Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Insanely Beautiful

If I'm listening to the Grieg Piano Concerto, it means I'm also listening to the Schumann.

The two almost always go together on recordings. They're both in A minor, and they both have a similar feel even though Schumann wrote his 23 years before Grieg.

I vacillate between the two.

The Schumann is more introspective and has such a delicate tenderness that I become lost in the moment.

There are days when I think Schumann is my favorite composer of all time. No one wrote more beautiful music than Robert Schumann. English composer Edward Elgar said, "Schumann is my ideal."

In 1854, Schumann attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge into the Rhine. He was rescued by local fisherman. He asked his wife Clara to send him to a sanatorium because he feared he might do her harm.

There are several theories as to what afflicted Schumann. Syphilis, mercury poisoning, and bipolar disorder have all been suggested.

The most fascinating is a tumor that was discovered at the base of his brain during the autopsy. If it was a meningioma, then it might explain the music and vision hallucinations Schumann experienced.

He saw vision of angels and demons and claimed to hear exquisite music but could never remember it long enough to write it down.

There is a rumor that his wife and his student, Johannes Brahms, destroyed some of his last compositions because they thought the music was tainted my Schumann's madness.

Featured below is the incomparable Martha Argerich playing the 1st movement of Schumann's piano concerto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxGFP52NiAo

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief

If I'm listening to the Grieg Piano Concerto, it means I'm also listening to the Schumann.

The two almost always go together on recordings. They're both in A minor, and they both have a similar feel even though Schumann wrote his 23 years before Grieg.

I vacillate between the two.

The Schumann is more introspective and has such a delicate tenderness that I become lost in the moment.

There are days when I think Schumann is my favorite composer of all time. No one wrote more beautiful music than Robert Schumann. English composer Edward Elgar said, "Schumann is my ideal."

In 1854, Schumann attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge into the Rhine. He was rescued by local fisherman. He asked his wife Clara to send him to a sanatorium because he feared he might do her harm.

There are several theories as to what afflicted Schumann. Syphilis, mercury poisoning, and bipolar disorder have all been suggested.

The most fascinating is a tumor that was discovered at the base of his brain during the autopsy. If it was a meningioma, then it might explain the music and vision hallucinations Schumann experienced.

He saw vision of angels and demons and claimed to hear exquisite music but could never remember it long enough to write it down.

There is a rumor that his wife and his student, Johannes Brahms, destroyed some of his last compositions because they thought the music was tainted my Schumann's madness.

Featured below is the incomparable Martha Argerich playing the 1st movement of Schumann's piano concerto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxGFP52NiAo

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Female composer Clara Schumann let her opinions be known

"I despise Liszt to the very depths of my soul."
Next Article

But would audiences love him?

The esoteric pick of the week may suffer from a branding problem
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader