What composers did Mendelssohn follow?
What influence did Mendelssohn exert on music?
For students who wish to study Weber’s characteristics, the Momento Capriccioso, Op. 12, the “Invitation to the Dance,” Op. 65, the piano sonatas in C and A-flat are the most representative, while the overtures to “Der Freischütz,” “Euryanthe” and “Oberon” show his style as a dramatic composer.
The following suggestions may aid the student in his study of Mendelssohn’s works: The “Italian” and “Scotch” symphonies, the “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Hebrides” and “Melusina” overtures, the Nocturne and Scherzo from the “Midsummer Night’s Dream” music, the violin concerto, the concerto in G minor and the Capriccio Brillante for piano and orchestra, the pieces for piano, Op. 7, Nos. 3 and 7, the Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14, the Caprice, Op. 16, No. 2, the Prelude and Fugue, Op. 35, No. 1, the Serious Variations, Op. 54, the Scherzo à Capriccio without opus number, and the following “Songs Without Words,” Op. 19, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6; Op. 38, Nos. 2, 3, 5; Op. 62, Nos. 3, 6; Op. 67, No. 4, and Op. 102, No. 3. Liszt has made an exceedingly effective transcription of Mendelssohn’s song “On the Wings of Song,” which is a popular concert number today.
LESSON XLIV.
Robert Schumann.
The Romantic Movement before Schumann.—Schubert gave a decided impetus to the Romantic movement through his spontaneous melody and deep fund of imagination. He infused poetry into the classic forms, his piano works in the small forms showed the way to future achievement in these lines, but especially he founded German song, which had scarcely been hinted at by Mozart and Beethoven. Although Weber extended the province of piano technic, and exhibited further possibilities of romantic feeling in combination with the rondo and sonata forms, his chief work was the realization of German opera, elsewhere described. But still another German was destined to contribute richly to romantic piano literature, to prove no mean successor to Schubert in the province of song, and to add further proofs of his genius in chamber-music, choral works and the symphony.
Schumann’s Early life.—Robert Alexander Schumann was born at Zwickau, in Saxony, June 8, 1810. His father was a bookseller with some attainments as an author. Schumann’s gift for music asserted itself early. He had piano lessons from a local organist at the age of six, and began to compose soon after. A taste for improvisation also developed. For several years his literary interests were as pronounced as those for music. He read assiduously, and was especially devoted to poetry. His general education was continued at the Zwickau Academy, where he studied until 1828. In 1827, he came under the joint influence of the writings of Jean Paul (Richter) the poet and novelist, and of Schubert’s music, both of which played an important part in his mental and artistic growth. In 1828, he entered the University of Leipzig with the intention of studying law. He kept up his music, however, and not only became enthusiastic over the clavier works of Bach, but took piano lessons of Friedrich Wieck, a celebrated teacher in Leipzig. In 1829, Schumann went to Heidelberg. Here he continued his law studies in a desultory fashion, but worked with the greatest persistence at piano playing. In 1830, he resolved to study law with more seriousness, but it was intensely repugnant to him, and after some reflection, he determined, with Wieck’s advice, to adopt music as a profession. Accordingly, he returned to Leipzig to study the piano with Wieck, but having the misfortune to injure a finger in his zeal for speedy perfection, he was obliged to forego the career of a virtuoso, perhaps to the great gain of music.
Schumann’s Professional Career.—He now devoted his attention to thorough study of composition with Heinrich Dorn. In 1834, Schumann founded the “New Journal of Music” in the interests of a higher critical standard, and the furtherance of worthy compositions. During ten years of editorship, Schumann found abundant outlet for his literary interests, and his paper exerted a considerable force on public opinion. Two of his greatest piano works, the Carnival, Op. 9, and the Symphonic Studies, Op. 13, belong to the year 1834. During the years 1836 and 1837, he had some intimacy with Mendelssohn. From 1836-39 date most of Schumann’s important works for the piano. In 1840, Schumann married Wieck’s daughter, Clara, the celebrated pianist, after several years’ struggle to gain her father’s consent. Schumann’s marriage was the turning-point in his artistic career, and his wife’s sympathy was a great stimulus to his creative activity. In the year following his marriage, Schumann turned to song-composing, producing more than one hundred songs in this period. In 1841, he gave himself up wholly to orchestral composition, writing his symphony in B-flat, the first draft of his D minor symphony, a third work, afterwards published as Overture, Scherzo and Finale, as well as the first movement of his piano concerto. In 1842, he confined himself almost exclusively to chamber-music, composing three string quartets, the masterly quintet, Op. 44, the quartet, Op. 47, for piano and strings, and a trio. To 1845 belong the “Variations” for two pianos, and a large choral work, “Paradise and the Peri.” In 1844, Schumann began the music to Goethe’s “Faust,” but ill-health interrupted him for more than a year. However, in 1845 he completed the piano concerto, wrote several works for pedal piano, and in 1846 finished his second symphony. In 1847, he began his opera “Genoveva,” which was not given until 1850. Late in 1850 he went to Düsseldorf to take a position as director. While here he composed his third symphony. In the following years he wrote several overtures, works for solo instruments and orchestra, the overture and incidental music to Byron’s “Manfred,” “The Pilgrimage of the Rose” and many other choral works, including a Mass and a Requiem. Early in 1854, symptoms of a mental disorder, which had been increasing of late years, culminated in an attempt at suicide. He passed the remaining years of his life in an asylum near Bonn, where he died July 29, 1856.
Robert Schumann.