Hi there,
I have been listening to much early nineteenth century Germanic romanticism - Schubert stands out for me, especially his huge collection of piano music and lieder and on listening to Mendelssohn's String Octet I was blown away too. This is such a beautifully crafted work. The Violin Concerto in E Minor too, though it is overplayed somewhat, is a masterpiece.
I can't seem to develop a liking for Schumann. I wonder if others feel the same or maybe you adore Schumann and want to convince me otherwise. His music seems neither one thing nor the other. If I want symphonies I just listen to Brahms. They have some similarities anyway only Brahms is ... better.
What strikes me as odd about Schumann is that he is often mentioned as a great romantic composer up there with Schubert and Brahms. I don't see why. Is it because of the piano music? Kinderszenen and Kreisleriana are nice descriptive pieces but no more amazing that Grieg's lyric pieces (not to knock Grieg only that I wouldn't say Grieg is one of the greatest composers of the century).
Then there are the symphonies - which every music book I know criticizes for being badly orchestrated. What is up with that? Why couldn't he learn to orchestrate 'better'?? I mean, it is not rocket science, is it? Especially for a great composer, as he is meant to be.
What else did he compose? Some chamber music of note. I need to investigate perhaps.
But as for concertos... he has a cello concerto that for some reason is neglected and a piano concerto which I am sorry but I find ... boring :-/
I'd love some thoughts on this issue.
Thanks for reading and happy listening
Jai
I have been listening to much early nineteenth century Germanic romanticism - Schubert stands out for me, especially his huge collection of piano music and lieder and on listening to Mendelssohn's String Octet I was blown away too. This is such a beautifully crafted work. The Violin Concerto in E Minor too, though it is overplayed somewhat, is a masterpiece.
I can't seem to develop a liking for Schumann. I wonder if others feel the same or maybe you adore Schumann and want to convince me otherwise. His music seems neither one thing nor the other. If I want symphonies I just listen to Brahms. They have some similarities anyway only Brahms is ... better.
What strikes me as odd about Schumann is that he is often mentioned as a great romantic composer up there with Schubert and Brahms. I don't see why. Is it because of the piano music? Kinderszenen and Kreisleriana are nice descriptive pieces but no more amazing that Grieg's lyric pieces (not to knock Grieg only that I wouldn't say Grieg is one of the greatest composers of the century).
Then there are the symphonies - which every music book I know criticizes for being badly orchestrated. What is up with that? Why couldn't he learn to orchestrate 'better'?? I mean, it is not rocket science, is it? Especially for a great composer, as he is meant to be.
What else did he compose? Some chamber music of note. I need to investigate perhaps.
But as for concertos... he has a cello concerto that for some reason is neglected and a piano concerto which I am sorry but I find ... boring :-/
I'd love some thoughts on this issue.
Thanks for reading and happy listening
Jai