COMPOSER BIOGRAPHY – PREPARATION 7

(F-08)

For 5 November

This week we will try to deal with Schumann’s illness and death.

Please read:

Wilhelm von Wasielwski, Life of Robert Schumann (1871), pages 170-191;

Peter Ostwald, Schumann, The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius (1985), pages 1-9, 33-43, 191-201, 295-307;

John Daverio, Robert Schumann, Herald of a ‘New Poetic Age’ (1997), pages 294-302, 449-459, 482-88;

Eric Frederick Jensen, Schumann (2001), pages 312-334.

John Worthen, Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician, pages 72-76, 361-369, 386-389.

For preparation, please try to characterize briefly the attitude of each biographer towards Schumann’s illness and emotional problems.