Autobiography of Robert Schumann - Essay Example

Schumann was born on 8th of June, 1810, in a small town located at the border of the Czech Republic. While he was growing up he was surrounded by various books, this being mostly because his father was a successful bookseller and an author. Due to receiving exceptional secondary school education, he was able to read the originals of the Greek and Latin classics. In 1830 he decided to study law however uninterested in the subject Schumann focused on literature and would write many fragments, poems and pieces which later he developed into great literary works. Initially under the guidance of his future father-in-law Schumann was to become a great piano player however in 1832 he suffered a hand injury which caused him to switch directions towards composing. In the 1830s he started writing piano miniatures which were extraordinary. Also it was during this time that he made his debut as a music critic and started his own journal, which became the focus of his efforts. In this journal he championed composers who had talent, and established a canon of Romantic music. It was also during these years that he composed his masterpieces; Carnaval, for piano and Dichterliebe. In 1840 he married Clara Wieck, a talented pianist inducing an element of stability in his life however this was also when his mental health started to deteriorate. His failure at opera, Genoveva, in 1843 caused him a great disappointment after which his mental state continued to deteriorate. After an attempt at suicide in 1854 he voluntarily entered an asylum. It was here that he passed away in 1856 (Worthen, 2007). In mid June 1882, Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky was born in a town near St. Petersburg in Russia. From a small age he was surrounded by music mostly because his father was a star singer of the Imperial Opera. When he was 9 he started piano lessons and studied music throughout his early life. In 1902 he, like Schumann, pursued a law degree however music was where his real interest was. Also just like Schumann, he started his musical career as a amateur pianist and was bilingual. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, his teacher started giving him regular lesson from 1905 till 1908. Although Stravinsky’s first composition was that of a Symphony, which he wrote in 1906, it was The Firebird, a ballet composed in 1910, which put him under the spotlight. This was followed by Petrushka, which like The Firebird was a modern composition of something which was fundamentally Russian. It was his third ballet, The Rite of Spring which established his name as one of the well known composers of the age. In 1920 he moved to France and formed a partnership with the company that manufactured pianos, Pleyel. During 1939 he delivered lectures in Harvard and was already working on his symphony in C. This was meant for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was in this year that he moved to United States and married one again. He was on the set of the Paramount Pictures in 1956, where he recorded the musical score for the production “The Court Jester”. An incorporation of many of the modern classical styles of music was a major part of Stravinsky’s professional life. In 1959, he received the Sonning Award, which is one of Denmark’s highest honors. He returned to Leningrad to do a series of concerts in 1962. It was in 1971 that he died at the age of 88 and was buried in Venice. The piece I have chosen from Schumann’s compositions is Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra Op. 131 played by Arnold Katz. There are several key differences between this composition and Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’. These differences also go to reflect the major changes in music over the passage of time, more specifically from the Romantic era to the Neoclassical era. You see, Schumann’s composition comprises of the key characteristics being reflected in his work. These are those of highlighting the orchestra’s highly praised 2009 Beethoven cycle. A key characteristic of Schumann’s work is a reflection of the love of nature. You see the romantic era was all about the critical role played by nature, and so a main feature of Schumann’s piece is that of beauty of nature. It is a reflection of the fact that an industrial revolution had taken place and shifted man’s natural order (Kartha, 2011). Another characteristic which is prominent of the romantic era is that of the perception of emotions and rationality. Where the neoclassical age focuses on logic and intellect romanticism placed great stock on human emotions and feelings and instincts before everything else. The composers in the 20th century focused on adhering to rules and regulations for conducting the selection process and defining something, the romantic era prioritizes on emotions and feelings. Schumann’s piece therefore with every aspect of its composition exudes emotion, drastic gestures, sincerity and candor, with the orchestra sustaining the emotional suspense that does justice to the piece. As far as the piece composed by Stravinsky is concerned it was first performed in Paris in 1913. The Rite of Spring was so powerful that it resulted in a riot. The music was so brutal, savage and aggressive that it hit the public like a force of nature. The music was an artful combination of traditional music, melody, harmony and official design. The Rite of Spring is a piece worked on by Stravinsky which expanded and drew inspiration from earlier developments of his compositions; namely, The Firebird and Petrushka. However the intensity seems to be amplified for this piece in a way that rhythm has been elevated to give the piece primary importance. This is done by the incorporation of polytonality, polyodality, as well as pandiatonicism. All of these used for the aim of blurring the boundaries of traditional tonality and prove to be an assimilation of folk melody. These elements are undeniable from 2:10 – 4:45 where the composition seems to be at its peak. Another undeniable quality of this component is the fact that The Rite of Spring makes use of rhythmic as a constituent structural element to give the composition formal cohesion. This makes the tune striking and breath taking in the way the composition flawlessly maintains a striking balance between strong beat and the repeated rhythmic patterns, often unifying sections of a piece. The music is rich and harmonious and even the conventional chords have the tendency to sound unusual. After Schumann’s diagnosis of mental illness he had written numerous compositions but it was rumored that his wife Clara and Brahams had destroyed many of them because they thought that it would harm his image due to his illness. But four compositions have been known that were written after his diagnoses they were Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Third Violin Sonata. The one I choose is Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra Op. 131 played by Arnold Katz. Not only is the violin played artfully and with commendable skill but the fact that this composition was done by Schumann after his diagnosis makes it all the more interesting and hauntingly beautiful. The shifts in moods and the way each note seems to be hauntingly striking. It starts off as slightly moody and gloomy initially but the music tends to pick up and got a little bit up beat by 1:55. The original rhythm which I identified as dark with undercurrents of gloomy seemed to be a recurrent theme of the music. However at 8:20 the tune turned optimistic and the darkness seeped back in by 11:44. This was where the composition took up a haunting dark and somber quality. The conclusion of the composition is done by the use of high pitch to playing a bang. REFERENCES Stravinsky, Igor. “An Autobiography.” W.W.Norton & Company, Inc., New York. (2001). Kartha, Denise. “Romanticism: Characteristics of Romanticism.” Web. (2011). Retrieved on 10th March 2012 from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/romanticism-characteristics-of-romanticism.html Worthen, Jon. “Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician.” Yale University Press. (2007). Read More