Schumann, Robert |
COMPOSER (GERMANY) |
BORN 8 Jun 1810, Zwickau, Sachsen: Hauptmarkt - DIED 29 Jul 1856, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Endenich BIRTH NAME Schumann, Robert Alexander GRAVE LOCATION Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Alter Friedhof (Abteilung IV, Grabnummer 860) |
Robert Schumann studied Law in Leipzig, before he focussed his attention on music from 1830 onwards. In 1827 he had met Agnes Carus, the wife of Dr. Ernst Carus and he fell in love with her. There is no evidence that she returned his attentions. He studied music with Friedrich Wieck when he was around 20 and there he met Wieck's daughter, who was 11 at the time. He had relations with other women and at one time was engaged to Ernestine von Fricken. Due to a paralysed right hand he wasn't able to play the piano well enough and he turned to composition. When Clara was sixteen they got closer, but Friedrich Wieck didn't want the penniless Schuman hanging around his daughter. However, after a long struggle for her hand he married Clara Wieck without Wieck's approval in 1840 and in 1843 they went to live in Dresden. In 1850 the Schumanns and their children moved to Düsseldorf, where his "Rheinische Sinfonie" was first performed on Februari 6, 1851. Schumann suffered from health problems and he conducted his last concert in Düsseldorf on October 27, 1853. In January 1854 he and Clara gave concerts in Hanover, but on February 2 he jumped from a bridge into the river Rhein. He was saved by fisherman, but his mental illness (probably caused by syphilis) was so severe that he had to spend the final years of his life in a mental institution at Endenich, near Bonn. There he died in 1856. He was buried at the Alter Friedhof in Bonn, a place he visited several times during his life to take a look at the tomb of Schiller's wife Charlotte. Family Daughter: Schumann, Julie Son: Schumann, Felix Wife: Schumann, Clara (1840-1856, Schönefeld, Sachsen (near Leipzig): village church) Related persons was a friend of Arnim, Gisela von met Bach, Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst influenced Bargiel, Woldemar helped Brahms, Johannes was a friend of Franz, Robert was teacher of Goethe, Walther Wolfgang met Grillparzer, Franz met Hanslick, Eduard was teacher of Jacobi, Constanze knew Joachim, Joseph knew Kinkel, Johanna was drawn by Kriehuber, Josef was a friend of Liszt, Franz was a friend of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix met Pleyel-Moke, Marie Félicité knew Reinecke, Carl influenced Rheinberger, Josef Gabriel visited Schadow-Hasenclever, Sophie was a friend of Schuncke, Ludwig met Thalberg, Sigismund was a friend of Verhulst, Johannes was supported by Vesque von Püttlingen, Johann was pupil of Wieck, Friedrich Events |
31/3/1828 | Robert Schumann meets Clara Wieck. At the occasion he heard her play the piano. [Schumann, Clara] |
0/8/1828 | Robert Schumann starts his piano lessons under Friedrich Wieck [Schumann, Clara][Wieck, Friedrich] |
11/5/1829 | Robert Schumann leaves Friedrich Wieck to go to Heidelberg [Wieck, Friedrich] |
20/10/1830 | Robert Schumann returns to Friedrich Wieck to continue his piano studies [Wieck, Friedrich] |
8/6/1831 | Robert Schumann calls Clara Wieck 'Zilia' in is poems. This relates to the "Schmetterlinge" poems. [Schumann, Clara] |
17/10/1833 | First suicide attempt by Robert Schumann  |
0/3/1834 | Robert becomes the publisher and the editor of "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik"  |
0/8/1834 | Secret engagement of Robert Schumann and Ernestine von Fricken. Ernestine stayed under the roof of Friedrich Wieck to study piano with Wieck. Schumann stayed there as well. Their secret engagement probably took place on 30 August.  |
0/4/1835 | Clara Wieck returnes from her concert tour. After her return she spent much time with Robert Schumann. Schumann was secretly engaged to Ernestine von Fricken, but he started to withdraw in August after he heard of Ernestine's heritage. [Schumann, Clara] |
25/11/1835 | First kiss between Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck. Friedrich Wieck would take his daughter to Dresden in January 1836 to keep her away from Schumann. [Schumann, Clara][Wieck, Friedrich] |
7/2/1836 | Secret meeting between Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck in Dresden. Clara's father Friedrich Wieck disapproved of their meetings and thus they met in secret. The meeting lasted until 11 February 1836. [Schumann, Clara][Wieck, Friedrich] |
0/6/1836 | Clara Wieck returns Robert Schumann's letters [Schumann, Clara] |
14/8/1837 | Secret engagement between Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck [Schumann, Clara] |
13/9/1837 | Robert Schumann asks Friedrich Wieck for Clara's hand. He did this on her eighteenth birthday, but Friedrich Wieck refused his daughter permission to marry Schumann. [Schumann, Clara][Wieck, Friedrich] |
27/9/1838 | Robert Scchumann leaves Leipzig to travel to Vienna  |
15/6/1839 | Clara Wieck asks for legal permission to marry. This was because her father refused to let her marry Robert Schumann. [Schumann, Clara] |
1/2/1840 | Robert Schumann returns to the composing of songs  |
20/3/1840 | Franz Liszt performs at the home of Robert and Clara Schumann in Leipzig. On 31 March he performed again at their home. [Liszt, Franz][Schumann, Clara] |
17/4/1840 | Robert Schumann visits Clara Wieck in Berlin. The visit lasted from 17 April to 30 April. [Schumann, Clara] |
1/8/1840 | Legal permission for the marriage between Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck is granted. The Court of Appeal allowed them to marry. Before that Clara's father Friedrich Wieck had stopped the marriage. [Schumann, Clara][Wieck, Friedrich] |
31/3/1841 | Clara Schumann first performs under her married name at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. She had maaied Robert Schumann on 12 September 1840. [Schumann, Clara] |
14/2/1842 | Clara Schumann leaves for a concert tour. With her husband Robert Schumann she travelled to Hamburg. She continued alone to Kopenhagen. [Schumann, Clara] |
25/1/1844 | Start of a concert tour of Robert and Clara Schumann to Russia [Schumann, Clara] |
30/5/1844 | Clara and Robert Schumann return from their Russian tour [Schumann, Clara] |
3/10/1844 | Clara and Robert Schumann visit Dresden [Schumann, Clara] |
13/12/1844 | Clara and Robert Schumann move to Dresden [Schumann, Clara] |
12/8/1845 | Beethoven statue in Bonn unveiled. It was created by Ernst Hähnel and unveiled in honour of the 75th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. Franz Liszt was actively involved in the project and donated over 10,000 francs. Schlegel had been the head of the organising committee but he died in May, 1845. Professor Heinrich Breidenstein, who had first expressed the idea, took over his position. The ceremony was attended by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Hector Berlioz, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Ignaz Moscheles, Charles Hallé, Jenny Lind, Pauline Viardot, Lola Montez, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn and Maria Kalergis. [Berlioz, Hector][Hallé, Charles][Lind, Jenny][Liszt, Franz][Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix][Meyerbeer, Giacomo][Montez, Lola][Viardot-Garcia, Pauline] |
0/11/1846 | Start of the concert tour of Clara and Robert Schumann to Vienna. They visited Brno and Prague as well. They took their daughters Elise and Marie with them. [Schumann, Clara] |
4/2/1847 | Clara and Robert Schumann return from their concert tour to Vienna [Schumann, Clara] |
5/5/1849 | Clara and Robert Schumann flee from Dresden. Clara was seven months pregnant and they fled for the revolution. [Schumann, Clara] |
12/6/1849 | Clara and Robert Schumann return to Dresden. They had previously left Dresden in May for the revolution. [Schumann, Clara] |
0/0/1850 | Johannes Brahms sends his compositions to Robert Schumann in vain. Robert and Calra Schumann were in Hamburg for concerts. The young Brahms sent a package with his compositions to their hotel room, but it was returned unopened. [Brahms, Johannes][Schumann, Clara] |
5/2/1850 | Start of the concert tour of Robert and Clara Schumann to Leipzig and Hamburg. Bremen was a station in their tour as well. [Schumann, Clara] |
29/3/1850 | Robert and Clara Schumann return to Dresden from their tour to Leipzig and Hamburg [Schumann, Clara] |
31/3/1850 | Robert and Clara Schumann decide to move to Düsseldorf [Schumann, Clara] |
2/9/1850 | The Schumanns arrive in Düsseldorf to live there. Robert Schumann was appointed musical director by the City of Düsseldorf. [Schumann, Clara] |
12/8/1852 | Robert and Clara Schumann go on holiday to Scheveningen in the Netherlands. The vacation lasted until 17 September 1852. They hoped that a stay in Scheveningen would improve Robert's health. They took Clara's half-brother Woldemar Bargiel with them. Clara miscarried during their vacation. [Bargiel, Woldemar][Schumann, Clara] |
30/7/1853 | Robert Schumann suffers a stroke during a visit to Bonn  |
30/9/1853 | Clara and Robert Schumann meet Johannes Brahms. the 12-year old Marie Schumann was also present. [Brahms, Johannes][Schumann, Clara] |
27/10/1853 | Last concert conducted by Roberrt Schumann in Düsseldorf  |
28/10/1853 | Robert Schumann introduces Johannes Brahms to the public. Johannes Brahms had visited Schumann, who had listened to him playing. Schumann was impressed, called his wife Clara and told her that she would hear music like she had never heard it before. Schumann wrote an article in the Neue Zeitschrift Für Musik in which he introduced Brahms to the public. [Brahms, Johannes][Schumann, Clara] |
24/11/1853 | Start of concert tour by Clara and Robert Schumann in the Netherlands. It lasted until 22 December 1853. Schumann accompanied his wife who played his compositions. Schumann was surprised how much the Dutch public liked his music. [Schumann, Clara] |
6/12/1853 | Sophie Offermans sings a work by Robert Schumann accompanied by Clara Schumann. She sang a part from "Der Rose Pilgerfahrt" by Schumann in The Hague. Clara Schumann accompanied her on the piano. Robert Schumann was in the public. [Schumann, Clara] |
21/1/1854 | Robert and Clara Schumann give concerts in Hannover. They gave concerts from 21 January to 30 January. In Hannover they met Brams. [Brahms, Johannes][Schumann, Clara] |
27/2/1854 | Robert Schumann jumps from a bridge into the Rhine. He jumped from the Oberkasseler Pontonbrücke in the river Rhein with the intent to kill himself. His attempt failed because fishers helped him out of the water. Afterwards physicians advised Clara, who was pregnant, not to see him in his current state. She went to a lady friend with her children. She wasn't told until 1856 that he had tried to commit suicide. [Schumann, Clara] |
4/3/1854 | Robert Schumann is committed to the asylum in Endenich. He had tried to commit suicide by jumping from a bridge over the Rhine after throwing his wedding ring into the water. Fishers helped him out of the water but he tried to jump from their boat. He had feared for years that he would become mentally ill.  |
25/4/1854 | Clara Schumann hears Liszt's "Piano sonata in B Minor" and strongly dislikes it. She received it on this day and it was dedicated to her husband Robert. Johannes Brahms played it for her and she strongly disliked it. The piece was performed in public in 1857 by Hans von Bülow and it would become both popular and influential. [Brahms, Johannes][Bülow, Hans von][Liszt, Franz][Schumann, Clara] |
14/9/1854 | Robert Schumann is able to correspond with his wife Clara. He was committed to an institution in Endenich after a suicide attempt in a state of confusion. From now on he would correspond for seven months with his wife. [Schumann, Clara] |
23/7/1856 | Clara Schumann is called to Endenich. The situation of her husband Robert was supposed to be critical, but they didn't meet on this day. [Schumann, Clara] |
27/7/1856 | Clara Schumann is finally admitted to her husband Robert. Robert Schumann was committed to an institution in Endenich. She hadn't seen him for two years because she wasn't admitted to him. Two days later he would die. [Schumann, Clara] |
17/8/1873 | Commemoration of Robert Schumann in Bonn to raise funds for a memorial. The music festival took place on 17-19 August. Funds were raised to replace Schumann's tombstone for a more worthy monument. The performances were conducted by Wilhelm von Wasielewski and Joseph Joachim. Clara Schumann herself was a performer. Others were Marie Wilt, Amalie Joachim, Marie Sartorius, Franz Diener, Julius Stockhausen, Adolph Schulze and Ernst Rudorff. [Joachim, Amalie][Joachim, Joseph][Schumann, Clara][Stockhausen, Julius][Wilt, Marie] |
2/5/1880 | Inauguration of the new grave monument for Robert Schumann at the Alter Friedhof in Bonn. The monument was designed by Adolf Donndorf and inaugurated on this day.  |
26/11/1937 | First performance of Robert Schumann's Violin Concerto. It was performed by Georg Kulenkampff and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Karl Böhm was the conductor. The manuscript had been given by Clara Schumann to Joseph Joachim. Joachim had stated in his will that it should not be performed until 1956, 100 years after Schumann's death. This was because he thought that the piece showed signs of Schumann's mental illness. Joachim's heirs gave permission for an earlier performance. [Böhm, Karl][Joachim, Joseph][Schumann, Clara] |
Sources Clara Schumann Chronology, Internet, 1996 Encyclopedie van de Muziek, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1959 Time Table of History, Xïphias, 1992 Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909 NameBright - Coming Soon Georg Kulenkampff - Wikipedia Robert Schumann - Wikipedia Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski - Wikipedia Beethoven Monument - Wikipedia https://lisztomania.wdfiles.com/local--files/liszt-s-performing-in-the-40s/German%20Concerts.pdf Decoding the music masterpieces: Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor - ABC News Clara Schumann Chronology |