Schumann: The Faces and the Masks, Hardcover

Contributor(s):

Author: Judith Chernaik

A groundbreaking account of Robert Schumann, a major composer and key figure of Romanticism, whose life and works have been the subject of intense controversy since his early death in a mental asylum.

Schumann: The Faces and the Masks draws us into the milieu of the Romantic movement, which enraptured poets, musicians, painters, and their audiences in the early nineteenth century and beyond, even to the present day. It reveals how Schumann (1810-1856) embodied all the contrasting themes of Romanticism--he was intensely original and imaginative but also worshipped the past; he believed in political, personal, and artistic freedom but insisted on the need for artistic form based on the masters: Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. It details his deep involvement with other composers of his time, such as Chopin and Mendelssohn, Liszt and Brahms, as well as the literary lights of the age--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Heine, E.T.A. Hoffmann--whose works gave inspiration to his compositions and words to his songs.
Drawing on hitherto unpublished archive material, as well more established sources of journals, letters, and publications, Judith Chernaik provides enthralling new insight into Schumann's life and his music: his sexual escapades, his fathering of an illegitimate child, the facts behind his courtship of Clara Wieck--already a noted young concert pianist--his passionate marriage to her despite the opposition of her manipulative father, his passionate marriage, and the ways his many crises fed into the dreams and fantasies of his greatest works, turning his tumultuous life into music that speaks directly to the heart.
 
Review citations

Library Journal Prepub Alert - pg. 48 - 05/01/2018 Kirkus Reviews / Best Of The Best/Highly Recommended - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018 Kirkus Reviews / Exceptional Presentation - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018 Kirkus Reviews / Book Of Special Distinction - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018 Kirkus Reviews / Top 15 Book Of The Year - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018 Kirkus Reviews / Highly Recommended - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018 Library Journal - pg. 97 - 08/01/2018 Booklist / Best Of The Best/Highly Recommended - pg. 24 - 09/01/2018 Booklist / Exceptional Presentation - pg. 24 - 09/01/2018 Booklist / Book Of Special Distinction - pg. 24 - 09/01/2018 Booklist / Top 15 Book Of The Year - pg. 24 - 09/01/2018 Booklist / Highly Recommended - pg. 24 - 09/01/2018 Publishers Weekly / Best Of The Best/Highly Recommended - 10/01/2018 Publishers Weekly / Exceptional Presentation - 10/01/2018 Publishers Weekly / Book Of Special Distinction - 10/01/2018 Publishers Weekly / Top 15 Book Of The Year - 10/01/2018 Publishers Weekly / Highly Recommended - 10/01/2018