Echoes of the Rhine: Schumann’s Symphony No. 3, Rhenish

This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover Schumann’s sunny Symphony No. 3. Nicknamed the “Rhenish” Symphony, it was composed while Schumann was living near the scenic Rhine River. Composed in just over a month in November … Continued

A Lost Masterpiece: Schumann’s Cello Concerto

This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover Schumann’s masterful Cello Concerto, a work that was only recognized long after Schumann’s death. One of the first compositions Schumann completed after his arrival in Düsseldorf was his Cello Concerto. Curiously, … Continued

The Clara Code: Schumann’s Piano Concerto

This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover how Schumann may have secretly encoded his wife’s name into his passionate Piano Concerto. Composed in a mere two weeks in May 1841 (between the premiere of the First Symphony and … Continued

Back to Bach: Schumann’s Piano Quartet

This month, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week Schumann Festival featuring the great Romantic composer’s symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and more. In this post, discover Schumann’s enchanting Piano Quartet, a work that marries Romantic lyricism with baroque counterpoint. Schumann’s Piano Quartet dates from the autumn of 1842, known as “the year of chamber music.” In this … Continued

Becoming Schumann: Love, Literature, and Music

In February 2020, the Houston Symphony presents a two-week festival dedicated to one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era: Robert Schumann. As we approach Robert and Clara Schumann’s 179th wedding anniversary on September 12—just one day before Clara’s birthday—discover the unlikely path Schumann took to fame, his First Symphony, and love. Learn more about … Continued

Radical Romanticism: Schumann’s Symphony No. 4

On October 18, 20 and 21, legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman returns to the Houston Symphony for our Perlman Plays and Conducts program. In addition to performing Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Perlman will also conduct Schumann’s Symphony No. 4. In this post, learn more Schumann and this fascinating work. Though Robert Schumann’s Symphony in D minor is … Continued