Schumann on Music: A Selection from the Writings: Book

Schumann's criticism offers music educators and serious students a window into 19th-century musical values and a model of thoughtful, engaged listening. These essays reveal how composers talked about music with one another, what they valued, and how they understood their own historical moment. Reading Schumann's assessments of his contemporaries teaches you how to listen critically and write persuasively about music.

Schumann writes with the urgency of someone who genuinely loves music and wants others to understand why it matters. His prose is alive with conviction, moving between analytical precision and lyrical enthusiasm, sometimes across a single paragraph. You feel his presence on the page, arguing, celebrating, sometimes dismissing, always thinking.

Music history students, composers, and music educators seeking primary source material on Romantic-era aesthetics and musical criticism. Anyone curious about how Schumann himself heard the music of his time and what he believed music should do.

Assign excerpts in music history or theory seminars alongside the works Schumann discusses. Use his essays on specific composers as preparation for performing or studying their music, or have ensemble members read his thoughts before rehearsing a contemporary work. His piece on form and expression can illuminate discussions about program music and absolute music.

• Reading and interpreting primary sources from music history
• Understanding Romantic-era aesthetic values and compositional priorities
• Developing a critical listening vocabulary beyond technical analysis
• Recognizing how historical context shapes musical judgment and taste