: solo piano; song; chamber music; music drama; and music for orchestra.

Schumann's orchestral output is the focus of the last of the week's programmes, with a complete performance of his 4th Symphony of 1841 (in its lusher 1851 revision). Donald also introduces an extract from one of Schumann's most exuberant and original works, the Konzertstück for 4 horns and orchestra, written during the composer's most productive year, 1849; and the strangely haunting Phantasie for violin and orchestra, one of Schumann's last completed works. It was written in the afterglow of encounters with the 18-year-old Joachim - six years into his career and already one of the foremost violinists in Europe - and a little-known composer, recently turned 20, who had the chutzpah to pitch up on the famous man's doorstep with a satchelful of his own compositions: Johannes Brahms.

Donald Macleod focuses on Schumann's orchestral output.

201401Poet Or Composer?20141208Donald Macleod investigates the literary catalysts that fired Schumann's musical imagination. Today, early enthusiasms, including Lord Byron and Jean Paul Richter.

Get your head out of that book!' is probably not a reprimand the young Robert Schumann was used to receiving. He grew up in a household that lived and breathed literature. His father was a novelist, bookseller and publisher who made a small fortune from his pocket editions of foreign-language classics in translation. As a teenager Schumann wrote copiously, trying his hand at fiction, poetry and plays, and it took him several years to satisfy himself that he was a composer rather than a writer. But his literary passion persisted, informing not only the texts he set but his whole conception of musical narrative and structure.

In today's programme he explores some early enthusiasms: Lord Byron; poet and physician Justinus Kerner; early-Romantic poet and indologist Friedrich Schlegel; and above all the novelist Jean Paul Richter - as fashionable in his day as he is obscure in ours - whose literary style the essayist Thomas Carlyle described as 'flowing onwards not like a river, but an inundation, circling in complex eddies, chafing and gurgling now this way, now that, until the proper current sinks out of view amid the boundless uproar'.

Donald Macleod discusses early enthusiasms, including Lord Byron and Jean-Paul Richter.

201402Fantasy And Romance20141209Donald Macleod investigates the literary catalysts that fired Schumann's musical imagination. Today, ploughman poet Rabbie Burns and ETA Hoffmann, spinner of fantastic tales.

Get your head out of that book!' is probably not a reprimand the young Robert Schumann was used to receiving. He grew up in a household that lived and breathed literature. His father was a novelist, bookseller and publisher who made a small fortune from his pocket editions of foreign-language classics in translation. As a teenager Schumann wrote copiously, trying his hand at fiction, poetry and plays, and it took him several years to satisfy himself that he was a composer rather than a writer. But his literary passion persisted, informing not only the texts he set but his whole conception of musical narrative and structure.

Today's programme focuses on the 'ploughman poet' Rabbie Burns and ETA Hoffmann, a spinner of fantastic tales who was himself later transmuted into fiction as the central character in the Offenbach opera that bears his name. Schumann set a number of Burns's poems, but the influence of Hoffmann went deeper; his fictional invention the composer Johannes Kreisler, a crazed genius at odds with conventional society, lies behind one of Schumann's most characteristic piano creations, Kreisleriana, a suite of eight movements that depict Kreisler's fragmented personality. When she heard it for the first time, Schumann's future wife Clara commented: 'Sometimes your music actually frightens me, and I wonder, is it really true that the creator of such things is going to be my husband?'.

Donald Macleod explains the inspiration Schumann drew from Robert Burns and ETA Hoffmann.

201403The Art Of Song20141210Donald Macleod investigates the literary catalysts that fired Schumann's musical imagination. Today, Hans Christian Andersen, Friedrich von Schiller and Heinrich Heine.

Get your head out of that book!' is probably not a reprimand the young Robert Schumann was used to receiving. He grew up in a household that lived and breathed literature. His father was a novelist, bookseller and publisher who made a small fortune from his pocket editions of foreign-language classics in translation. As a teenager Schumann wrote copiously, trying his hand at fiction, poetry and plays, and it took him several years to satisfy himself that he was a composer rather than a writer. But his literary passion persisted, informing not only the texts he set but his whole conception of musical narrative and structure.

Today's writers are Hans Christian Andersen, whom Schumann's wife Clara unflatteringly described as 'still somewhat young, but very ugly, and also frightfully vain and egotistic'; Friedrich von Schiller, of Ode to Joy fame; and Heinrich Heine, a divisive figure to this day, who has the distinction of having been set to music more often than almost any other German-language poet. According to Andersen's autobiography he was delighted by Schumann's settings of his poetry, which he heard at a dinner in 1844 at which the composer was also present. Schumann considered writing an opera based on Schiller's tragedy The Bride of Messina, but got no further than the overture, which condenses the essence of the play into eight searing minutes. Heine is the poet behind Schumann's first Liederkreis cycle. The two men met just once, in 1828; Schumann, then a student on a visit to Munich, paid a house-call to Heine, who showed him the sights of the city. When twelve years later Schumann sent Heine a copy of his new song-cycle, the poet didn't even acknowledge it.

The influence on Schumann of Hans Christian Andersen, Schiller and Heine.

201404Whatever Happened To Christian Friedrich Hebbel?20141211Donald Macleod investigates the literary catalysts that fired Schumann's musical imagination. Today, Christian Friedrich Hebbel, the writer behind Schumann's only opera.

Get your head out of that book!' is probably not a reprimand the young Robert Schumann was used to receiving. He grew up in a household that lived and breathed literature. His father was a novelist, bookseller and publisher who made a small fortune from his pocket editions of foreign-language classics in translation. As a teenager Schumann wrote copiously, trying his hand at fiction, poetry and plays, and it took him several years to satisfy himself that he was a composer rather than a writer. But his literary passion persisted, informing not only the texts he set but his whole conception of musical narrative and structure.

A great honour has befallen our house - Friedrich Hebbel visited us on his journey through. He is arguably the greatest genius of our day.' Well that's as may be, but for us, Hebbel - the focus of today's programme - is certainly one of the less familiar giants in Schumann's literary pantheon. He wrote novellas, poems and essays, but was best known to his contemporaries for his biblical and historical dramas, and it was one of these - Genoveva, a decidedly pre-feminist tale of male weakness and wifely devotion set in the 8th century - that gave Schumann the impetus for his one and only opera.

Donald Macleod discusses the influence on Schumann of Christian Friedrich Hebbel.

201405The Ascent Of Mt Goethe20141212Donald Macleod investigates the literary catalysts that fired Schumann's musical imagination. Today, the high priest of German literature - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Get your head out of that book!' is probably not a reprimand the young Robert Schumann was used to receiving. He grew up in a household that lived and breathed literature. His father was a novelist, bookseller and publisher who made a small fortune from his pocket editions of foreign-language classics in translation. As a teenager Schumann wrote copiously, trying his hand at fiction, poetry and plays, and it took him several years to satisfy himself that he was a composer rather than a writer. But his literary passion persisted, informing not only the texts he set but his whole conception of musical narrative and structure.

In today's programme he explores Schumann's creative engagement with the high priest of German literature - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Schumann admired Goethe immensely; he owned the 40-volume edition of his works that was issued in the late 1820s, as well as the 20-volume set of his unpublished works. 'Above all he is a poet', he told his wife Clara. Adapting Goethe's words was inconceivable, so Schumann decided to set them straight in his Scenes from Goethe's Faust - a kind of secular oratorio on the theme of redemption.

Donald Macleod explores Schumann's creative engagement with Goethe.

201701Schumann Moves To Dusseldorf2017041720180402 (R3)
20190513 (R3)
It was an offer Robert Schumann only wished he could have refused. But lacking other job opportunities, the composer reluctantly accepted Dusseldorf's offer of the post of Director of Music, with responsibility not only for a semi-professional orchestra, but also for a choir. All this week Donald Macleod looks at Schumann's Dusseldorf years and the creative stimulus this move provided for Schumann, his triumphs as well as his many failures. In less than five years, Robert would write some third of his entire output, composing concertos, choral works and symphonies. Despite the composer's tragic illness, he lost none of his powers of invention, and was indeed on the brink of enjoying both popular as well as critical success.

In today's episode, Robert and Clara are feted with a grand reception and a concert of Robert's own music. Despite this promising beginning, there are already domestic problems: the familiar struggle to find suitable accommodation, away from barrel organs and other street noises. And already there are mutterings among the choir and some of the orchestra about Robert's abilities as a conductor and manager of people.

Genoveva Overture, Op.81

New York Philharmonic

Leonard Bernstein

Sechs Gedichte von Nikolaus Lenau, Op. 90 (Meine Rose; Requiem)

Peter Schreier, tenor

Normal Shetler, piano

Myrthen, Op.25 (Widmung; Die Lotosblume)

Barbara Bonney, soprano

Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano

Das Paradies und die Peri, Op.50 (Part 2)

Monteverdi Choir

Orchestre R退volutionnaire et Romantique

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor.

Donald Macleod focuses on everyday life with the Schumanns in Dusseldorf.

201702Schumann Explores The Rhineland2017041820180403 (R3)
20190514 (R3)
It was an offer Robert Schumann only wished he could have refused. But lacking other job opportunities, the composer reluctantly accepted Dusseldorf's offer of the post of Director of Music, with responsibility not only for a semi-professional orchestra, but also for a choir. All this week Donald Macleod looks at Schumann's Dusseldorf years and the creative stimulus this move provided for Schumann, his triumphs as well as his many failures. In less than five years, Robert would write some third of his entire output, composing concertos, choral works and symphonies. Despite the composer's tragic illness, he lost none of his powers of invention, and was indeed on the brink of enjoying both popular as well as critical success.

In today's episode, the relationship between the Schumanns and their employers sours slightly when Clara is expected to play the piano in a concert gratis. The couple later take a trip to Cologne, inspiring one of Robert's best-loved symphonies, the 'Rhenish'. The subsequent premiere is a triumph, to the delight of both Robert and the Board of the Dusseldorf Music Society. It is a period of almost unbelievable creativity - no fewer than eighteen very substantial compositions in one year alone. And yet there are signs that not all is well with Schumann's health. And his conducting technique leaves a great deal to be desired, even in the opinion of some of his staunchest admirers!

M䀀rchenbilder, Op 113 (1st movt)

Adrien Boisseau, viola

Gaspard Dehaene, piano

Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 97, 'Rhenish

London Classical Players

Roger Norrington, conductor

M䀀dchenlieder, Op. 103

Felicity Lott, soprano

Ann Murray, mezzo

Graham Johnson, piano

Nachtlied, Op.108

Monteverdi Choir

Orchestre R退volutionnaire et Romantique

John Eliot Gardiner.

Donald Macleod explains how a trip to the Rhineland resulted in a symphony for Schumann.

201703Falling Out Of Favour2017041920180404 (R3)
20190515 (R3)
It was an offer Robert Schumann only wished he could have refused. But lacking other job opportunities, the composer reluctantly accepted Dusseldorf's offer of the post of Director of Music, with responsibility not only for a semi-professional orchestra, but also for a choir. All this week Donald Macleod looks at Schumann's Dusseldorf years and the creative stimulus this move provided for Schumann, his triumphs as well as his many failures. In less than five years, Robert would write some third of his entire output, composing concertos, choral works and symphonies. Despite the composer's tragic illness, he lost none of his powers of invention, and was indeed on the brink of enjoying both popular as well as critical success.

In today's programme, Schumann presents his melancholy Manfred Overture to a half-empty concert hall and appears somewhat less than heroic to his orchestra members. With the birth of a new child, the family finally find more suitable accommodation, with rooms sufficiently large to host a choir. Only, there are now mutterings of dissent among some of the singers. As relations between Schumann and his employers deteriorate, there are demands for him to consign some of his duties to his deputy. It's a situation that would frustrate most people, and yet Robert Schumann still manages to compose popular Hausmusik to be played and enjoyed in the home. And we hear a lighter side to the cigar-smoking Robert with a charming piano duet.

Manfred - incidental music, Op. 115 (Overture)

Berlin Philharmonic

Rafael Kubelik

Waldszenen, Op. 82 nos 3, 4, 5

Andras Schiff, piano

Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, Op. 112 (Part 1)

Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir

Gustav Kuhn, conductor

Ballszenen, Op. 109 (No. 7, Ecossaise)

Hector Moreno & Norberto Capelli (piano duet).

Donald focuses on the premiere of Schumann's melancholy Manfred Overture.

201704Turning The Tables2017042020180405 (R3)
20190516 (R3)
It was an offer Robert Schumann only wished he could have refused. But lacking other job opportunities, the composer reluctantly accepted Dusseldorf's offer of the post of Director of Music, with responsibility not only for a semi-professional orchestra, but also for a choir. All this week Donald Macleod looks at Schumann's Dusseldorf years and the creative stimulus this move provided for the composer, his triumphs as well as his many failures. In less than five years, Robert would write some third of his entire output, composing concertos, choral works and symphonies. Despite the composer's tragic illness, he lost none of his powers of invention, and was indeed on the brink of enjoying both popular as well as critical success.

In today's programme, the composer develops an unhealthy interest in table-tapping and s退ances, whilst also writing a Mass and a Requiem. Donald Macleod recounts the remarkable story of his Violin Concerto (unearthed, it is claimed, partly through psychic activity), and the Schumanns' successful tour of Holland, where they discovered that Robert's music was almost as well known as at home. Despite ominous signs of declining mental and physical health, the Holland tour will end with popular acclaim, and also a baffling question from the Queen of Holland: 'And are you musical, too?'!

Mass, Op. 147 (Tota pulchra es, Maria; Offertorium)

Cologne Chamber Chorus

Peter Neumann, director

Violin Concerto in D minor

Christian Tetzlaff, violin

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

Paavo J䀀rvi, conductor

M䀀rchenerz䀀hlungen, Op. 132 (movts 1 & 2)

Adrien Boisseau, viola

Pierre Genisson, clarinet

Gaspard Dehaene, piano

Introduction and Concert Allegro, Op. 134

Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Jan Lisiescki, piano

Antonio Pappano, conductor.

Donald Macleod focuses on signs of a decline in Schumann's mental and physical health.

201705Ghost Variations2017042120180406 (R3)
20190517 (R3)
It was an offer Robert Schumann only wished he could have refused. But lacking other job opportunities, the composer reluctantly accepted Dusseldorf's offer of the post of Director of Music, with responsibility not only for a semi-professional orchestra, but also for a choir. All this week Donald Macleod looks at Schumann's Dusseldorf years and the creative stimulus this move provided for Schumann, his triumphs as well as his many failures. In less than five years, Robert would write some third of his entire output, composing concertos, choral works and symphonies. Despite the composer's tragic illness, he lost none of his powers of invention, and was indeed on the brink of enjoying both popular as well as critical success.

In this final episode, Donald recounts the tragic events leading up to Schumann's voluntary admission to an asylum, from which he would never reappear. Enraptured by the voices of angels, and later tormented by demons, Schumann frantically composes a set of piano variations on a theme dictated to him by an 'angel'. Even the regime at Endenich did not put a complete stop to his urge to compose, or at least review his compositions. Meanwhile, for Clara and her new friend and supporter Johannes Brahms there is some measure of consolation in playing through some of Robert's music.

Theme and Variations, Wo024

Andras Schiff, piano

Scenes from Goethe's Faust, Wo0 3 (Overture; Garten; Dom)

Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus and Orchestra

Daniel Harding, conductor

Violin Fantasy, Op. 131

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

Christian Tetzlaff, violin

Paavo Jarvi, conductor

Ges䀀nge der Fruhe, Op. 133

Maurizio Pollini, piano

Requiem, Op. 148 (Requiem aeternam)

Chorus Musicus Koln & Das Neue Orchester

Christoph Spering, conductor.

Recounting the tragic events leading up to Schumann's voluntary admission to an asylum.

202101Romantic Entanglements20210510Donald Macleod unpacks Schumann's early steps and missteps in love, around the time he composed his popular piano work Carnaval.

Robert Schumann's early training was focused towards his ambition to become a celebrated concert pianist, but a hand injury quickly put that career option out of reach. Schumann turned instead to composition and put all that piano study to good use, writing many important works for his own instrument. This week, Composer of the Week unpacks the moments in Schumann life when he was creating some of his most famous and notable piano works, including one of the most iconic Romantic pianos concertos of all time.

As Robert Schumann became increasingly aware that his playing career would fail to flower, his focus turned towards writing music. To launch himself as a composer of orchestral music he produced his Zwickau Symphony, which was reviewed as being highly artistic but also very difficult. Within a few years, Schumann found better success with one of his most popular works for solo piano, Carnaval, inspired by his intense feelings for Ernestine von Fricken, with whom he had become engaged.

So wahr die Sonne scheinet, Op 37 No 12 (from Zw怀lf Gedichte aus Liebesfrüling)

Juliane Banse, soprano

Olaf B䀀r, bass-baritone

Helmut Deutsch, piano

Symphony in G minor, Woo29 (Zwickau)

Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Allegro in B minor, Op 8

Eric Le Sage, piano

Carnaval, Op 9

Evgeny Kissin, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod explores the love story that sits alongside Schumann's piano work Carnaval.

202102Soul Mate20210511Donald Macleod delves into the turbulent period in which Schumann composed his popular Scenes from Childhood

Robert Schumann's early training was focused towards his ambition to become a celebrated concert pianist, but a hand injury quickly put that career option out of reach. Schumann turned instead to composition and put all that piano study to good use, writing many important works for his own instrument. This week, Composer of the Week unpacks the moments in Schumann life when he was creating some of his most famous and notable piano works, including one of the most iconic romantic pianos concertos of all time.

Robert Schumann's affections had turned towards Clara Wieck. Her father, however, was against the match and did everything in his power to separate the young couple. Wieck banned Schumann from seeing his daughter and took her away on piano tours to distance them from one another. The music Schumann composed around this period was often intended for Clara to perform, and it was during this time of uncertainty that Schumann wrote his popular Scenes from Childhood.

Kreisleriana, Op 16 No 8 (Schnell und spielend)

Jonathan Biss, piano

Fantasy in C, Op 17 No 1

Mitsuko Uchida, piano

Drei Ges䀀nge, Op 31

Juliane Banse, soprano

Simon Keenlyside, baritone

Jonathan Lemalu, baritone

Ex Cathedra

Graham Johnson, piano

Kinderszenen, Op 15

Andrကs Schiff, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Schumann woos his beloved Clara and composes his Scenes from Childhood.

202103Newlyweds20210512Donald Macleod journeys through Schumann's first years of marriage, when he composed his Piano Quintet.

Robert Schumann's early training was focused towards his ambition to become a celebrated concert pianist, but a hand injury quickly put that career option out of reach. Schumann turned instead to composition and put all that piano study to good use, writing many important works for his own instrument. This week, Composer of the Week unpacks the moments in Schumann life when he was creating some of his most famous and notable piano works, including one of the most iconic romantic pianos concertos of all time.

Once Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck were married, they established a routine of keeping a ‘marital diary' where they would record the details of their shared life, meditating on both the joys and the sorrows. One concern that was soon raised was Robert's need for quiet in order to compose, set against Clara's need to practice to maintain her skills as a concert pianist. Despite the challenges of their combined home-working, much creativity did take place. Schumann composed a number of chamber works, including his unusual Piano Quintet which combined elements of both symphonic and chamber writing.

Myrthen, Op 25 No 1 (Widmung)

Thomas Quasthoff, baritone

Justus Zeyen, piano

Symphony No 1 in B flat, Op 38 (Spring) (excerpt)

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op 26 No 5 (Finale)

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, piano

Piano Quintet in E flat, Op 44

Artemis Quartet

Leif Ove Andsnes, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod delves into the first years of Robert Schumann's marriage.

202104Struggle20210513Donald Macleod explores a period of illness and suffering in Schuman's life, when he also completed his exuberant piano concerto.

Robert Schumann's early training was focused towards his ambition to become a celebrated concert pianist, but a hand injury quickly put that career option out of reach. Schumann turned instead to composition and put all that piano study to good use, writing many important works for his own instrument. This week, Composer of the Week unpacks the moments in Schumann life when he was creating some of his most famous and notable piano works, including one of the most iconic romantic pianos concertos of all time.

Schumann suffered a nervous breakdown during the mid-1840s and he plunged into a period of deep depression. He was also plagued by many other physical ailments and was advised by doctors to try an array of different treatments, including cold baths, which seemed to do some good. The Schumanns decided to move to Dresden, in order to seek better opportunities in closer proximity to the Saxon royal court, and Schumann completed one of his most popular works: his richly romantic Piano Concerto.

The Merry Peasant, Op 68 No 10 (from Album für die Jugend)

Luba Edlina, piano

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 54

Martha Argerich, piano

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana

Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, conductor

Symphony No 2 in C major, Op 61 (Scherzo)

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Yannick N退zet-S退guin, conductor

Piano Trio No 1 in D minor, Op 63 (excerpt)

Christian Tetzlaff, violin

Tanja Tetzlaff, cello

Leif Ove Andsnes, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Schumann's troubles grow as he completes his new piano concerto. With Donald Macleod.

202105Disagreements In D\u00fcsseldorf20210514Donald Macleod follows Schumann through difficult times in a new city and the writing of his Three Fantasies for piano.

Robert Schumann made significant contributions as a composer to all musical genres, but he is best remembered today in particular for his piano music and songs. Schumann's early career was focused towards becoming a concert pianist, but due to a hand injury he turned increasingly to composition where the piano frequently featured. Composer of the Week explores the life and music of Schumann, delving into specific periods when Schumann composed some of his most famous and notable works for the piano, including one of the most iconic romantic pianos concertos of all time.

With the prospect of a better position, Robert Schumann with his family moved to Düsseldorf where he took up the post of music director of the orchestra and choir. Very soon things were not looking good for Schumann who wasn't a natural communicator, and his relationship firstly with the choir, and then the orchestra plummeted over the next few years. Issues were heightened further by Schumann's illness, and as time went on, the musicians soon lost all respect for their conductor. It was amid this stressful and highly charged period for Schumann that he composed his Three Fantasies for solo piano, and also his Introduction and Allegro for piano and orchestra, which was a gift to his wife Clara.

Manfred Overture, Op 115

Orchestra Mozart

Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Drei Fantasiestücke, Op 111

Volker Banfield, piano

Missa Sacra in C minor, Op 147 (Gloria & Credo)

Agnes Kovacs, soprano

Balthasar Neumann Choir

Balthasar Neumann Ensemble

Thomas Hengelbrock, director

Introduction and Allegro, Op 134

Murray Perahia, piano

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for BBC Wales

Difficult times in a new city and Three Fantasies for piano. With Donald Macleod.

2022011840-41, Creative Tensions20221017Donald Macleod asks how Robert and Clara Schumann reconciled their domestic creative tension.

The 1840s was the decade when Robert and Clara Schumann's married life began, and was the decade in which he established himself as a significant composer.

Schumann's marriage to Clara gave him the stability he needed, and brought out the best in him as a composer. But the major question was whether the creative tension between the couple could ever be reconciled. Clara's greater fame, her desire to practice at home, and to go away and perform concerts was firmly set against Robert's desire for her to be a wife and home-maker, to leave her public behind.

Today, Donald Macleod looks at how the Schumanns strove to reconcile these seemingly opposing outlooks.

3 Gedichte, Op. 30: No. 3. Der Hidalgo

Thomas E. Bauer, baritone

Uta Hielscher, piano

String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1

I. Introduction: Andante espressivo - Allegro

IV. Presto

Hagen Quartet

Dichterliebe, Op. 48: No. 16. Die alten, bosen Lieder

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone

Christoph Eschenbach, piano

Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38, 'Spring

I. Andante un poco maestoso - Allegro molto vivace

IV. Allegro animato e grazioso

London Symphony Orchestra

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Frauenliebe und -leben, Op. 42:

No. 6. Susser Freund, du blickest mich verwundert an

Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano

Bengt Forsberg, piano

Produced by Iain Chambers

2022021841-42, Peer Approval20221018Donald Macleod looks at Schumann's need for the respect of his peers, and the need for a notoriously shy man to do some networking.

The 1840s was the decade when Robert and Clara Schumann's married life began, and was the decade in which he established himself as a significant composer.

Artistic respect from his peers was important to Robert. He was embedded into the music scene of Leipzig thanks to his editorship of a music journal, but he didn't feel he had the recognition as a composer that his music warranted. In this episode, Donald Macleod discovers whether this notoriously shy man could change that decisively with a series of major orchestral works, and some networking?

Fantasiestücke, Op. 88

II. Humoreske

Gordan Nikolitch, violin

Christophe Coin, cello

Eric Le Sage, piano

String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3

IV. Finale: Allegro molto vivace

Modigliani Quartet

Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op. 52

Dresden Staatskapelle

Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor

Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 (revised version, 1851)

I. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft

II. Romanze: Ziemlich langsam

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Produced by Iain Chambers

Donald Macleod looks at Schumann's need for the respect of his peers. With Donald Macleod.

2022031843-44, An Insecure Paradise20221019Donald Macleod asks how Schumann could find a way back to a healthy, happy, creative life again after a complete breakdown

The 1840s was the decade when Robert and Clara Schumann's married life began, and was the decade in which he established himself as a significant composer.

Donald Macleod looks at Robert's life as he worked towards his biggest creation so far, Paradise and the Peri. Just as he realised this new project, his depression returned with a vengeance, developing into a complete breakdown. How could he possibly find a way back to a healthy, happy, creative life again?

Scenen aus Goethes Faust, WoO 3

Ouverture

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Antoni Wit, conductor

Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44

II. In modo d'una marcia. Un poco largamente

III. Scherzo: Molto vivace - Trio I - Trio II: L'istesso tempo

Faz?l Say, piano

Casal Quartet

Romanzen und Balladen IV, Op. 64

No. 2. Das verlassne Magdelein

No. 3. Tragodie: II. Es fiel ein Reif in der Fruhlingsnacht

Mitsuko Shirai, mezzo-soprano

Hartmut H怀ll, piano

Das Paradies und die Peri, Op. 50

Part III: Es fallt ein Tropfen aufs Land (Peri, Tenor, Chorus)

Magdal退na Haj ssyovက, soprano

Eberhard Büchner, tenor

Leipzig Radio Choir

Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra

Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, conductor

String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2

I. Allegro vivace

IV. Allegro molto vivace

Takကcs Quartet

Produced by Iain Chambers

Just as Robert realises his biggest work so far, his depression returns with a vengeance.

2022041845-47, Fix Yourself Through Counterpoint20221020Donald Macleod looks at how, when his mental health was fragile, Schumann took solace in working on his musical technique.

The 1840s was the decade when Robert and Clara Schumann's married life began, and was the decade in which he established himself as a significant composer.

Today, Donald Macleod explores how Schumann used music and music practise to restore his fragile mental health. This was a period of major personal highs and lows for him and his family. Could he reach beyond his years of doubt and insecurity and become the indisputably great composer that history would remember?

6 Fugues on B-A-C-H, Op. 60

No. 5 in F Major: Lebhaft

Kevin Bowyer, organ

Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61

I. Sostenuto assai

Philharmonia Orchestra

Christian Thielemann, conductor

Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63

I. Mit Energie und Leidenschaft

Vienna Brahms Trio

Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54

I. Allegro affettuoso

Yevgeny Kissin, piano

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor

Album for the Youth, Op. 68

XV. Fruhlingsgesang (Song of Spring)

Rolf Lindbrom, piano

Produced by Iain Chambers

When his mental health was fragile, Schumann took solace in musical technique.

2022051849-50, Draft Dodging20221021Donald Macleod looks at how Schumann coped with revolution in Dresden, and the strength he took from forming his own choir.

The 1840s was the decade when Robert and Clara Schumann's married life began, and was the decade in which he established himself as a significant composer.

Today, Donald Macleod looks at a period of civil unrest on the streets of Dresden. Revolutionaries were rounding up able-bodied men to bolster their forces. Richard Wagner was already manning the barricades. Would Schumann be forced to serve too? We look at how Schumann coped with this upheaval. And we see the strength he took from forming his own choir.

4 Marches, Op. 76

No. 4 in E-Flat Major: Mit kraft und feuer

Eric Le Sage, piano

3 Freiheitsgesange, WoO 13-15

Die Singphoniker

Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80

III. In massiger Bewegung

IV. Nicht zu rasch

Vienna Brahms Trio

Genoveva, Op. 81

Act IV: Scene: Steil und steiler (Genoveva, Balthasar, Caspar, Chorus)

Ruth Ziesak (Genoveva)

Hiroyuki Ijichi (Balthasar)

Josef Krenmair (Caspar)

Arnold Schoenberg Choir

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Nachtlied Op. 108

Monteverdi Choir

Orchestre R退volutionnaire et Romantique

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Would Schumann be forced to serve in Dresden's revolutionary war? With Donald Macloed.