Robert Schumann's illnesses and the stylistic shifts in his Lieder
Date
2002
Authors
Moore, Lindsay Ann
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Abstract
The quality of Robert Schumann' s compositional abilities in his last years of life has been called into question due to the conjecture that he died from a debilitating disease of the brain and nervous system, tertiary neurosyphilis. Drawing on correspondence, diary entries, visitors' accounts and medical records, a different conclusion is reached - that Schumann died from bipolar disorder combined with a fatal form of anorexia melancholia, and not a disease of the brain. A survey of Lieder from across Schumann's lifetime proves that there is merely a stylistic shift in his late songs, and not a decline of abilities as has been suggested by other musicologists. Songs and cycles analyzed are selections from Myrthen (Op. 25), Liederkreis (Op. 39), Soldatenlied (WoO), Liederalbum fur die Jugend (Op. 79), Minnespiel (Op. 101), Sechs Gedichte (Op. 90), Sechs Gesiinge (Op. 107), Drei Gedichte (Op. 119) and Gedichte der Konigin Maria Stuart (Op. 135).