Robert Schumann—Herald[使者] of a New Poetic Age From the

time he was little, Robert Schumann knew that he wanted to write. The

only question was whether to write words or music.

Schumann’s father was an author and book dealer in the German

town of Zwickau, which is where Robert Schumann was born in 1810.

Schumann grew up surrounded by books, which he loved, but he also

loved music. As a kid he took piano, flute[长笛] and cello[大提琴] lessons,

and he started composing.

When he was a teenager, Schumann put out his first book of poems

and essays. Schumann still wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to be when

he grew up, but clearly, lawyer was not at the top of the list. Even though

he studied law at the University of Leipzig, he almost never went to class.

But in Leipzig, he took piano lessons with a teacher named Friedrich

Wieck, and that changed his life.

Schumann practiced very hard, maybe even too hard. He attached[系上] a mechanical contraption[精巧的装置] to one of his fingers trying to

stretch[伸展] it. Instead, Schumann did damage to his hand, which

finished off his piano career for good[永久地].

It didn’t matter that much to Friedrich Wieck that Schumann

wouldn’t have a great career as a pianist, because the only one of his

students Wieck was really interested in was his daughter, Clara. Robert

Schumann became pretty interested in Clara too, but in a different way. In

spite of the fact that she was nine years younger than he was, Robert

Schumann and Clara Wieck fell in love.

On her 18th birthday he proposed[求婚], but Clara’s father refused to

let them get married. It wasn’t until years later, after taking Clara’s father

to court, that Robert and Clara Schumann’s wedding finally took place.

That was in 1840, which became Robert Schumann’s “year of song.”

In that one year, he wrote well over a hundred of them. The German word

for this kind of songs is “Lieder[民谣].” In English we sometimes call them

“art songs.” They’re the ultimate[最根本的] combination of music and

poetry, in other words, a perfect fit for Schumann. After the year of song,

Schumann went off on a couple of other musical binges. The next year he

worked on three out of his four numbered symphonies[交响曲].

The year after that was Schumann’s year for chamber[室内乐] music,

compositions for small groups of instruments[乐器], meant to be played

in private homes or small concert settings.

Schumann did become a writer as well as a composer. He was a

well-known music journalist, who told everyone that Johannes Brahms

and Frederic Chopin were great musical geniuses. And even though

Robert Schumann didn’t become a concert pianist, there was still a

famous pianist in the house, Clara Schumann.