CHAPTER VIII - SCHUMANN AND HIS CRITICS

Summary

The reader of the lives of Mendelssohn and Schumann cannot fail to be struck by the contrast between the two careers. To the one, public life must have seemed one long triumphal procession. From the time of his arrival at Leipzig, when he was received with open arms by the entire musical world, until his early death, the enthusiastic adulation of the public never for an instant waned. On crowds and on individuals alike, the magical fascination of his personality exerted an influence that was irresistible. When from Mendelssohn's pen were pouring in ceaseless rapidity compositions that could be understood and loved at once by all who heard them, it was little wonder that the public had no time or inclination to give to the work of Schumann that attentive study by which alone they can be properly appreciated. Not that he was intentionally ignored; the public at large could scarcely be expected to realize his musical merits for themselves, and besides this, he was almost entirely unknown in society, chiefly owing to his silent, reserved manner and disposition. We in England, who are accustomed to look upon Madame Schumann with an additional interest and reverence on account of her alliance with the composer, can scarcely realize that at one time his chief claim to notice, in the eyes of the German public., lay in the fact of his being her husband. Yet such was the case, as there is abundant evidence to show.