A Day with Robert Schumann

Byron, May, 1861-1936Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 39K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Day with Robert Schumann by May ByronAuthor: Byron, May, 1861-1936,Language: English, Class: ML: Music: Literature of music, Release Date: Jun 19, 2011

Editor's review

This slim volume compresses the life of Robert Schumann into the frame of "a day," written by the English author May Byron and belonging to the lighter kind of musician biography. Its value lies not in depth of scholarship but in bringing the reader close to Schumann's daily life through narrative: composition, family, illness, and the musical atmosphere of the age are all set in vivid, tangible scenes. Originally in English and issued by Project Gutenberg, the text is cleanly typeset and easy to read, making it suitable as an introductory book on Schumann or casual reading for classical music lovers. Read it as a side door: gain a first impression of the man, then return to Schumann's piano pieces and song cycles, letting words and music illuminate each other. One caveat: biographies of this early kind have an old-fashioned style and carry the tastes of their time, so they should not be treated as rigorous academic material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Classical music lovers seeking a first acquaintance with Schumann's life and creative background
Readers with reasonable English who prefer lightweight biographies
Music students using it as supplementary outside reading
Digital readers who enjoy public-domain ebooks from Project Gutenberg

Not a good fit for

Music researchers needing rigorous historical sources and scholarly citation
Readers with weak English who find the original text hard to read
Those expecting in-depth score analysis or technical discussion of the works

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the outline of the man, then listen to a few representative Schumann works alongside it.
After each chapter, note the scene that impressed you most, building your own short life of Schumann.
If the English is difficult, read it alongside a Chinese musician biography to lower the barrier.
Use the ebook's search function to revisit passages related to the composition of specific works.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for a complete beginner learning about Schumann?

Fairly suitable. It presents Schumann's life and creative atmosphere in narrative form and does not require music theory; readers can first form an impression of the man and then gradually approach his works, so it is not a heavy burden as an introductory book.

Does the book contain systematic musical analysis?

No. It is closer to a character sketch and life narrative, focusing on Schumann's daily life and the atmosphere of his time rather than technical analysis of form, harmony, and the like. For a deeper understanding of the works' structure, you will need a specialized musicological study.

Why is it recommended to listen to the music first or while reading?

Because the book deals with scenes from Schumann's creative life, listening to piano pieces, song cycles, and other works alongside it allows you to match the emotions in the text with the music, making the reading more concrete and the artist's temperament easier to grasp.

What should I keep in mind when reading the public-domain ebook?

The text is the original English edition, simply typeset and without modern annotations. When you encounter old-fashioned expressions or passages whose historical background is unclear, consult reference works or other biographies; do not feel obliged to understand every word.

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About the author

Byron, May, 1861-1936 Author

May Byron (1861–1936) was a British author active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Public information about her life and education is limited, and she is known to readers today mainly through her series of introductory books. Ten of her works are held in this collection, most of them accessible introductions to literature and music for general readers, especially young people. Representative titles include A Day with Lord Byron, A Day with Keats, A Day with Walt Whitman, A Day with Robert Schumann, A Day with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, A Day with Ludwig Beethoven, and A Day with Robert Louis Stevenson. These books typically use a single day as a frame, presenting episodes from the lives of poets and composers together with their representative works in a warm, plain style that emphasizes readability and the popular spread of knowledge. Robin's Rambles shows that she also wrote story-like reading for children. Her efforts in popular biographical guides and musical primers remain a convenient introduction to classic authors.