Schumann: The Faces and the Masks by Judith Chernaik

[Ricordanza]

Even in his best years, Robert Schumann was an odd one. He invented two imaginary characters—Eusebius and Florestan—as well as an imaginary organization—the League of David—to fight the musical Philistines of his day. Toward the end of his 46 years, his mental and physical health declined, he attempted suicide by jumping into the Rhine, and spent the last two years of his life in an asylum. Yet he produced an astonishingly rich body of work, including some of the most imaginative music ever written (especially for the piano). Using some material that was not available previously, including diaries and letters of Robert and Clara Schumann and the medical diary of his doctor in the asylum, Judith Chernaik has written an insightful biography of this great composer.