New Research Guide on Robert Schumann

The following is a guest post by Senior Music Reference Specialist Dr. Paul Allen Sommerfeld.

The Music Division is pleased to announce the publication of a new research guide outlining the Library’s rich primary and secondary sources concerning Robert Schumann. Schumann (1810–1856) was an influential composer, pianist, and music critic in nineteenth-century Europe. Materials in the Music Division’s collections include over one dozen holograph music manuscripts, over ten letters, many first and early editions of music scores, portraits and iconography, critical editions, scholarly literature on Schumann and his world, facsimiles, special collections, and more.

One of the most significant Schumann music manuscripts in the Library’s collections is his Symphony no. 1 in B flat major, op. 38, the “Spring” Symphony, from 1841, composed when Schumann was 31. The work was first performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on March 31st of that year under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn (for whom the Library also has significant holdings). Most of the manuscript is in Schumann’s hand; it contains 216 pages of music, of which 16 pages (pp. 159–174) containing the beginning of the finale are not in Schumann’s hand. Those pages are in the hand of Carl Brückner, a copyist from Leipzig.

Two recent acquisitions listed in the research guide also need to be highlighted here. The first is an autograph letter from Robert to his wife, Clara Schumann, from September 14, 1854. The letter is Robert’s first to his wife from a private hospital near Bonn, Germany, where he was admitted at the beginning of March 1854 due to his deteriorating health. The item is a copy made by Clara herself. In this deeply personal letter, Robert asks his wife to send him interesting materials, including poetry by Christian Friedrich Scherenberg; older volumes of his music magazine, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik; an unfinished musical work of his own; and Clara’s own compositions. While recounting her successful solo piano tour in Holland the previous year, Robert also asks Clara to write to him about their children and their activities.

The Music Division’s second recent acquisition included in this new research guide is a holograph music manuscript that presents early drafts of three songs from Schumann’s op. 98a, in this order: No. 6, “Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt”; No. 4, “Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen ass”; No. 8, “An die Türen will ich schleichen.” Schumann wrote these lieder toward the end of his life, in 1849. Each of the songs is based on texts drawn from the poet Goethe’s monumental novel, “Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.”

We hope you enjoy diving in and learning more about Robert Schumann and the resources available at the Library of Congress. The Music Division offers over 50 research guides to the Music Division’s collections, all designed to help researchers understand and connect with our tremendous collections in music, theater, and dance. Stay tuned for more research guides coming in 2025!