Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician

Worthen presents a very complete review of Schumann's life and character and his difficulties, both professionally - gaining recognition - and romantically. Indeed Worthen's discussion of the difficulties he and Clara overcame in getting married (eventually) read like a romance story in itself. If there is a criticism, it might be that Schumann's childhood is discussed only briefly. Worthen makes a convincing and thoroughly researched case that Schumann was not "mad" in the sense many biographers have thought. Nonetheless his last years make for sad reading.

This is an exceptional and fascinating biography of Schumann. Reading about his life brought renewed interest and enthusiasm for Schumann's glorious music. After reading such a book, and I could hardly put it down, I cannot think of a better outcome. Hats off to you, John Worthen!

This is a very well written and nicely paced account of Schumann's life that draws heavily on his and Clara Schumann's diaries. Schumann's private personality emerges very nicely, and goes a long way towards dispelling the myths that were created by a tradition of biography in which the observations of those that did not know Schumann well took center stage and exaggerated the pathological elements of his personality and his eccentricities. Schumann was of course still a very unusual and unique man, but this is revealed in the context of the arc his entire life and in the context of his relationship with Clara. This book is also a very good choice for those that are uncomfortable with the technical language of music and music notation. Schumann's music is not dealt with in these terms, but rather in the context of his life and musical development. This treatment is thorough enough, however, that those who are more familiar with music will gain much in reading it. One quibble I have with the book is that I find Worthen's concept of manic-depressive disorder (bipolar I) very narrow, if not outright wrong at times. For example, he mentions times in which Schumann was particularly agitated and hyper-sensitive for periods of weeks or months. In doing so, he stresses that Schumann is not depressed since he is not showing the classic signs of depression that would characterize the depressive state of manic-depressive disorder, and that he was still able to work effectively through these periods. As someone who is familiar with this subject, my own thoughts are that these periods sound in fact, VERY much like dysphoric MANIC states or mixed states, which are often seen in patients with bipolar disorder and often misinterpreted by non-specialists. With this in mind, I very much doubt that this book has disproved the myth that Schumann had bipolar disorder, and in fact may make the case stronger, though I recognize the almost undeniable role that tertiary syphilis played in Schumann's final years. Worthern is very thorough in this respect, and gives very strong medical evidence to support this.

Solidly researched, splendidly argued, John Worthen's Schumann biography takes an untraditional approach. Every biography of the composer I've read stresses a schizophrenic or bipolar personality leading to madness and death in an asylum. Worthen strenuously argues for a physiological cause for Schumann's end. Even if Worthen turns out to be wrong, I find this the most nuanced account of Schumann's personality, and the prose is tremendous, besides. Worthen does not set out to give us an account of Schumann's music, but of the man. This might be frustrating for people who want to explore the music, but Schumann -- unlike many composers -- had a personality that justifies this kind of approach.