Robert Schumann

Schumann's songs remain the core of his reputation. As Jon Finson makes plain in the opening paragraph of this new volume, though, their interpretation in the English-speaking world has been dominated by one book: Eric Sams's The Songs of Robert Schumann (London, 1969). Criticizing Sams's Schumann as ‘long since out of date’ and in places inaccurate, Finson sets out to loosen its grip on ‘singers, pianists and writers’—and, we might add, students (p. xi). The task is a noble one, and overdue, and Finson has produced a study remarkable for its breadth, depth, and expertise; it will be a valuable scholarly resource for years to come. Finson deals only with Schumann's solo songs, attempting to provide ‘a trenchant comment or two on each’ (p. xiv). The readings provided are richly nuanced; that some observations could have been discussed at greater length is inevitable. Finson does, though, spend time dealing with Schumann's treatment of texts, both in terms of his adaptations of the originals and how he treated their rhyme schemes and metres (making good use of Helmut Schanze's and Krischan Schulte's recent contributions to the New Edition among other sources); it is a rare index that has nestled within it a lengthy list of entries for Langzeilenvers and quadratic setting. He also attempts to place Schumann's compositions within broader aesthetic contexts, apparently taking Walter Dürr's Das deutsche Sololied im 19. Jahrhundert: Untersuchung zur Sprache und Musik (Wilhelmshaven, 1984) as his model.

Art · Art history · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Literature · Paragraph · History · Kantian Philosophy and Modern Interpretations · Law · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy · Scientific and Historical Analyses

• R obert S chumann, Composer of Songs

  Open Access•David Ferris•Music Analysis•2013

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