Ebba Simone’s Reviews > Great Masters: Robert And Clara Schumann Their Lives And Music > Status Update

Robert Schumann died on July 29, 1856. Clara wore the black of mourning until the day she died (forty years later).

Clara wrote in her diary after his passing: "All my thoughts went up to God with thanks that he was finally free. As I knelt at his bed, it seemed as if a magnificent spirit was hovering over me. If only he had taken me along."

The poet Grillparzer delivered an oration at Robert's grave side.

On February 27, 1854, a cold and rainy day in Düsseldorf (on carneval), wearing only his slippers and dressing gown, Schumann headed for the Rhine River, only four blocks away. He gave the toll keeper his handkerchief for payment as he did not have money on him. His behavior caught the attention of the toll keeper, but not before Robert jumped into the Rhine. He was rescued by some fishermen in a small boat.

"Schumann referred to him as the “young eagle,” arranged for
the publication of a number of Brahms’s works, and wrote an
article for the Neue Zeitschrift - the first such article he had
written in years - in which he praised Brahms as a genius.

Brahms was filled with gratitude, and he remained a loyal and
selfless friend to both Robert and Clara during the terrible,
dark time that was about to envelop them all."

"Electrified, Schumann rushed out of the room, giving Brahms just enough time to realize that he was going to have to play piano in front of the great and famous Clara Wieck herself."

"In September of 1853 Schumann received, unannounced, a visit from a small, young, blonde-haired composer and pianist from Hamburg named
Johannes Brahms. At Schumann’s invitation, the twenty-year-old Brahms sat down at the piano and began to play. Brahms had gotten no further than a few measures when he felt Schumann’s hand on his shoulder. Quietly, Schumann said, “Please wait a moment. I must call my wife.”

"Schumann was not a good conductor. He frequently dropped his baton
during performances and took to tying it to his wrist with a piece of
string."

"Schumann and family arrived in Düsseldorf in September of 1850.
Düsseldorf was, at the time, an attractive and modern city. Located on the east bank of the Rhine River, north of Cologne, the city had been a haven for poets, painters, and sculptors since the seventeenth century."

"Indeed, starting in mid-1847, the anxious, depressive state that he had fought so long and hard against, that had so colored his world since the Russian tour of 1844, began to lift. By mid-1848, his depression gone, Schumann’s manic compositional engine was, once again, fully engaged."

Schumann had a severe depression which started in 1844 and lasted for three years. I feel so sorry for him.