Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician

by John Worthen

This candid, intimate, and compellingly written new biography offers a fresh account of Robert Schumann’s life. It confronts the traditional perception of the doom-laden Romantic, forced by depression into a life of helpless, poignant sadness. John Worthen’s scrupulous attention to the original sources reveals Schumann to have been an astute, witty, articulate, and immensely determined individual, who—with little support from his family and friends in provincial Saxony—painstakingly taught himself his craft as a musician, overcame problem after problem in his professional life, and married the woman he loved after a tremendous battle with her father. Schumann was neither manic depressive nor schizophrenic, although he struggled with mental illness. He worked prodigiously hard to develop his range of musical styles and to earn his living, only to be struck down, at the age of forty-four, by a vile and incurable disease. Worthen’s biography effectively de-mystifies a figure frequently regarded as a Romantic enigma. It frees Schumann from 150 years of mythmaking and unjustified psychological speculation. It reveals him, for the first time, as a brilliant, passionate, resolute musician and a thoroughly creative human being, the composer of arguably the best music of his generation.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Art

496 pages, Hardcover

First published August 13, 2007

Reviews

[Andre LeMagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book convincingly debunks the long-standing story that Schumann suffered from mental illness. Schumann suffered from syphilis, and it attacked his brain late in life. Up until that point, Schumann led a productive life and successfully managed his complicated business affairs. Worthen's rebuttal is welcome, because it helps discredit the old wives' tale that you need to be crazy in order to be creative.

[Jim Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazingly detailed, meticulously researched biography of one of the greatest composers of his generation. I actually read the paperback edition of this 2007 work, copies of which came to me via interlibrary loan from both the Ashland (OH) University and the University of Wisconsin--Superior, WI libraries. It is a chronological account of Schumann's very fruitful life and work and of his sad, early death from syphilis. This is the first book I've ever read that contains an autopsy report, brief as this one, translated from the original German, is. Schumann seems to have been "a regular guy" who just happened to be really good at writing music despite being largely self-taught. I enjoyed reading it and recommend it as a great biography of an underrated musician and composer.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an in-depth, well-done biography of a fascinating and talented composer. More than anything else, this book made me realize that while Schumann now has special meaning for me, because I feel like I KNOW him, if I were to read biographies of this depth about all the composers I know and teach, I would have a sprawling musical family, and I would find myself incapacitated in the face of choosing the "best" or most important to focus on in class. They all matter! They're all interesting! Schumann was little more than a Romantic footnote to me until I read this book, but now I feel like every time Romanticism comes up (which, granted, isn't often) I need to talk about how Schumann as a man was so much the embodiment of the artistic ideal of the age. It's so fascinating and amazing that a person who had to pay rent and had little kids being noisy and all these other humdrum things was able to produce such incredible music, and at such an astonishing rate. It makes me feel worthless by comparison. But then, I'm not an aspiring composer, so that should probably give me some comfort.
Anyway, this book was a serious investment of time and mental energy. There were definitely some fascinating gems, and the overall picture was worthwhile, but it wasn't a page turner, and unless this subject is your specialty, you might find the depth a little overwhelming and perhaps unnecessary. I'm glad I read it, though, and I'm glad my friend Danielle trusted me with it for over a year while I devoted little snatches of time to it here and there. I felt like I should get the "Schumann Award" or something when I finally returned it to her, fully read.

[Will White · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book five stars even though I might have preferred another biography. Let me explain:

The major thesis of the book is that Schumann's death was the result of end-stage syphilis, contracted when he was a young man. The state of the medical art had not matured enough to track syphilis from its early transmission to its late-stage devastation, but now that we know how the disease progresses, it is possible to correlate its path with Schumann's biographical details.

Worthen contends that previous biographers have read Schumann's life backwards, shading every step along the way with the perspective that he suffered from mental illness. Therefore Worthen makes a concerted effort to read Schumann's life forwards, and gives a new appraisal to the details of his correspondence, diaries, musical career, etc.

There are times when I think Worthen is a bit too eager to reappraise Schumann, but these are few and far between. It should be said that there is very little in the way of musical analysis in this book (for example, I don't recall seeing a single example of musical notation.)

So it's a good biography, and I think a necessary one, well-written and well-researched, with a very particular slant. I enjoyed it immensely. But if you want something with more appreciation for Schumann's musical qualities, you might want to look elsewhere.

[Thomas Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This finely written, comprehensively researched biography “attempts to free” Robert Schumann from “preconceptions about mental illness that have dominated almost every account of him” since his death in 1856. Because Schumann ended his days in an asylum, biographers and musicologists have tended to interpret his entire life, and his work as a musician, “in the shadow of his final illness.” Worthen has assembled a host of primary and secondary sources to oppose this view, such as diaries, letters, and financial records of Robert and Clara Schumann; memoirs by their contemporaries; the accounts of previous biographers; and medical records (including Schumann’s autopsy) documenting what was known about his illness both at the time and afterwards. This evidence, Worthen concludes, “shows that although he suffered episodes of severe anxiety, and at times was both depressed and exhilarated, Schumann never approached a state for which diagnoses like ‘bipolar disorder’ or ‘schizophrenia’ would be appropriate.”
Certainly, Schumann’s life (which Worthen chronicles in almost day-to-day detail) offered many opportunities for joy and sorrow. His sometimes heedless youth was darkened by the early deaths of family members and close friends. His marriage to pianist Clara Wieck brought lasting happiness, but it took place only after an agonizing struggle with Clara’s domineering father. While Schumann’s music quickly gained acceptance from his peers (friends included Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn, and later Joachim and Brahms), Clara’s frequent pregnancies limited her career as a performer, and supporting seven children on Robert’s variable income left family finances often insecure. From about 1845, Schumann was beset—and, at times, depressed or panicked—by a baffling array of transitory illnesses. Despite enduring legends of bipolarity or schizophrenia, Worthen demonstrates that the composer coped with these illnesses successfully, and that his life remained happy and productive almost to the end. Schumann’s sudden derangement, early in 1854, struck his friends and family like a thunderbolt. Unknown to them, its cause was syphilis, which Robert had contracted, at age 21, from a servant in the home of Friedrich Wieck, Clara’s father and his piano teacher at the time. Worthen includes enough medical information (little of which was available to Schumann’s doctors) to establish the diagnosis beyond doubt.
For all its tragic ending, this biography remains an entertaining read. Worthen paints on a broad canvas: two of his most fascinating chapters involve a trip to Russia and the German revolutions of 1848-1849. Schumann emerges as the quintessential Romantic—composing masterpieces at an amazing rate, but too uncommunicative in his conducting style to hold a job.
Regarding the composer’s music, Worthen assiduously chronicles each work as it appears, but elects to “leave analysis of [Schumann’s] music to those qualified to undertake it.” If perhaps a little disappointing, for a non-musicologist this was probably a sound decision. As the author states clearly in his preface, his purpose is to tell us of Robert Schumann’s life. And that he has done extremely well.

[Bob Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book. If you are looking for a detailed analysis of his work, this is not it.
What it does do is put all of his work in an historical framework. The author spends a lot of time on Schumann’s state of mind at each phase of his life, most likely to support his theory about Schumann’s health issues. Still this helps put his work into context. It definitely made me want to explore more of his compositions.

[Graham Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good blow by blow account of the composer's life, with much use made of the diaries and household books. However, there is no discussion of the music other than the bare details of dates, etc. For this one needs to look elsewhere. I felt there could have been less emphasis on the biographical timeline - it did become a little tedious - and more discussion and comment on other aspects of Schumann's life and environment, relationships with others and so on. .

[robin kornblit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Educational. Interesting. I learned a lot.

[Heini Matilda · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14819961