Robert Schumann: Music and Madness

Research Writing ESL Prof. Carolyn Trachtova Olga Sedycias May 2012

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Topic Music and Madness: The effect of Robert Schumanns mental illness on his music and on his marriage to Clara Schumann. Research Question: How did Schumanns mental illness affect his music and his marriage to Clara Schumann? Thesis Statement: Robert Schumann, a German Romantic composer, suffered from a mental illness that affected his life, his music, and his marriage to Clara Schumann. Outline: I. Topic: Robert Schumann developed and was afflicted by a psychosis that affected all aspects of his adult life. A. Support idea: Early biography and beginning of his mental illness. 1. Robert Schumanns parents and his possible genetic predisposition to anxiety and depression. 2. Roberts passion for music and poetry, and the beginning of his career as a composer. 3. His friendship, romance, and eventual marriage to Clara. 4. First signs of anxiety and depression in Robert. B. Support idea: Development of his mental illness, when it was full blown. 1. Over time, Robert had more accentuated symptoms of depression and melancholy. 2. Difficulty to adapt to regular life as a teacher and as a father. 3. Frequent alternating periods of mental stability, when Schumann was able to compose great musical pieces, with periods of introspection and depression, when he was not able to compose or work. C. Support idea: His mental illness at the end of his life. 1. Schumanns mental problems become more intense and frequent, and his creative abilities suffer a downturn.

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2. Schumann starts to get hallucinations, and attempts suicide. 3. Schumanns last year all alone in an insane asylum. II. The music composed by Robert Schumann was affected by this debilitating mental condition. A. Robert Schumanns early compositions 1. Schumanns first works were affected by his mental condition but not to the same extent that his later compositions were because his illness was present but still not full blown. 2. Schumanns vocal music after his marriage to Clara, his famous Lieder, like his early piano music, suffered the effect of his mental condition but not as much as his later works. 3. Florestan and Eusebius mark the dichotomy in Schumanns personality and music. This is a hallmark of his mental, perhaps bipolar, condition. B. Schumanns later compositions, when he was mentally ill. 1. Schumanns compositions in big forms of music. 2. A view of Schumanns most recent and important biographies from a musicologists and from a psychoanalysts perspective. 3. Controversial points about Schumanns late works. III. Roberts marriage to Clara Schumann was severely affected by his mental problems. A. His early relationship to Clara 1. Young Clara met Schumann in her fathers house. 2. Their connection through music. 3. Their friendship becomes love and their marriage without her father permission. B. The development of Schumanns mental illness and how this affected his marriage to Clara. 1. The way Clara handled Schumanns inability to keep his job as a piano teacher and conductor.

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2. Schumanns financial problems and fatherhood. C. Schumanns suicide attempt, his years in the insane asylum, and Claras relationship with Johannes Brahms. 1. Clara managing her career, sick husband, and her children. 2. Schumanns last years in the insane asylum. 3. The relationship between Clara and Brahms.

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Introduction

Robert Schumann is one of the most famous composers from the 19th century. He composed a large number of pieces for piano, voice, and chamber music. To this day, his compositions serve as a major reference in terms of Romantic music. It would be difficult to think of the Romantic period in European music without the lasting influence of Schumann. Musically speaking, his compositions are some of the most beautiful and moving pieces ever written, especially for the piano. Schumanns life has captivated the attention of many musicologists and psychologists, these last ones interested in the mental illness that affected his life. The objective of this paper is to explore and connect the effect of Robert Schumanns mental illness to his music and to his marriage to Clara Schumann. Clara was a virtuoso pianist in her time, a fine pianist, and composer. She and Schumann had a strong connection with each other and with their music. They shared the same passion for music and had a vibrant and full life together. She helped Schumann to manage his mood swings and continue composing. Schumann was a multitalented man, in literature and in music, a brilliant German Romantic composer, but he suffered from a mental illness that affected his life, his music, and his marriage to Clara Schumann.

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Robert Schumann was born in 1810 in Zwickau, Germany. He was the youngest son of August and Johanna Schumann. Both his parents had episodes of anxiety and depression during their lives. In the matter of health, Roberts inheritance was not fortunate. Toward the end of their lives, both parents were subject to morbid attacks of melancholy (Schauffler, 1945, p. 8). The young Robert showed early vocation for music and enjoyed writing poetry. Few great composers have, like Robert Schumann, begun to love and write poetry before they began to love and write music (Schauffler, 1945, p. 10). He loved both music and poetry, but later on he decided to be a musician, not a poet. Up until his high school years, he did not show any signs of any mental illness. Schumanns mother wanted him to be a lawyer, a typical middle class aspiration in his time, but his father was very artistic and greatly enjoyed poetry and music. The mother placed Robert in a law school in Leipzig, but he hated law classes. In Leipzig, he began to receive piano lessons from Friedrich Wieck, a famous piano teacher in that part of Germany. Friedrich Wieck was also Claras father. Schumann met Clara at her fathers house, when she was but a young girl. Schumann eventually quit law school. As a matter of fact, he did nothing but make music. But while doing so, he was filled with remorse at not keeping his word; and this was one of the first causes of that dissatisfaction which he felt with himself and the world in general and poured out at length in his letters to his mother (Basch, 1936, p. 26). Schumann gave up on his legal education with a heavy heart on account of his mother, who had different aspirations for him. Afterwards, he was officially accepted as a piano student by Mr. Wieck.

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In the beginning, Schumann did not particularly like Mr. Wiecks austere discipline, but after he got used to his teachers ways, he started to compose more. He gave up a career as a concert pianist because of an injury in one of his fingers, and after that he dedicated all his time and energy to composition. In the summer of 1833, Schumann had his first serious nervous breakdown, which was brought about by the deaths of his brother Julius and sister-in-law Rosalie. He described this moment in a letter: During the night of October 17-18 there suddenly came into my mind the most hideous thought that a man can possibly conceive, the most terrible idea with which heaven can punish him the thought that I was losing my reason This terror possessed me everywhere. I could not draw breath at the thought. Then, seized by a horrible excitement, I rushed to see a doctor and told him all, how I often lost consciousness, and did not know how this agony would end, how I could find no way of keeping it at bay, and how my distress was so extreme that I was thinking of taking my life. (Basch, 1936, p. 69). compose more. A few months later, he appeared to recover from this episode and for the very first time he mentioned the names Florestan and Eusebius, the two opposing sides of his dual personality. Florestan was the vigorous man of action, the up-and-comer. Eusebius was the dreamy, poetic man of reflection, somewhat addicted to sadness. This pair represented a charming wish-dream, a rationalization of what he wished his dimly realized manic-depressive make-up to be. (Schauffler, 1945, p.62). After a brief romance with Ernestine von Fricken, Schumann became more aware of his love for Clara, who was then a fairly famous eighteen-year-old concert pianist. Clara was busy His mental health improved, as he forced himself to

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with her career, playing around the world, and Schumann was composing and sending love letters to her. His bouts with depression and melancholy became more frequent during this time. That melancholy, which he had called his inseparable companion, was more deeply rooted in him than he was aware. (Basch, 1936, p.135). Clara eventually gave in to Schumanns romantic advances and they were married in September 1840, however without her fathers approval. During this year, Schumann composed frantically, with Claras incentive. Clara had her own career as a famous concert pianist, and Schumann resented this because at this stage in their lives she was more famous than he. After giving birth to their first child, Clara continued to travel to perform in her concerts and had increasingly more concerns about their baby and Schumanns depressive moods. In 1843, the Leipzig Conservatory of Music was founded and Schumann was invited to be a piano and composition teacher there. A few months later, Roberts mental health grew worse. Clara remarked in a personal letter that Robert could not sleep a single night. His imagination painted him the most fearful pictures. Early in the morning I usually found him bathed in tears. He quite gave himself up (Schauffler, 1945, p. 183). Robert was afraid of death and started to panic about many things. At this time, he also refused to take his medicines. He pushed himself very hard to compose and to be famous like Clara. The new responsibilities as a father and provider, as a teacher, in addition to his possible genetic predisposition to mental illness, culminated in a major nervous breakdown in 1844 that lasted well into 1845, with many ups and downs. With two children and having to deal with his mental illness, Schumann found peace composing for his children. A prime example from this period are the famous Album for

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the Young and Scenes from Childhood. Schumann continued to work and compose even though his mental health was steadily getting worse. There was to be much in these future, less happy, years of the blissful, triumphant and creative. But from here on the dark moments were to be on the increase. (Schauffler, 1945, p.185). On account of his musical production, he was becoming as famous as Clara. His compositions were being favorably reviewed. Conversely, Clara was gradually giving up her career as a concert pianist not only on account of her new responsibilities as a mother but also because of her love and dedication to her sick husband. She basically functioned as the bridge between Schumann and the real world, and she tried to help him to the best of her abilities as he became more introspective and progressively failed in his work as a conductor and teacher. Between the years 1845 and 1850, the Schumanns had six children. They moved to Dresden, and Roberts health continued to have serious ups and downs. When he was in a period of affliction, he did not compose and instead applied himself to the study of musical counterpoint. He composed music when he felt he was mentally capable of doing so. Schumann was fighting against himself, against his own demons, and his mental illness, in his love for music and his art. He composed great music in Dresden, such as a piano concerto and a symphony, despite his worsening mental health. On other hand, Clara tried to take care of her own career as a pianist, of her sick husband, and also deal with her pregnancies and several little children all by herself. At the end of 1850, they moved to Dusseldorf, and Schumann apparently got better and started to compose again. However, most of his compositions from this time

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period point to a downturn in his creative abilities. His lack of conducting skills coupled with his chronic absentmindedness made his relationship with the musicians in Dusseldorf extremely difficult for everyone involved. At this time, the Schumanns met a young composer named Johannes Brahms, when Schumann was in a good mood and their friendship had a chance to flourish. Robert helped launch Brahms career, assisted him personally and professionally in many ways, and dearly appreciated Brahms as a true friend. Brahms felt very close to the Schumanns and fell in love with Roberts music. Brahms also fell in love with Clara, who was fourteen years his senior. Schumanns mental health grew increasingly worse as he was tormented by auditory hallucinations and insomnia, a development that was terrible for him and Clara. These hallucinations got worse, as they were accompanied by visions of angels and demons. In 1854, he attempted suicide by jumping into the freezing Rhine River. Some boatmen saw him jump from the bridge and saved his life by taking him out of the water. Clara was pregnant with their seventh child, and the doctors recommended that Robert be put in an insane asylum. Clara later stated: He, my glorious Robert, in an asylum! How could I possibly stand it? And there I was, forbidden even to press him once more to my heart (Schauffler, 1945, p.251). Brahms came to help Clara at this tragic time. Now, she was alone with seven children and her husband had been committed to an insane asylum. The doctors could not guarantee a cure for Schumanns mental illness, and were trying their best to stabilize him and to lessen his suffering. Clara was not allowed to visit her husband, and she found comfort in Brahms friendship and his appreciation of music, something that

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she shared with him. The doctors allowed Clara to write to her husband, and he sometimes was able to reply to her. Brahms visited Schumann in the asylum, but Clara was only allowed to visit him two days before he died, almost two years later. She stated I saw him in the evening, between six and seven. He smiled at me and put his arm round me with great difficulty, for he had almost lost all control of his limbs. Never shall I forget that moment. I would not give that embrace for all the treasures on earth. My Robert, it was thus that we had to meet again! How painfully had I to try to distinguish your beloved features! What pain it was to look upon you so! (Basch, 1936, p. 230). Robert Schumanns life was completely affected by his mental illness, even though he was conscious of his ailment and tried his best to deal with his insanity. His passion for music and the love he received from his remarkable wife unfortunately were not enough to bring his madness under control. His ordeal culminated in his attempt to commit suicide, and he spent his final years in an insane asylum in Germany. Schumann was one of the most influential Romantic composers from the 19th century, and this movement had a lasting effect on the arts and music in general. Composers from the Romantic school differ from the composers from the period immediately before it, the Classical era, because they chose to express their feelings in music. They were not too attached to the structure of the Classical forms. In the Romantic era, originality and individuality played a far more important role than it did in the Classical period. Schumann responded to this inherently individual and intimate dimension in Romantic music and his compositions reflected his innermost states of being, including his changes of mood as well as his darkest and most desperate

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moments. Schumann explored poetry and his own soul in his music. In a letter to Clara, he stated: Everything that happens in the world affects me: politics, literature, people. I think it all over in my own way, and then it has to make room for itself and find an outlet in music. (Walker, 1972, p. 102, 103). He described himself and his feelings in his compositions. As was mentioned previously, Schumann named his dual personality Florestan and Eusebius. Florestan came first and happened to be the impetuous one. One week later, he named the other part of his dual personality Eusebius, who was the timid and melancholy dreamer. These two opposing sides of his personality are present in much of Schumanns music. Schumanns musical production can be divided into three major periods or phases. During the first phase, his compositions are a large number of pieces for piano that show Schumanns dual sides of his personality along with his sadness. Schumanns first period of compositions consists of a large number of piano pieces, composed in sets of variations or variation-form that characterizes his music as unique in the Romantic period. He chose specific themes and composed his pieces based on these themes, borrowing inspiration from one piece to another. Other characteristics that made his music unique are irregular accentuations, syncopations, and crossrhythms. In the piano-cycles, Schumann created something completely his own, never really continued, that proved to be the perfect means of expressing himself (Walker, 1972, p.70, 71). To this day, his music is called Schumannesque, to describe the enigmatic characteristic of his compositions. Schumann alternated periods of compulsive composing, when he went without

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sleeping, with periods of depressive moods, when he barely composed. Clara always encouraged and supported him with lots of self-sacrifice, even almost giving up her own career. All of Schumanns emotions, nervous breakdown, and social problems in dealing with others musicians influenced his compositions. The Drei Romanzen Op. 28 are compositions for piano from this period. Schumann considered them one of the best compositions he ever made. He also wrote to Clara about other compositions for piano: I have been all the week at the piano, composing, writing, laughing and crying, all at once. You will find this state of affairs nicely described in my Op. 20, the Grosse Humoreske twelve sheets composed in a week (Abraham, 1952, p. 60). Humoreske is a long and varied piece and is a masterpiece of Schumanns piano style. Schumann composed his last set of piano variations in 1854, when his mental health was deteriorating and he was hearing spirits whispering the melody to him. After ten days suffering from hallucinations, he got better and continued to work on this piece, finishing some of the variations but leaving the set incomplete. Schumanns later piano compositions are less known than his first ones, like the Variations for Two Pianos. After 1840, when his physical and mental health was starting to fail, he was having more periods without composing and the quality of his compositions was not the same as in the beginning. By 1840, Schumann was already a famous composer and all of the intense life passion he put in his first piano music was not present in full intensity in his later compositions. The many conventional piano pieces of Schumanns last period may add nothing to his reputation. When, however, they are considered in relationship to the production of his best and most fruitful years, they may serve to emphasize the unique and inimitable quality of his splendid earlier

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works (Abraham, 1952, p. 96,97). After this year, Schumann finished his piano cycle and started to compose Lieder (songs), which characterize his second period or phase of compositions. As an extremely emotional, unpredictable, and contradictory person in his personal life as well as in his music, Schumann did not appreciate vocal music like he appreciated poetry. He wrote to Clara in 1839 that All my life I have thought vocal music inferior to instrumental and have never considered it to be great art (Abraham, 1952, p. 98). For him, music was already a form of language. The Lied, or song in German, was used in the Romantic period to describe musically poems for voice and piano. In 1840, the year of his marriage, and profoundly in love with Clara, Schumann, became a songwriter. In his Lieder, Schumann connected the meaning of the poems musically. He used poems by Heinrich Heine, a German poet from the 19th century, because of the similarity between Heine and himself regarding severe mood swings. Schumanns music in the Lieder evokes everything present in Heines poems, like love, tension, and tenderness. Schumann reflects his complex personal characteristics in his Lieder. Four main aspects of Schumanns complex character are reflected in his songwriting. First comes his cyclic disposition, fluctuating between extremes of elation and depression. (Walker, 1972, p.132). His mood changes are reflected intensely in his songs, going from parts of depression to joy and ecstasy. Florestan and Eusebius, the two sides of his personality, are also present in his songs, and bring moments of ecstasy and melancholy to these compositions. In their first year of marriage, Schumanns love for Clara was intense and vividly

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present in his songs, especially in the cycles of love songs that he wrote for her. At this time, Schumann was confident. His Florestan side prevailed, and musically he was becoming more popular than Clara, and he was also being better paid than she was. He was writing cycle after cycle of Lieder, about love, nature, landscapes, and self revelations. He wrote to Clara in excitement Such music I have in me that I could sing the whole day through (Walker, 1972, p. 136). One of the most famous of Schumanns Lieder cycles is Dichterliebe, poets love in German, based on another set of poems by Heine. Heines poems talk about happiness and suffering. The contrasts present in Heines poems are magnified by Schumann in his music, in a delightful and moving coming together of the words. When Heine is silent, Schumann speaks. (Walker, 1972, p. 139). Schumann declared all of his love to Clara in his Lieder of 1840. In 1849, he wrote more songs than in 1840, but he was not a young lover anymore. He was becoming more mentally ill and struggling with his new responsibilities to support his family financially and emotionally. He changed his style in his compositions to express these changes in his life. His later compositions in 1849 show his health deteriorating. During this period, he used Byrons poems about death in his Lieder: the death of a girl, the death of a hero, and the resulting devastating melancholy. At this time, Schumann was composing less and his later songs were not at the same quality level as his earlier songs. His later songs are about death, grief, madness, and prayer, which reflected his spirit during this period. The third and last phase of Schumanns compositions is called the chamber music phase. He composed string quartets, violin sonatas, piano trios, piano quartets, piano quintets, the concertos, and orchestral music, among many other genres.

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Schumanns experimentations with big musical forms were an incentive from Franz Liszt, a renowned Hungarian pianist and composer and from Clara. She wrote in her diary: I believe it would be best if he composed for orchestra; his imagination cannot expand sufficiently on the keyboard His compositions are all orchestrally conceived, and I believe incomprehensible to the public for this reason, for the melodies and figuration are so intermingled that it is very difficult to hear the beauties of the work My highest wish is that he should compose for orchestra that is his field! May I succeed in persuading him to enter it (Walker, 1972, p. 279). Schumann composed in cycles. He wrote music in one type of composition until exhaustion, and then he changed to another type of composition. His chamber music period consists of many forms of compositions and at the end of this period his mental health was getting worse and reveals a downturn in the quality of his music. None of his late works, like the cantatas and the liturgical texts, seem to add to Schumanns career as a composer. These compositions were not inspirational and were stained by his illness. Schumanns symphonies, on the other hand, have a lot of feeling and are strict connected to his fight back against his mental illness in the last years of his life. Of Schumanns works, the Second Symphony is the most discussed composition in connection with the influence of his sickness on his music. Some Schumanns scholars have connected the negative view of Schumanns later works to his later years in the insane asylum. Basch (1936) stated Schumanns late works reveal an undoubted decline in the composers creative power. (p.199). However, this aspect of Schumanns musical production is still open to controversy as there is an ongoing debate regarding his later works being considered inferior to the earlier ones.

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Schumanns life has been explored in many biographies. Musicologists and psychologists have different points of view about Schumanns life and illness. Daverios analysis focused on Schumanns compositions. Ostwalds did a psychoanalytical evaluation of Schumans life. Whether or not one agrees with Freudian psychoanalysis, one must concede that Ostwald has accurately and correctly described Schumanns mental illness during his life, independently of whatever diagnosis was given to identify Schumanns mental disease. On the other hand, Daverio, who is a musicologist, has focused on Schumanns music, going in a different direction from Ostwalds analysis. Many others musicologists disagreed with Daverios points regarding Schumanns music and life, because he did not explore how Schumanns mental illness was connected to his music. Independent of diagnosis, the different theses regarding Schumanns life, what is of relevance here is that his mood swings and his dual personality were closely connected to his mental illness, and this illness deeply affected his music. Robert first met Clara in her fathers house. She was just a young girl, a child prodigy pianist, and he was interested in getting piano lessons from her father, Friedrich Wieck, the most renowned piano teacher in Germany in his time. In spite of the nineyear difference between the two, they developed a friendship and an affection for each other. When Clara was away at her concerts and recitals, they kept in touch writing long letters to each other. Even as Schumann was having a short relationship with Ernestine von Fricken, another of Mr. Wiecks piano students, Schumann and Clara were getting closer. He eventually broke up with Ernestine and declared his love to Clara. The brotherly feeling which he had felt for Clara became surer and more ardent, it increased

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to fever-heat and was transformed into love. (Basch, 1936, p. 97). Mr. Wieck started to notice what was really happening between her daughter and Robert, and tried to keep her away from Schumann. The father had other plans for Claras future. He sent her to Dresden, and prohibited her to write letters to Robert. Later, Schumann wrote a letter to Mr. Wieck asking him for permission to see Clara, but Mr. Wieck turned him down. Clara was very sad with her fathers disapproval, especially because she was completely in love with Schumann. She wrote My love for Schumann is passionate, indeed, but I do not love him out of mere passion and exaltation, but because I consider him the best of men, because I believe that no other man would love me so purely and nobly as he, or understand me so well; while, on the other hand, I believe that I, too, can make him perfectly happy by giving myself to him, and certainly no other woman would understand him as I do. (Basch, 1936, p.146). Also, Schumann was happy with Clara, as he wrote to his brother in 1838, two years before his marriage Of my good fortune in possessing such a girl to whom I am completely bound by art, mental affinity, habit of many years friendship, and deepest, really holy love, I will say no more. My whole life is joy and activity.. (Niecks, 1978, p.208). Together they formed the most talented couple in the history of music. She was a brilliant pianist and he was a superb composer. Schumann married Clara in 1840, against her fathers wishes. She was aware of Schumanns problems and emotional struggles, but their connection was stronger than these problems. Sometimes Robert could display a bad temper, with periods of melancholy. Clara had her own career and she was more famous than he at the time of their marriage, and Schumann was jealous because of that. She significantly cut back

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on her professional activities and aspirations as a pianist and composer in order to be Schumanns wife. She stopped practicing the large number of hours required of professional pianists because Schumann needed silence when he was composing. She protested: my piano had again fallen into the background, as it always does when Robert is composing; not a single little hour is set apart for it. (Basch, 1936, p.166, 167). However, these conflicts were not significant enough to destroy their love for each other or for their music. In their first year of marriage, Schumann composed a large number of pieces with Claras incentive, and she continued to travel and performed around Europe, even after giving birth to their first child, Marie. Schumann suffered with Claras absence because of her constant touring. Her career and fame were still making Schumann uncomfortable. He wrote in his diary: Must I sacrifice my talent in order to act as your escort on your travels? And must you neglect yours because I am chained to the Zeitschrift and the piano? And that now, while you are young and strong? We have found the solution. You have found a lady to accompany you, I have returned to the child and to my work. But what will the world say? This is how I torture myself with thinking. It is absolutely necessary that we should find a way to practice and develop both our talents side by side. (Basch, 1936, p.169). Schumann moody swings were becoming more accentuated at this time. When Clara was away, he felt miserable, and hardly composed anything. These periods of depression alternated with periods of euphoria, when Clara was around, and were marked by intense composing. Schumanns social problems and volatile temper made it hard for him to maintain his jobs as teacher and conductor. He was known at the

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Leipzig Conservatory as the silent teacher, and he never felt comfortable in this position. Clara continued to accept the invitations to perform around the world because they needed money. In 1844, he decided to accompany her in a concert tour in St. Petersburg, Russia, and when they returned to Germany he had a serious nervous breakdown. This breakdown of 1844 was caused, in first place, by Schumanns bad nervous inheritance; in the second, by the intensive toil and excitement of the year of song, the year of symphony, and the year of chamber music. All this was aggravated by money troubles, the new experiences of fatherhood, the Conservatory job, for which he was wretchedly fitted, and the strenuous Russian adventure. (Schauffler, 1945, p.184) After this year, Schumann had many ups and downs in his mental health, and Clara was there to help him get better and return to composing again. The Schumanns moved in and out of many towns in Germany, looking for better music opportunities for both of them. Robert was not well received in the music communities in these towns because of his introspective behavior and bad temper. Clara was the one who brought money home from teaching piano. Schumanns music was not yet widely accepted by the musicians of his time. Still, Robert and Clara never lost their hope to see Schumanns compositions played and well received around Europe. During these moves, Schumanns nervous breakdown became more frequent, even though he was able to compose before and after the attacks. Also, he developed new symptoms, like insomnia, fatigue, and hallucinations. Clara wrote Robert is terribly tormented by hypochondriacal ideas. (Basch, 1936, p.203). On the other hand, during the good periods, like in the summer of 1854, they had their happy moments, as when they celebrated their wedding anniversary with their six children, and Robert gave Clara

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a new piano as a gift. She wrote in her diary Perhaps it sounds presumptuous to say so, but is it not true that I am the happiest woman on earth? (Basch, 1936, p.208). These happy moments were also extended to their new friendship with a virtuoso violinist Joachim and a pianist and composer Johannes Brahms. Schumann enjoyed Brahms compositions and launched him to the music world. These two new friends would eventually help Clara a great deal during the tough following years. In the year 1854 and in the years after that, Schumanns health took a major turn for the worse. The hallucinations were constant, and he was not able to compose with the same intensity or frequency. Schumann tried to compose the music that the angels and demons were whispering to him, as part of his delirium. Clara stated His eyes were full of a rupture that I can never forget. (Basch, 1936, p.218). He was afraid to hurt Clara and begged her to leave him. He declared Oh, Clara! I am not worthy of your love. (Basch, 1936, p.219). Schumann attempted suicide jumping into the Rhine River. Some boatmen took him from the freezing water and brought him back to land. He was taken to the insane asylum, and Clara, who was again pregnant at the time, was not allowed to see her husband on doctors orders. Brahms immediately came to Claras aid, keeping her company and comforting her. In this unhappy moment, she gave birth to her last child, Felix. A new era starts in Claras life. With her husband in an insane asylum, she had to take care of her seven children by herself. Claras suffering found comfort in Brahms friendship and his music. Clara was not allowed to visit her sick husband and the doctors just allowed her to send letters to him. He wrote back to her Could I but see you once and talk to you! But the road is still too long. I should like to hear so much

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what sort of life you are leading, where you are living, and whether you still play as marvelously as in the old days (Basch, 1936, p.223). Brahms was allowed to visit Schumann in the insane asylum. Schumann thanked Brahms for his kindness and attention toward his family, especially Clara. The two friends played and talked for hours, even though some of what Schumann said made little sense as he was experiencing some hallucinations. During the next visit, Schumann barely recognized Brahms, and the doctors said that the hope for a cure was practically gone. Clara was allowed to visit her husband two days before he died. The relationship between Brahms and Clara Schumann is another point of controversy among biographers and musicologists. Their friendship started during Schumanns latest and worst nervous breakdown, and blossomed after his death. Her diaries during these tough years describe her grief for Robert and her love letters to Brahms, who was fourteen years younger then she. In 1856, in one of his letters to Clara, Brahms declared: My beloved Clara, I wish I could write to you as tenderly as I love you, and do all the kindly, loving things for you that I wish you. You are so infinitely dear to me that I cannot express it. ( Basch, 1936, p.234). However, Clara denied their affair in a letter to her children: May God send everyone, however unhappy, a consolation that shall bring him happiness and strength. I have you, but you are only children as yet. You hardly knew your father, you were too young to experience deep grief; and so, during those terrible years, you were unable to bring me consolation, but only hope, which could not sustain me in the midst of such suffering. And then came Johannes Brahms. Your father loved and admired him as he did nobody else save Joachim. He came to help me, and like a faithful friend, to bear all my distress; he gave

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strength to my heart when it bade fair to break, he raised my courage, and cheered me so far as he was able; in short, he was my friend in every sense of the word. (Basch, 1936, 237). She persisted in her letter to her children: Yes, children, I can tell you that I never loved a friend as I did him. It was the most beautiful spiritual harmony. What I love in him is not his youth, not the satisfaction of my vanity, it is not the freshness of his mind, or his splendid gifted nature; what I love is his heart, which I have put to the test for years, as no other could have done Johannes alone who was my support. Never forget this, dear children, and be grateful in your hearts to the friend who will certainly always be your friend too. Believe what your mother tells you, and do not believe the mean-spirited, jealous people who envy him my love and friendship and who try to attack him and the beautiful relations between us, which they either do not or will not understand. (Basch, 1936, 238). In this letter, Clara tried to explain her relationship with Brahms to her children, pointing out that they had a strictly platonic relationship and rebuffing the gossip that maintained she had an affair with him. In Claras diaries at the time of Schumanns stay in the insane asylum, and after his death, she mentioned that without Brahms help she would not be able to survive all that suffering. He gave life to her and brought her back to the world of music, where she belonged. Clara loved her children and her career with equal intensity. Later, in a memoir book, her daughter stated that We would sometimes wonder whether our mother would miss us or music most if one of the two were taken from her, and we could never decide. (Schumann, 1970, p.152). After all this pain, Clara applied herself to spreading Schumanns music and making it better known and appreciated. She never lost confidence in the value of his

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compositions and she strove tirelessly to make his work known and played throughout the world after his death. She stated in 1868 that the public understanding of Schumanns work has increased remarkably during recent years. I do not force Roberts music on anybody, but it is a great joy to me to be able to contribute towards the spread of it in response to the demand with which I now meet everywhere. (Basch, 1936, 241). Clara played a significant role in this process, and in doing so she also helped spread the music of Brahms.

Conclusion

Robert Schumanns life was intense. He was a well-educated men and a great composer. With a genetic predisposition to mental problems, he was overwhelmed by a mental illness, even though he tried as best he could to deal with his insanity. He married Clara, a great pianist, and they were soul mates who strongly connected to each other. His passion for music and the love he received from his remarkable wife unfortunately were not enough to bring his madness under control. They built a family together, with several children, and he had trouble relating constructively to the musicians of his time. Because of this, Schumann was not able to keep his job as a teacher and conductor. He was an absent-minded individual, immersed in his music and his world. He even gave names to his dual personalities: Florestan to his energetic and manic side and Eusebius to his poetic and dreamy side. Schumann composed in phases. His first phase consisted of a large number of pieces for piano. In his second phase, he composed songs, Lieder in German. In the third and last phase, he composed chamber music, when two or more instruments play together. Schumanns

Olga Sedycias, Page 25 music is one of the most important from the 19th century. His style is very unique and his music is called Schumannesque. He brought to his compositions his mood swings and his soul in order to express himself in music. He used new ways in music to express all the conflicting emotions he experienced. Consequently, during his time his music was not widely understood or appreciated by the common people, and just a few erudite musicians appreciated and saw the value of his compositions. Today, Schumanns music and life are still explored and debated by musicologists and psychologists, sometimes from different and conflicting points of view. Psychologists tried to diagnose his mental illness and connect his madness to his genius. On the other hand, musicologists focused only on his music, sometimes ignoring the mental illness that afflicted him throughout his life. These musicologists and psychologists should be able to reconcile their conflicting views in order to arrive at a common perspective that would shed more light on Schumanns life and music. Schumanns deteriorating mental health culminated in his attempt to commit suicide, and he spent his final years in an insane asylum in Germany. Robert had a few friends and people he admired during his life, like Mendelson, Joachim, and Brahms. The latter stood by Claras side during Schumanns last years of life and supported Schumanns family after his death. Another controversial point in Schumanns biography is the relationship between Clara and Brahms. To this day, the experts debate whether it was merely a platonic relationship. Robert Schumann was one of the most interesting and intriguing composers in the world of music. He was a great exponent of the Romantic era and a vanguard man in his time.

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References

Abraham, G. (1952). Schumann A Symposium. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, Publishers. Basch, Victor. (1936). Schumann: A Life of Suffering. New York, New York: Tudor Publishing Co. Currie, N. (2011). Another Perspective on Robert Schumann's personality. Journal of Musicological Research, (30), 131-163. Niecks, F. (1978). Robert Schumann. New York, NY: E. P. Dutton & Co. Ostwald, P. (1985). Schumann The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius. Boston: Northeastern University Press. Schauffler, Robert H. (1945). Florestan: The Life and Work of Robert Schumann. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. Schumman, E. (1970). The Schumanns and Johannes Brahms. The memoirs of Eugenie Schumann. Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press. Walker, A. ed. (1972). Robert Schumann the Man and his Music. Great Britain: Barrie and Jenkins. Werner, J. (2007). Sing Himself to Death: Historical Presentations of Robert Schumanns Mental Illness. Retrieved from http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~jkw32/eport/artifacts/Jackie_Werner_Senior_Thesi s.pdf