Robert Schumann: Herald of a "New Poetic Age"
Biographies of 19th-century composer Robert Schumann abound, but room should be made on library shelves for one more. Daverio (chair, musicology, Boston Univ. Sch. for the Arts) has written a scholarly but entertaining history of the quintessential Romantic composer. Drawing on diaries, travel notes, and household accounts, he portrays Schumann as a tragic figure who experienced euphoric periods of creativity and bouts of depression and despair. His father was an author and publisher, and as a young man, Schumann showed great promise as a writer. His marriage to Clara Wieck, a brilliant pianist; his years in a lunatic asylum; and his death at 46 from syphilis make compelling reading. Of even greater value is the way Daverio connects Schumann's largely autobiographical music to the events in his personal life as well as to his passion for literature. Recommended for academic libraries and large music collections in public libraries.?Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse,Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.