Schumann's Shoebox

[cilgwyn]

Done!

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Ye olde dolby cassette deck is recording it right NOW!

[Geo Dude]

Ah, Schumann!  He was in my top five composers before classical cycled out of my listening for a few years.  I'm on a massive Brahms kick right now, but perhaps he shall reattain his status once I can drag myself away from Brahms for a time.  The lieder, the solo piano (of course!), the chamber works...all great.  And I've discovered the violin concerto through this thread!  That said, I'm happy to see his chamber music getting some recognition here; I've always felt that it was underrated.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Believe it not, today I heard Schumann's violin concerto for the very first time. Don't know why I never had listened to it before, maybe I thought his mental illness would have caused damage to his work. Well, turns out I was completely wrong. IT - IS - FREAKING - PERFECT! It might actually right now be my personal favorite violin concerto ever, even passing Sibelius, Brahms, Dvorak, Mendelssohn Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. This is incredibly underrated work and I can't believe I have been without it all these years.

[eyeresist]

Believe it not, today I heard Schumann's violin concerto for the very first time. Don't know why I never had listened to it before, maybe I thought his mental illness would have caused damage to his work. Well, turns out I was completely wrong. IT - IS - FREAKING - PERFECT! It might actually right now be my personal favorite violin concerto ever, even passing Sibelius, Brahms, Dvorak, Mendelssohn Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. This is incredibly underrated work and I can't believe I have been without it all these years.

It is a great work, and it's a sign of the arbitrariness of our canon that it is still regarded as not quite worthy.

[Cato]

I caught about 10 minutes of the Schumann Third Symphony on the radio.  The performance was from the RCA set issued about 20 years ago with the Hanover Band conducted by Roy Goodman.

Does anyone have the entire set, or have you heard it?  I was very impressed with the clarity of this performance (at least the 10 minutes  I heard).  Amazon has 3 rave 5-star reviews for it.

[karlhenning]

Gidon Kremer comes to Boston to play the Violin Concerto this weekend.

[Sergeant Rock]

Hanover Band conducted by Roy Goodman. Does anyone have the entire set...

I own it. One of my favorite Schumann cycles (along with Szell and Barenboim). The Hanover Band has a magnificent sound, the period horns especially impressive.

Sarge

[Cato]

I own it. One of my favorite Schumann cycles (along with Szell and Barenboim). The Hanover Band has a magnificent sound, the period horns especially impressive.

Sarge

I have the famous Szell/Cleveland Orchestra cycle too.

Many thanks for the recommendation: I also was impressed by the smoothness of the horns and the way Goodman had them blending and fading in the slow movement: a dreamlike interpretation, at least in the section I heard.

[madaboutmahler]

Am I right in thinking there is no thread dedicated to Schumann here on GMG? Well, I saw one thread, but that seemed more dedicated to naming Clara Schumann look-alikes....

I thought I better create a new one!

Listening to the 4th symphony now, a favourite work of mine.
Feel free to discuss your love for his work on this thread!

[Lisztianwagner]

Excellent thread, Schumann was one of the most representative composers of the Romantic era!
His music is deeply passionate, impressive and powerfully emotional, full of nuances, but also brilliant and harmonic at the same time; his compositions are certainly very enjoyable!
Some of my favourite Schumann's works are the symphonies, Carnaval, Études Symphoniques, the Piano Concerto and Kinderszenen. I really adore Symphony No.4 too, maybe it's my favourite along with No.1.

[madaboutmahler]

Excellent thread, Schumann was one of the most representative composers of the Romantic era!
His music is deeply passionate, impressive and powerfully emotional, full of shades, but also brilliant and harmonic at the same time; his compositions are certainly very enjoyable!
Some of my favourite Schumann's works are the symphonies, Carnaval, Études Symphoniques, the Piano Concerto and Kinderszenen. I really adore Symphony No.4 too, maybe it's my favourite along with No.1.

Thank you for posting Ilaria. Beautifully expressed again, and I completely agree with you.
Symphony no.4 is one of my favourites too. I also love the Piano Concerto, Carnaval, rest of the symphonies, piano quintet and Kinderszenen as well.

Is your favourite performance of no.4 the Karajan recording by any chance, Ilaria?  I particularly love the Sawallisch and Bernstein (VPO) performances.

Many people seem to dislike Schumann which is something I don't quite understand. The music is beautiful, melodic, lyrical, passionate, powerful; so what is there not to love?!

Have a nice evening, Ilaria!

[Mirror Image]

Sorry to bust your bubble, but there's already a composer thread for Schumann:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,80.msg843.html#msg843

[mc ukrneal]

Thank you for posting Ilaria. Beautifully expressed again, and I completely agree with you.
Symphony no.4 is one of my favourites too. I also love the Piano Concerto, Carnaval, rest of the symphonies, piano quintet and Kinderszenen as well.

Is your favourite performance of no.4 the Karajan recording by any chance, Ilaria?  I particularly love the Sawallisch and Bernstein (VPO) performances.

Many people seem to dislike Schumann which is something I don't quite understand. The music is beautiful, melodic, lyrical, passionate, powerful; so what is there not to love?!

Have a nice evening, Ilaria!

I like those versions. But my favorite so far is Vonk. He takes speeds I like and really does some nice things with the piece. When the contest thing is over, I will listen to it again. There are severall versions I have still not heard though, so will be interesting to see the versions I liked in the contest to see if I might want to acquire one of them.

[madaboutmahler]

Sorry to bust your bubble, but there's already a composer thread for Schumann:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,80.msg843.html#msg843

Ah yes, I see now. How on earth could I miss it... had searched Schumann in the search bar several times and it didn't come up...
Sorry!

Oh well, at least it has sparked a Schumann discussion again!

I like those versions. But my favorite so far is Vonk. He takes speeds I like and really does some nice things with the piece. When the contest thing is over, I will listen to it again. There are severall versions I have still not heard though, so will be interesting to see the versions I liked in the contest to see if I might want to acquire one of them.

I have not heard the Vonk yet, so will bear your recommendation in mind, thank you! Yes, I'll be interested to find out the versions I liked in the comparison contest. I also have many recordings yet to hear of the symphony.

[Lethevich]

Ah yes, I see now. How on earth could I miss it... had searched Schumann in the search bar several times and it didn't come up...
Sorry!

This forum's search feature definitely needs the disclaimer "no guarantee to work" - it's why I began the composer index sticky. If you do want to search the forum I'd suggest Google's page index, but sadly I suppose that can't be restricted by forum section

[Lisztianwagner]

Thank you for posting Ilaria. Beautifully expressed again, and I completely agree with you.
Symphony no.4 is one of my favourites too. I also love the Piano Concerto, Carnaval, rest of the symphonies, piano quintet and Kinderszenen as well.

Is your favourite performance of no.4 the Karajan recording by any chance, Ilaria?  I particularly love the Sawallisch and Bernstein (VPO) performances.

Many people seem to dislike Schumann which is something I don't quite understand. The music is beautiful, melodic, lyrical, passionate, powerful; so what is there not to love?!

Have a nice evening, Ilaria!

As a matter of fact, it is I've not listened to either the Sawallisch or the Bernstein yet, I may surely have a look at them (the Sawallisch is not with VPO, but Staatskapelle Dresden, right?)!

Yeah, I totally agree....matter of taste I suppose; many people seem to dislike Mahler (and worse, Wagner) too, and personally it's something which surprises me much more.....

Have a nice evening too, Daniel!

[madaboutmahler]

This forum's search feature definitely needs the disclaimer "no guarantee to work" - it's why I began the composer index sticky. If you do want to search the forum I'd suggest Google's page index, but sadly I suppose that can't be restricted by forum section

haha - Thanks for the advice, shall do that in the future. I'll also have a look in your composer index.

As a matter of fact, it is I've not listened to either the Sawallisch or the Bernstein yet, I may surely have a look at them (the Sawallisch is not with VPO, but Staatskapelle Dresden, right?)!

Yeah, I totally agree....matter of taste I suppose; many people seem to dislike Mahler (and worse, Wagner) too, and personally it's something which surprises me much more.....

Have a nice evening too, Daniel!

How did I guess?! I highly recommend both, hope you enjoyed them! Let us know! The Bernstein can be found on youtube by the way. I posted a link on facebook about it. Yes, the Sawallisch is with the Staatskapelle, the Bernstein is with the VPO.

I suppose....

Thank you!

[Scion7]

I have it on CD by Kremer, Harnoncourt, Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

But, I would like to run across a copy of this that didn't break the bank (1974/1975), open image in new window:



There's an interesting history about the concerto:

On September 21, 1853, Schumann entered into his daily record: "Have begun a piece for violin." On October 1, he noted that the "Concerto for Violin is finished," and by the third of the same month the piece was completely orchestrated. This record represents the last truly productive and happy time for the composer. He wished to have the Violin Concerto performed in Düsseldorf, but gave up his conducting post there, making such a concert nearly impossible. A concert tour and his production of music criticism made the planning of a performance a matter of secondary importance. Finally, the onset of his mental illness eliminated all hope of his programming the concerto, the saga of which continued long after the composer's death.

Shortly after completing the Violin Concerto, Schumann sent the piece to Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), asking if there were any passages that were "unplayable." Joachim, the concerto's intended recipient, was initially supportive of Schumann's efforts, but shortly after Schumann's death in 1856 he expressed his displeasure with "dreadful passages for the violin" to Clara Schumann. To this, Clara reacted by asking Joachim to re-write the last movement, which he never did. When Joachim finally did give a private performance of the concerto, in 1858 in Leipzig, Brahms found it so unsatisfactory that he elected not to include it in the Complete Edition of Schumann's Works, which he was then editing. Clara, Brahms, and Joachim decided the work should never be published.

Many years later, Joachim's son sold the manuscript of the concerto to the Prussian State Library, stipulating that the piece not be performed before the one-hundredth anniversary of Schumann's death. In 1937, Georg Schünemann found the manuscript, edited and published it despite the protests of Schumann's daughter, Eugenie. The concerto was first performed in Berlin by Georg Kulenkampff on November 26, 1937, and again on February 16, 1938, in London by Jelly D'Aranyi, Joachim's great-niece. Since its publication, critics' evaluations of the concerto have varied; most find the piece inferior.

In contrast to Schumann's other concertos, that for violin features a first movement built on the double exposition principal we find in Viennese Classical-era concertos. However, Schumann does not use the ritornello material as did his predecessors; he presents the secondary theme in a new key—the relative major (F major)—instead of reserving the modulation for the solo exposition as in most of the Viennese models. Thus, from the very beginning of the work we hear Schumann's "relaxed" approach to sonata form, in which tonal conflict is no longer of primary concern. When the solo part finally appears, it is with the first theme, without introductory flourishes and on the dominant. The developmental central section is not a "working out" (in a Beethovenian sense) but a transformation of thematic material, the repetitiveness of which Joachim found disturbing. The high point of the recapitulation is the return of the secondary subject in the solo part, which includes its own accompaniment of running sixteenth notes.

The brief second movement, in B flat major, features a beautiful theme that is similar to one Schumann (over a year later) thought was dictated to him in the asylum; Brahms would later write a set of variations on this theme. In the concerto, when Schumann recapitulates this theme, it is a third lower and in the minor mode, lending it greater poignancy. The Finale is a polonaise with a vivacious opening that drives to a bright close on D major. As a unifying device, Schumann accompanies the second subject with a variation of the opening measures of the second movement.   -- CLASSICAL ARCHIVES

Overall I quite like the piece, but there are places here and there where I could see Clara/Joachim/Brahms
feeling like it didn't reflect well on Robert.  Brahms-the-perfectionist sort of got in the way here.
Glad that publisher went ahead and issued it over the objections of Schumann's daughter.

[Scion7]

open image in new window full-size

I admit, when I saw this LP in college, I bought it due to the wonderful packaging.
Ariola/Eurodisc 201 084-366, recorded 1979, 1980.
The LP has a thick paper one-sided insert in English with notes by Kroher,
basically a repeat of the back cover, which is in German.
The pressing is better than Angel but not up to Philips/DG.
But it turned out to be a magnificent album.  I've seen a Jorg Demus/Vienna Chamber Ensemble CD for Mozart,
but as far as I could find, this one has not been issued on CD.