Happy 200th Birthday, Robert Schumann!

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birthday of the great classical-romantic composer Robert Schumann. Interestingly, Schumann's intentions were to become a performer, an accomplished pianist. But fate and determination changed the course of his life. His obsession to perfect his piano technique led him to suffer a hand injury. It is unclear how exactly it was caused; my piano teacher told me the story that Schumann used some mechanical finger-strengthening device to practice separating the fingers, thereby causing irreparable harm to his fingers (she meant it as a warning not to do anything "unnatural" to my hands lest I suffer a similar fate!). Wikipedia also brings that story (though it doesn't include the details I remember about tying his hand to the door knob and opening and closing the door to increase the independence and mobility of his fingers). Whatever the exact cause and nature of his injury, Schumann realized that the hand injury will prevent him from being a virtuoso pianist. Not a person to throw in the towel with regard to musical aspirations, he focused his energy on composing music -- and became one of the greatest classical composers, leaving us with a treasure-trove of beautifully inspiring music.

Music critic Miles Hoffman points out that Schumann was one of the greatest classical composers because of the depth of his music and its ability to capture the human spirit. Although he started out by writing solely for piano, he branched out and composed a vast range of works, in all sorts of combinations of instruments, including symphonies and concertos and vocal works. It's an encyclopedic body of work.

Many of Schumann's works for piano are familiar to people who took piano lessons. It's been so many years since I studied piano that I can't remember which Schumann pieces I played. But I certainly remember the piece that my sister played -- one of his most wonderful and melodic piano compositions - Kinderszenen or Scenes from Childhood. This collection of short pieces includes 'Traumerei' - one of Schumann's most quiet, introspective and popular pieces. During the years we grew up in Israel, she often filled our house with the beautiful music of Scenes from Childhood (my father, A"H, also loved this piece very much). Indeed, as its name suggests, this piece by Schumann is one of my fondest childhood memories.

Here is Vladimir Horowitz, one of greatest performers of the 20th century, playing Scenes from Childhood:

UPDATE: For music appreciation lovers, I recommend the excellent NPR audio piece explaining the musical beauty of "Traumerei" - Hear What Makes Schumann's "Traumerei" So Great.