# Robert Schumann



## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

Are there people here who like SCHUMANN 4 symphonies?


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

I have them in a box set performed by
ASMF
Conducted by Neville Marriner

The second is my favourite but love them all. Love the concertos too!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Worthwhile, but not outstanding for me. Best is the 3d (again to my taste), but there are easily 50 symphonies that I prefer ahead of that one.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Yes,they are good pieces...perhaps not the greatest of the symphony genre, but certainly worthwhile and enjoyable....fun to perform, too...


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I have always liked the Third -- as long as the Landler is not played like a sewing machine. The D major (published as the Fourth) always intrigues me because he was obviously trying for a Beethoven effect without the corresponding Beethoven MO.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Yes....have numerous recordings and the 2nd is one of my favourite symphonies 'full stop'.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

I like the "Spring" Symphony quite a bit. The "Rhenish" is also appealing, but I still have difficulty making a positive connection with the Second, and I'm not especially crazy about the Fourth. As far as interpretations go of the First and Third, I still favor Bernstein/N.Y. Philharmonic.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Yes, I likes 'em, especially No. 2. One of my faves.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Love them all and listen to them quite frequently. The 2nd is probably my favourite.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Yes I like them, just ordered the new set from: Yannick Nézet-Séguin.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Love all the four! Particularly the entire 4th. but Adagio of the 2nd and the final movement of the 3th. are also among my favorite hits.


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## sbmonty (Jan 11, 2014)

I think the 2nd and 4th are terrific. The 3rd is my next favourite. I'm not familiar enough with the 1st just yet. Both versions of the 4th are equally amazing to me.



Pugg said:


> Yes I like them, just ordered the new set from: Yannick Nézet-Séguin.


I've been thinking about this set, or the Sawallisch with Dresden. Looking for interpretations to add to the Gardiner/ORR and Szell/Cleveland sets I own, though I'm pleased with both. Let us know what you think of it!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Not a fan, to be honest - if we are talking Schumann's orchestral output I prefer his concertante works.


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

Well he has a nice cello concerto though .


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

The Rhenische is just about wonderful. So are some of Schumann's lieder.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

mtmailey said:


> Well he has a nice cello concerto though .


And a very nice violin concerto as well.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Yes. I quite like Schumann's symphonies. Szell and Gardiner brought these works alive for me.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Haydn67 said:


> And a very nice violin concerto as well.


Agree. Love both the violin and the cello concerto.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Haydn67 said:


> And a very nice violin concerto as well.


On the album "For the Love of Brahms" the second movement of Schumanns violin concerto is performed with the coda by Benjamin Britten. Was performed in Aldeburgh festival in 1958 by Benjamin Britten and Yehudi Menhuin in memory of horn player Dennis Brain. This version is known as "Elegy for violin and orchestra" and played on this album.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

FYI

http://www.talkclassical.com/22474-schumann-symphonies-3.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/2595-robert-schumann-24.html


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

mtmailey said:


> Are there people here who like SCHUMANN 4 symphonies?


Of course. But I came to them after greatly enjoying just about everything he wrote for piano first. I could easily sense the same warmth of personality, open-hearted genius, and benign good will in all four of his symphonies.

I also found it true of what Schumann said about the role of an artist: "To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist." I heard that in his symphonies as well.


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

All of them are great. I like Krips for No.1, Solti for No.2, Klemperer for No.3 and Furtwangler for No.4. If I have to have them all conducted by the same bloke, then Szell.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

I love 1, 3, and 4. 2, not so much, although it has a gorgeous second movement.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Took a bit of getting used to. I was selling my Sawallisch/Dresden set but thought I'd listen to it one last time, and I really liked it, now I'm not selling it! So try repeated listening (once a month say...) If that doesn't work, after several months, try other versions.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

mtmailey said:


> Are there people here who like SCHUMANN 4 symphonies?


Yep, I like them all and have multiple cycles (20+). Currently listening to Bernstein in the car and Zinman at home but Sawallisch's set is something special. Herreweghe gets it bang-on too.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

R. Schumann remains one of those great composers I don't often visit, with the exception of his piano concerto, which in my opinion ranks with the greats of the genre. When I do visit the symphonies (of which I have a couple complete sets in my collection), it's often the "Spring" or the "Rhenish" that I spin. I should really get to know the other two better, and I probably should listen again to the Mahler orchestration revision versions that I have on my CD shelf collecting dust (along with so much other Schumann). It's not that I think Schumann is a weak, or bad, or boring composer. He's not. And when I do listen to him I'm generally charmed. It's just that since there is so much music to listen to and so limited time, I have to choose, and early Romantics generally suffer because of it as I generally will prefer the Baroque, Classical, late Romantic, or Modern/Contemporary eras first. Thus, Mendelssohn and Gade and Kalkbrenner and all those mid-century fellows (with exceptions of a few such as Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky) tend to suffer for it. Still, they have their own ardent fans, so they don't need me.

But the Schumann First Symphony was one of the first symphonies I ever heard. A copy has been in my record collection for well over half a century now, and I still turn to that disc on occasion to ... reminisce. I will probably admit that it is my favorite of the Schumann Four, but I do recognize the "Rhenish" as a true masterpiece. Actually, I wish he had written more symphonies. But then that's where Brahms, I suppose, comes in. (And I _really_ wish Brahms had written more symphonies!)


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

mtmailey said:


> Are there people here who like SCHUMANN 4 symphonies?


Yes there are..........


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Love all four! 2nd and 3rd are among my favorites in the genre. 

To me Schumann is probably the only composer among my favorite composers whose work I feel wasn't finished in the genre. And by that I don't mean just that I'd want another symphony by him, but rather that his best work was yet to come (which is not at all meant as a slight on the four). Mahler, Mozart, Sibelius, Beethoven, etc. and even older men like Brahms, Haydn and Bruckner you could argue would have made another interesting symphony after the body we're left with but I doubt they'd have written something thought of as unequivocally better than prior works. With Schumann, I wonder...


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